Abstract

Traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more frequent in patients with serious mental illness than in the general population. This study included 102 patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder, according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria. Epidemiological and clinical data were collected using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and Traumatic Life Events and Distressing Event questionnaires. We found a high number of traumatic experiences, and 15.1% of the patients met all criteria for PTSD. We found no differences based on diagnosis or sex, although there was a nonsignificant trend toward greater PTSD comorbidity in women. Among patients with serious mental illness and PTSD, 64.3% had made some attempt at suicide at some point in life, compared with 37.4% of patients without PTSD.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Álvarez MJ, Roura P, Foguet Q, Osés A, Solà J, Arrufat FX

Institution

Mental Health Department, Vic Hospital Consortium, Catalonia, Spain.

Source

The Journal of nervous and mental disease 200:6 2012 Jun pg 549-52

MeSH

Adult
Bipolar Disorder
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale
Comorbidity
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diagnosis, Differential
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Psychotic Disorders
Risk Factors
Schizophrenia
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Suicide, Attempted
United States

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22833878