Metabolic syndrome, somatic and psychiatric comorbidity in war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: Preliminary findings.

Background: There has been a growing interest in the effect that co-morbid mental and somatic disorders may have on each other. Post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) have been associated with comorbidity of many major somatic and mental disorders as well as with premature mortality.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between combat-related PTSD, metabolic syndrome and comorbid psychiatric and somatic diagnoses.

[The Club of Croatian War Veterans treated for PTSD as a form of psychosocial rehabilitation].

For the period after the war patients with complex disorders are specific. Their increased need for psychiatric protection stimulates people to organize additional, outpatient activities in the mental health area. The authors present their experiences of working in the Club of Croatian War veterans treated for PTSD (the PTSD Club) and the positive therapeutic effect of systematic work upon the principles of sociotherapeutic community, systematic family approach, and self-help.

Glossolalia.

In this article the authors present through theory and case reports on the phenomenon of glossolalia, the unusual vocal utterances that sound language-like. Sense, meaning and function of glossolalia are closely connected with social and cultural context, and therefore glossolalia is experienced as a normal and expected behavior in religious prayer groups, while in mental disorders it is considered a psychopathological symptom. Historic theological debates explain the pure spiritual etiology of glossolalia, while the current studies present the phenomenon of glossolalia as a result of learned behavior and training.