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Complaints of stress in young soldiers strongly predispose to psychiatric morbidity and mortality: Danish national cohort study with 10‐year follow‐up
Author(s) -
Hageman I.,
Pinborg A.,
Andersen H. S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2007.01129.x
Subject(s) - psychopathology , cohort , psychiatry , medicine , danish , stressor , cohort study , distress , epidemiology of child psychiatric disorders , clinical psychology , linguistics , philosophy
Objective: Serving military can be regarded as exposure to a moderate enforced stressor independent of other vulnerability factors. The aims of this study were i) to explore psychiatric morbidity and mortality during 10 years of follow‐up in a cohort of healthy adolescent Danish conscripts and ii) to investigate whether stress‐related disorders precede other psychiatric disorders. Method: Controlled national cohort study on all psychiatric hospital contacts in young men referred to the Military Psychiatric Department (MPD) with 10 years of follow‐up. Results: During the follow‐up period, 24% of conscripts seen at the MPD were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder compared with 4% in the control cohort. Almost all diagnostic categories were over‐represented but especially psychotic disorders. Mortality was substantially increased. Of subjects initially diagnosed with stress‐related disorders at the MPD, 20% later on developed psychopathology. Conclusion: Young healthy men complaining of mental distress following a stressor are strongly disposed to psychiatric morbidity and mortality. The study suggests that stress‐related disorders often precede more severe psychopathology.