How coming home changes a soldier's brain

Professor Alexander McFarlane, head of the University of Adelaide Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies, said the study was interesting but that it was important to remember that not every returning soldier has the same recovery trajectory.

“And this may have relevance for police where they don’t get removed from the danger, they have constant and ongoing danger,” he said.

“There are certain people in policing roles who have not dissimilar levels of stress but it’s not like they are going through a deployment cycle. It keeps going.”

Professor Peter Warfe, director of the Centre for Military and Veterans' Health at the University of Queensland said the study provided some comforting conclusions.

“It’s reassuring to some extent that [amygdala function] appears to return to normal in this small group of people, presumably none of which were suffering post traumatic stress disorder,” he said.

“What [a return to normal amygdala function] means is a little unclear in terms of their psychological function, their day-to-day physical function and mental capacity,” he said.

“And this study involved small numbers, so I’d be cautious in drawing a broad conclusion,” he said.

Source: The Conversation