Post-traumatic stress in Northern Ireland

The sample studied was a group of 643 adults each seeking compensation for "Nervous Shock" and seen by a single Belfast psychiatrist for medico-legal assessment. Demographic information, risk factors, diagnosis, type of incident, symptoms and outcome were recorded for each patient. From the symptoms recorded, a subgroup of 23% were identified as suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as defined in DSM III. This subgroup tended to be older, included more females, had more depressive symptoms and had more severe, prolonged disturbance. The findings document our experience of PTSD in the special context of Northern Ireland and suggest it may be a more useful term in describing psychological reaction to violence than the nebulous concept of "Nervous Shock" used at present by our courts.