DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF COMBAT STRESS REACTION - CURRENT ATTITUDESOF MILITARY PHYSICIANS

This study examined the attitudes of 203 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) m ilitary physicians regarding the causes and treatment of combat stress reaction. The findings indicate that subjects tended primarily to end orse situational rather than predispositional explanations for the cau sation of the CSR. They attributed the highest levels of responsibilit y for treatment to the frontline physician and to commanders, and the least amount of responsibility to the casualty himself. These findings suggest that military physicians do not hold CSR casualties responsib le for the causation or the treatment of the stress reaction. CSR is n ow viewed within the ''medical model.'' It is considered by doctors to be within the purview of medicine and CSR casualties are considered l egitimate objects of medical concern. The stigma attached to the pheno menon in the past thus appears to have diminished considerably.