Dissociative disorders and dissociative symptoms among veterans of the Iraq-Iran war suffering from chronic post-traumatic disorder

Objectives: To evaluate any dissociative disordersin patients with post traumatic stress disorder(PTSD), and find any relationship betweendissociation and related variables in these patients.Methods: A case controlled study carried outamong 130 male patients with PTSD, and 130matched individuals from the normal population.The study was carried out between January andSeptember 2005, at Beheshti Psychiatric Hospital,Kerman, Iran, Demographic data and history ofchildhood physical abuse and self-harm in bothgroups were recorded. The severity of PTSD wasmeasured by Davidson PTSD scale in the studygroup. Dissociative symptoms were evaluatedwith the dissociative experience scale (DES). Forevaluating dissociative disorders, the dissociativedisorder interview schedule (DDIS) was used.Data were analyzed by SPSS software.Results: The mean age (±SD) of veterans was41.46 (±5.09) years, and the mean age of goingto the combat area was 29.4 (±5.015). The meanduration of involvement in combat was 27.8(±23.44) months. The mean DES score in the studygroup was 26.01 (±12.31) and was 9.58 (±7.23) inthe control group (F=1.171, p 0.0001). The meanscore (±SD) of Davidson PTSD scale was 54±96in the study group. The most prevalent dissociativedisorder in the study group was psychogenicamnesia.Conclusion: Many veterans with the impression ofchronic PTSD may have an additional diagnosis ofdissociative disorders.