A STUDY OF DEPRESSION AND MALINGERING AMONG SOLDIERS INJURED IN WAR

Document Type : پژوهشی

Author

Abstract

Neurotic reaction is one of the disorders found in battlefields. This type of disorder is commonly called "war stress" is nothing but the result of the numerous wars taking place in different parts of the world.
War stress causes many mental damages among which we mention the post traumatic stress disorder, followed normally by depression.
Because of many damages which the war causes, it makes also malingering disorder, a way for individuals to avoid hardship and affliction and try to reach a secondary gain.
Some researcher believe that a large number of soldiers struck by PSTD show symptoms of depression ( South wick & Yahuda, 1991). Others believe that some of the people who find themselves in some particular situations of war may show symptoms of mental disorders with organic origin and sometimes under the form of major emotional disorders.
The objective of the present research is to study the prevalence rate of cases of depression and malingering due to PSTD as well as chemical gases injury, (as a study groups) compared with individual victims of others types of injury (as a comparison group). In this research, depression severity is assessed with Beck Depression inventory (21 question form) and malingering with L, F, K scales of MMPI.
The gathered data, when analysed by computer, show that the depression rate among victims of chemical gases is higher than PSTD and other types of injury. Also, the depression rate among PSTD injuries is higher than one in other group of wictims of war.
On the other hand, the rate of malingering cases among PSTD injuries is higher than malinger among the chemical gases ones, which is also higher than other groups injured in war.

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