Post-traumatic stress disorder in Australia and New Zealand: a clinical review of the consequences of inescapable horror.

Over the last 20 years, much has been written on the morbidity that results from disasters. However, it is only since 1980 with the introduction of the "new" diagnostic category of "post-traumatic stress disorder" in the third edition of the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III) that a specific diagnosis has become available for many of the victims of such disasters. While, as a condition, it has been recognized from antiquity, it has lacked official recognition in the nomenclature and has tended to be viewed, particularly between the end of World War II and the introduction of DSM-III, as a transient disorder. A description of the disorder is followed by a discussion of its relevance with particular reference to papers by Australian and New Zealand authors.