Before the wars in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF]) and Iraq (Operation
Iraqi Freedom [OIF]), the co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and
persistent postconcussive symptoms attributable to a history of mild traumatic brain
injury (mTBI) was not considered to be a common phenomenon (
1
), but the large number of veterans with both conditions has brought to light a gap
in our understanding of biological links between them. Surveys of OEF and OIF veterans
suggest that PTSD and mTBI co-occur because the event that resulted in the brain injury
was experienced as a life-threatening trauma (
2
,
3
). Another explanation is that similar biological factors give rise to persistent
difficulties after mTBI and PTSD. Finally, it is possible that the same deficits or
symptoms may be associated with different biological factors in mTBI versus PTSD.
These alternative explanations could be parsed if there was greater understanding
of biological correlates of the two conditions.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- Psychopharmacological issues in the treatment of TBI and PTSD.Clin Neuropsychol. 2009; 23: 1338-1367
- Combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health problems and barriers to care.US Army Med Dep J. 2008; : 7-17
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- Traumatic brain injury: Endocrine consequences in children and adults.Endocrine. 2014; 45: 3-8
- Lower methylation of glucocorticoid receptor gene promoter 1F in Peripheral blood of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.Biol Psychiatry. 2015; 77: 356-364
- The development of a Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale.J Trauma Stress. 1995; 8: 75-90
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 10, 2015
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
