Commentary -- Bringing Home the Psychological Immediacy of the Iraqi Battlefield

Abstract

The case report by Cigrang, Peterson, and Schobitz (2005) serves two functions. It describes serious combat-induced psychopathology in a sample of three veterans of the Iraq war, and it tests the efficacy of a method for preventing chronic PTSD that might be more efficient than current methods. Thus, exposure therapy in these three cases appears to have alleviated the intense early symptoms of PTSD, perhaps thereby heading off a chronic debilitating condition. While the Cigrang et al. report does not constitute a definitive demonstration of the efficacy of exposure to abort chronic PTSD, it does convey with great immediacy the Iraq battlefield context as well as the demanding decisions front-line mental health professionals must make about combat-induced psychopathology. Of course, additional research is needed to establish the efficacy and effectiveness of this approach to psychopathology generated by battlefield conditions.