The British Journal of Psychiatry (2009) 194: 479-480. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.063586
© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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EDITORIALS

The dangers of inflation: memories of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder{dagger}

Neil Greenberg, MD, MRCPsych

King's College London, and Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, King's College London

Simon Wessely, MD, FRCPsych

Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK

Correspondence: Neil Greenberg, Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, 3rd Floor, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9RJ, UK. Email: sososanta{at}aol.com

Declaration of interest

N.G. is a full-time active member of the Royal Navy.

Neil Greenberg (pictured) is Senior Lecturer in Military Psychiatry and a consultant psychiatrist in the Royal Navy. Simon Wessely is Professor in Liaison Psychiatry and Epidemiology. Both are based at King's College London.

Funding

S.W. is partially funded by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust/Institute of Psychiatry National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre.

{dagger} See pp. 510–514, this issue.

People who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are likely to find that their quality of life is substantially impaired. However, unlike other diagnoses, in order for clinicians to make a diagnosis of PTSD people have to be able to accurately recall the details of a traumatic incident. Yet recent evidence suggests that recall of such incidents is often unreliable. Clinicians should therefore exercise caution to avoid making inaccurate diagnoses.


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