Clinical Review
Causal Attribution of Stress in Gulf War Veterans
Fed Pract. 2006 April;23(4):21
Author and Disclosure Information
Ralph E. Van Atta, PhD and Mary Anne Cleavenger, BS
Dr. Van Atta, who recently retired from his post as the lead clinical psychologist at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, WV, is a clinical associate professor in the School of Medicine at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. Ms. Cleavenger is a unit supervisor in the disability determination service of the state of West Virginia, Clarksburg.
There has been much speculation about the causes of an unexplained cluster of symptoms associated with deployment in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. To what do the affected veterans themselves attribute their symptoms—and could such beliefs further diminish their quality of life?