Posttraumatic stress disorder and the World War II veteran.

Throughout history, soldiers have suffered the psychologic consequences of war. PTSD in the WWII combat veteran presents with physical, psychologic, and social manifestations. Specific physical problems, such as traumatic arthritis and digestive disorders, may be linked to POW experiences. Psychologic symptoms include denial, numbing, intrusive images and thoughts, and nightmares. The older combat veteran may experience long-delayed PTSD symptoms when facing the losses associated with aging, loss of loved ones and declining physical health. Nurses are challenged to discover which elderly patients are combat veterans, what their military experiences were, how the experiences are affecting their mental and physical health, and whether biopsychosocial factors are concurrently affecting the health of the patients known to have PTSD.