C D Ohlde | PubMed Health

PubMed1993

Combat and personality change.

In response to combat, some soldiers develop a feeling of satisfaction in killing. The authors label this reaction the "heart of darkness experience," after the story by Joseph Conrad (1903/1982). They describe their clinical experience of seeing this response as part of a spectrum of reactions ranging from no personality change to rather gross personality change. After exploring psychological factors involved in this change, they suggest relevant treatment considerations.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1991

The love of war: Vietnam and the traumatized veteran.

Many veterans treated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) keep alive their war experiences because of their significance and meaning. For these veterans, combat was a positive as well as a negative experience. The authors suggest that many veterans suffer from PTSD because they are continuing to live out their war experiences and to hold onto the meaning of these experiences. Effective treatment requires these veterans to develop a competent peacetime self that incorporates the positive features of the warrior identity.

Combat Disorders↗

PubMed1990

MMPI configural interpretation as applied to posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans.

This study investigated the systems of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) configural interpretation of Skinner and Jackson (1978) and Kunce (1979) with Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MMPI profiles of four groups differing in combat exposure were compared on four MMPI configural variables from Kunce (1979) and Skinner and Jackson (1978). The four groups were (a) PTSD sufferers, (b) Vietnam combat veterans without PTSD, (c) Vietnam noncombat veterans, and (d) Vietnam era veterans. All groups were further divided into hospitalized versus nonhospitalized subgroups. Dependent variables were Skinner and Jackson's (a) sociopathic modal profile, (b) neurotic profile, (c) psychotic profile, and (d) Kunce's emotional expression (enthusiastic-reserved) dimension. Results indicated that hospitalized PTSD subjects had significantly higher scores on Skinner and Jackson's neurotic profile; both hospitalized and nonhospitalized PTSD subjects had higher scores on the psychotic profile and were more "reserved" on Kunce's emotional expression dimension. Results were interpreted in terms of configural MMPI interpretation systems and the adjustment of Vietnam veterans with PTSD. PTSD was viewed as exhibiting cognitive, somatic, and affective features.

Adult↗