Abstract
M.A. (Psychology)
The present study was undertaken in an attempt to understand and ascertain the nature
of PTSD in the South African Police leading to chronic illness and work-related
dysfunctions as well as to investigate the possibility of triggering events leading to the
loss of latency in PTSD.
The specific hypothesis for this study was that a significant proportion of members of
the SAP who report for medical treatment of stress-related physical or psychological
complaints, will show PTSD in conjunction with a triggering stimulus event prior to
the manifestations of the first clinical signs of PTSD.
The testing of the hypothesis, entailed utilizing an experimental group. consisting of
a number of police officers, who had been referred for psychological and/or medical
treatment for work-related disorders. None of these subjects had previously been
diagnosed with PTSD. A control group was used that consisted of police officers who
had not seen active duty in an area where a traumatic stress disorder event could take
place.
These subjects were subjected to assessment of PTSD by means of the Mississippi
Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, and concomitant stress-related events by means of
the Life Experiences Survey. Alienation was assessed by the means of the VSVA.
Indices of psychophysiological reactivity were obtained by means of galvanic skin
response deviation and heart rate deviation to specific stimuli, including neutral stimuli,
war-related stimuli and stimuli with political content.