Psychiatric interventions with returning soldiers at Walter Reed.

War is a malefic force and results in many psychiatric and medical casualties. Psychiatry's involvement with soldiers experiencing psychological stress resulting from combat experience has been reported for many years (Zajtchuk, 1995). It has been demonstrated that a myriad of diagnosis to include depression, anxiety, somatoform, adjustment disorders and psychotic behaviors also emerge (Wain et al., 1996, 2005a). Nearly all survivors exposed to traumatic events briefly exhibit one or more stress related symptoms (Morgan et al., 2003). In many instances these symptoms dissipate within a reasonable amount of time. However, symptoms persisting for a prolonged period following a traumatic event increase the probability of developing stress-related psychiatric disorders.