Combat and Substance Abuse
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as a consequence of combat experience, is believed to be a significant risk factor for substance abuse. This theory has been undermined to some extent by recent findings which suggest mental illness, apart from PTSD, may be a stronger predictor. Although combat-related PTSD may significantly contribute to the prevalence of substance abuse among veterans, the dominant substance abuse risks are the same for both civilians and combat veterans. This conclusion suggests than combat may represent a minor risk factor for substance abuse.
The Association between Combat and Substance Abuse
Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are faced with many of the same problems that previous combat veterans have had to face, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). While most veterans suffering from these conditions will successfully cope with the challenges they face through treatment and social support networks, others will turn to destructive coping mechanisms such as drug and alcohol abuse.
A significant body of research examining the relationship between combat exposure and substance abuse has been created since the Vietnam War. This research shows a clear association; however, not all veterans are destined to abuse drugs. This essay will examine what is known about the relationship between combat exposure and substance abuse, including the factors that render some veterans more susceptible to abusing psychoactive substances.
Combat-Related PTSD and Substance Abuse
The clinical diagnosis of PTSD often depends on the identification of the traumatic event or events that led to its development (reviewed by Adamou and Hale, 2003). PTSD is an anxiety disorder characterized by three main symptoms: hyperarousal, avoidance, and intrusive memories of the traumatic event. The reasons why a traumatic event is capable of inducing these symptoms is because the victim is forced to confront in real-time the possibility of imminent death or serious injury to themselves or others. The emotions that are often triggered by this experience are profound fear, helplessness, and horror.
While some combat soldiers and veterans may turn to substance abuse to cope with these symptoms, other will engage cognitive mechanisms to suppress the unwanted memories and the feelings of fear and helplessness they trigger. These mechanisms include active suppression, emotional detachment, and passive rumination about the event or events (reviewed by Williams, Alishia D. And Moulds, 2007). While there may be short-term psychological advantages to these coping strategies, such as being able to continue engaging in combat, the long-term effects are destructive to veterans and their loved ones. The use of detachment or rumination increases the risk of developing major depression within 6 months and depression is a significant risk factor for substance abuse. In light of these findings, the only viable treatment for PTSD symptoms is facing the traumatic event in a supportive and professionally supervised therapeutic setting.
A person must be experiencing symptoms for a month or longer before they will receive a diagnosis of PTSD (Bagalman, 2011). The prevalence of PTSD in all veterans who participated in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom is unknown; however, the prevalence among veterans of these operations who sought health care through the Veterans Administration (VA) between 2002 and 2010 was 27%. In this population, the rate of alcohol abuse and drug abuse was 7 and 3%, respectively; therefore not all veterans suffering from PTSD will abuse alcohol or drugs and vice versa. Best estimates suggest that 1 in 5 veterans with PTSD will have a substance abuse problem and 1 in 3 veterans who abuse drugs and alcohol will have PTSD (National Center for PTSD, 2011). For this reason, PTSD is considered a strong risk factor for substance abuse, and by extension, so would combat exposure.
Other Combat-Relevant Substance Abuse Risk Factors
Adolescence and young adulthood is a particularly susceptible period for development of PTSD (reviewed by Nooner et al., 2012). Best estimates suggest that close to 80% of all adolescents will experience a traumatic event during their childhood, but only about 10 to 15% will develop PTSD as a result. Trauma type influenced how likely an adolescent would develop PTSD, with sexual abuse producing the highest rates (48%), followed by physical injury (29.1%), witnessing violence (18.3%), physical abuse (14.8%), threat of serious injury (13.0%), and natural disasters (8.6%). The categories that would be analogous to combat would be physical injury, witnessing violence, and the threat of physical injury.
The increased susceptibility of adolescents to PTSD is relevant because the average age of U.S. Army recruits between 2001 and 2011 was 21.5 years (U.S. Army, 2011). Given that recruits...
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