Military sexual trauma as a determinant in the development of mental and physical illness in male and female veterans
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Betsy S. O’Brien
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Leo Sher
Abstract
Background: Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is defined as sexual harassment and or sexual assault experienced by a military service member. It is much more widespread and common than reported. It is associated with pre-combat traumatic experiences and pathologic sequelae including mental and medical illness.
Methods: An electronic search of the major behavioral science databases was conducted to retrieve studies detailing the social, epidemiological and clinical characteristics of MST and its relationship to psychiatric and medical illness.
Results: Studies indicate that military sexual trauma is related to an increase in psychiatric pathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse and dependence, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicidal behavior. MST is also related to an increase in medical illness, primarily pain-related symptoms involving multiple organ systems, including gastrointestinal, neurological, genitourinary and musculoskeletal.
Conclusion: MST is associated with an increased prevalence of mental and physical illness. Although there are some gender differences in the reported rates of MST and there may be some variables, such as prior traumatic experiences, that may make an individual more vulnerable to the psychiatric and medical sequela of MST, it is clear that MST is a major healthcare issue that affects both sexes and warrants further attention and an increase in clinical resources devoted to it. Some preventive measures for decreasing the prevalence of MST may include increasing education and legal prosecution of perpetrators in the military, and increasing access to mental health services for individuals who have suffered from MST.
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©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Editorial
- Education of health professionals about adolescent psychiatry
- Review Articles
- Educating medical professionals about suicide prevention among military veterans
- Ecstasy use and serotonin syndrome: a neglected danger to adolescents and young adults prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
- Child sexual abuse and the pathophysiology of suicide in adolescents and adults
- Suicidal behavior in Indian adolescents
- Use of antidepressants for major depressive disorder in children and adolescents: clinical considerations
- Educating health care trainees and professionals about suicide prevention in depressed adolescents
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dual disorders. Educational needs for an underdiagnosed condition
- Brain structural and functional changes in adolescents with psychiatric disorders
- Dating violence and suicidal behavior in adolescents
- Low testosterone levels may be associated with suicidal behavior in older men while high testosterone levels may be related to suicidal behavior in adolescents and young adults: a hypothesis
- Military sexual trauma as a determinant in the development of mental and physical illness in male and female veterans
- American juvenile justice system: history in the making
- The underexamined association between posttraumatic stress disorder, medical illness and suicidal behavior
- Prevention of suicidal behavior in adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder
- Bullying, psychiatric pathology and suicidal behavior
- Original Articles
- Educating medical students about adolescent maltreatment
- Cannabis use, addiction risk and functional impairment in youth seeking treatment for primary mood or anxiety concerns
- Does the physician density affect suicide rates among adolescents and young adults?
- Case Report
- Buprenorphine in the treatment of non-suicidal self-injury: a case series and discussion of the literature
