Am J Psychiatry 1985; 142:1070-1073
Copyright © 1985 by American Psychiatric Association
Posttraumatic stress disorder: a thirty-year delay in a World War II veteran
C Van Dyke, NJ Zilberg and JA McKinnon
Some clinicians doubt the validity of a diagnosis of delayed posttraumatic
stress disorder for Vietnam veterans. Precombat psychopathology, drug
abuse, factitious symptoms, and malingering in pursuit of disability
compensation are cited as alternative explanations for the syndrome. The
authors discuss the case of a much decorated World War II veteran whose
symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder first occurred more than 30 years
after combat. They consider the alternative explanations for his symptoms
to be inadequate.
