Martin Deahl

The Use of Psychological Decompression in Military Operational Environments

This article reviews the use of psychological decompression as applied to troops returning from active service in operational theaters. Definitions of the term are considered and a brief history is given. Current policies and practices are described and the question of mandatory decompression is considered. Finally, the evidence base for the efficacy of decompression is examined and some conclusions are drawn. This article highlights variations in the definition and practice of decompression and its use. Although there is, as yet, no evidence that decompression works, there is also no evidence to the contrary. Given the lack of knowledge as to the balance of risks and benefits of decompression and the absence of any definitive evidence that decompression is associated with improved mental health outcomes or that lack of decompression is associated with the reverse, it is argued that the use of decompression should remain a matter for discretion.

Dealing with disasters: does psychological debriefing work?

The psychological aftermath of disaster causes significant long-term psychiatric disability and suffering to victims and rescuers alike. This paper examines the effectiveness of psychological debriefing (PD), an early intervention that is widely used and claimed to reduce long-term psychiatric morbidity in the wake of disaster. Numerous factors hamper the design of methodologically sound research in this field and there is a lack of controlled studies supporting the efficacy of PD. Further research is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of any immediate psychological intervention before significant resources are allocated to their routine provision.

War and Health. Lessons from the Gulf War

![Figure][1] There was a time when texts on military psychiatry were little more than a historical sideshow, of interest to the small fraternity of military psychiatrists and their more curious civilian colleagues. Sadly, with the prospect of warfighting in Afghanistan for the foreseeable

Military psychiatry — in 100 words

Few have first-hand experience of military psychiatry. Military psychiatry, however, has had a substantial impact on us: WWI and ‘shell shock’, the ‘Northfield experiments’ of WWII, engendering a sense of therapeutic optimism, helping fuel the ‘care in the community’ movement and

Journalists Under Fire: The Psychological Hazards of Covering War

![Figure][1] Chiding the military establishment for failing to provide adequate aftercare for wounded servicemen is a favourite media pastime and the psychological toll of conflict among service veterans has been popularised by the press. What is less well known – indeed, virtually

Hysterical Men: War, Psychiatr and the Politics of Trauma in Germany, 1890-1930

![][1] Psychiatrists, more than most people, like to flirt with history, and nowhere is this more true than in the field of psychological trauma, where it has become de rigueur to introduce a chapter or book with an historical overview. More often than not these superficial,

Hysterical Men: War, Psychiatr and the Politics of Trauma in Germany, 1890-1930: Paul Lerner

![][1] Psychiatrists, more than most people, like to flirt with history, and nowhere is this more true than in the field of psychological trauma, where it has become de rigueur to introduce a chapter or book with an historical overview. More often than not these superficial,

Hysterical Men: War, Psychiatry, and the Politics of Trauma in Germany, 1890–1930 By Paul Lerner. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 2003. 326 pp. £23.95 (hb). ISBN 08014 4094 7

![][1] Psychiatrists, more than most people, like to flirt with history, and nowhere is this more true than in the field of psychological trauma, where it has become de rigueur to introduce a chapter or book with an historical overview. More often than not these superficial,

Experience of Community treatment Orders

Sir: The issue of community treatment orders (CTOs) continues to create difference within the College, but Moncrieff & Smyth ( Psychiatric Bulletin , November 1999, 23 , 644-646) have added nothing new to the debate. Rather, by drawing the issue away from the practical question of how to help a