ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2012
Mental health of Special Forces personnel deployed in battle.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Unveiling binge drinking trends and triggers among army personnel: a cross sectional study.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2025Article
- Article
- A novel theory on the predictive value of variation in the β-endorphin system on the risk and severity of PTSD.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2020Review
- Suicide attempts in U.S. Army combat arms, special forces and combat medics.BMC psychiatry · 2017Article
- Cannabis use among Navy personnel in Sri Lanka: a cross sectional study.BMC research notes · 2016Article
- Trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and psychiatric disorders in a middle-income setting: prevalence and comorbidity.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2014Article
- Mental health status of Sri Lanka Navy personnel three years after end of combat operations: a follow up study.PloS one · 2014Article
- Conflict, forced displacement and health in Sri Lanka: a review of the research landscape.Conflict and health · 2014Review
- Multiple physical symptoms in a military population: a cross-sectional study.Annals of general psychiatry · 2013Article
- Smoking among troops deployed in combat areas and its association with combat exposure among navy personnel in Sri Lanka.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2012Article
- Alcohol use in a military population deployed in combat areas: a cross sectional study.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2012Article
- Prospective associations of psychedelic treatment for co-occurring alcohol misuse and posttraumatic stress symptoms among United States Special Operations Forces Veterans.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological AssociationArticle
- Psychedelic Treatment for Trauma-Related Psychological and Cognitive Impairment Among US Special Operations Forces Veterans.Chronic stress (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo compare the mental health problems of Special Forces with regular forces engaged in combat in the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN).
methodsA population-based descriptive study was carried out to compare the mental health problems of Special Forces with regular forces in the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) deployed in combat areas for at least 1 year. Participants were selected by simple random sampling. The outcome measures were common mental disorder measured using the General Health Questionnaire, PTSD, fatigue, multiple physical symptoms and hazardous alcohol use.
resultsOverall exposure to potentially traumatic events was high in both groups, with Special Forces experiencing significantly more traumatic events. More than 80% of the Special Forces had experiences of discharging weapons in direct combat, engaging in combat with enemy vessels and seeing the dead or wounded. Special Forces had significantly less common mental disorders, fatigue and fair or poor general health than regular forces. Fair or poor general health (21.1%) and fatigue (18.4%) were the commonest problems in the regular forces. Hazardous drinking was the commonest mental health problem among the Special Forces (17%). Prevalence of PTSD was 1.9% in the Special Forces and 2.9% among the regular forces. Exposure to traumatic events and problems with family life were identified as risk factors.
conclusionsElite troops suffered less negative mental health consequences than regular forces despite higher combat exposure. Comradeship and unit cohesion protected Special Forces from negative mental health outcome of combat.
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