Relationship of numbing to alexithymia, apathy, and depression.

The present study assessed the relationship between numbing and three associated conditions of alexithymia, apathy, and depression, utilizing data collected on 353 Vietnam combat veterans diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder from in- and out-patient settings and an outreach center at various Department of Veterans Affairs Medical centers. All subjects completed four self-report measures: the Glover Numbing Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Apathy Evaluation Scale, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. The correlation matrix indicated that scores on the four measures were moderately to highly correlated.

Vulnerability Scale: a preliminary report of psychometric properties.

This work describes assessment of the psychometric properties of a self-report instrument, the Glover Vulnerability Scale. This scale was administered to a total of 11 groups (N = 695). Six of the groups were Vietnam combat veterans diagnosed as having Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (n = 531).

The Numbing Scale: psychometric properties, a preliminary report.

This study explored the psychometric properties of a new self-report instrument, The Glover Numbing Scale. The scale measures a variety of behaviors reported by individuals experiencing an inability to access feelings other than hostility and rage. The scale was administered to inpatient Vietnam combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, n = 323), PTSD diagnosed Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient and veterans' outreach center veterans (n = 208), two Vietnam veteran noncombat groups (n = 45), two psychiatric noncombat controls (anxiety disorder, n = 40; major depressive disorder, n = 31), and a nonpsychiatric never-in-Vietnam veteran control group (n = 48).

Combat and personality change.

In response to combat, some soldiers develop a feeling of satisfaction in killing. The authors label this reaction the "heart of darkness experience," after the story by Joseph Conrad (1903/1982). They describe their clinical experience of seeing this response as part of a spectrum of reactions ranging from no personality change to rather gross personality change.

The love of war: Vietnam and the traumatized veteran.

Many veterans treated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) keep alive their war experiences because of their significance and meaning. For these veterans, combat was a positive as well as a negative experience. The authors suggest that many veterans suffer from PTSD because they are continuing to live out their war experiences and to hold onto the meaning of these experiences.

MMPI configural interpretation as applied to posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans.

This study investigated the systems of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) configural interpretation of Skinner and Jackson (1978) and Kunce (1979) with Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MMPI profiles of four groups differing in combat exposure were compared on four MMPI configural variables from Kunce (1979) and Skinner and Jackson (1978). The four groups were (a) PTSD sufferers, (b) Vietnam combat veterans without PTSD, (c) Vietnam noncombat veterans, and (d) Vietnam era veterans.

A study of post traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans.

Three groups of Vietnam-era veterans were compared on the frequency of symptoms typical of the diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a diagnostic category introduced in DSM III (N = 90). The three groups consisted of veterans who had experienced (a) a war-related traumatic event; (b) a non-war-related traumatic event; or (c) no traumatic event. The results indicated that the two groups who experienced a traumatic event reported significantly more symptoms than the group who never experienced a traumatic event.