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[Trauma, traumatic stress and depression following an airline catastrophy]
P Birmes1, J L Ducassé, B A Warner
1Service Universitaire de psychiatrie et psychologie médicale, Hôpital Purpan-Casselardit, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, place Baylac, F-31059 Toulouse, France. birmes.p@chu-toulouse.fr
Objectives:
Acute stress responses following a trauma indicate a sensitivity to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and is often comorbid with depression. Earlier exposure to a traumatic event can be an additional risk factor in PTSD development.
Method:
Eight injured patients hospitalized after a major air disaster were monitored and assessed for a month. The symptoms of acute stress response (ASR), PTSD, and depression were assessed using DSM-IV criteria immediately following the accident, then each week thereafter. The Impact of Event Scale (IES) was completed on the 30th day (D30).
Results:
Four patients presented with an ASR, and 3 of them had a PTSD at D30. Of those 3 patients with PTSD, 2 presented with an associated depression. These 2 patients had been exposed to a traumatic event before the disaster; and a significant relation was found between the history of the earlier trauma and the PTSD associated with depression.
Conclusion:
The traumatized victims with a history of earlier traumas seem more susceptible to developing a PTSD associated with depression.