Association of Psychological Symptoms and Self Esteem in Chemical warfare agent Exposed Veterans

Introduction. Psychological health and low self esteem both are known to be accompanied with delayed phase of exposure to chemical warfare agents. According to the reported correlation of these two in different populations, we assessed this association in the chemical warfare agent exposed veterans. Material and Methods. In this cross sectional study, 134 chemical warfare agent exposed veterans were selected randomly from Sardasht residents. Patients were grouped according to HADS scores into group Ianx (with anxiety, n=103), IIanx(without anxiety, n=31), according to the presence of co-morbid depression, to groups Idep (with depression, n=87) and IIdep (with anxiety depression, n=47), and according to the number of psychiatric co-morbidities, Icom (without anxiety and depression, n=17), IIcom (with anxiety or depression, n=44), and IIIcom (with anxiety and depression, n=73). Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were compared separately in groups Ianx vs. IIanx, in groups Idep vs. IIdep, and groups Icom vs. IIcom vs. IIIcom. Results. 86 subjects were male, with mean (SD) age of 48 11 years. Mean (SD) Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was 11.4  4.6. Group Ianx in comparison to group IIanx, reported poorer Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The same result was seen for comparison of Groups Idep and IIdep. Comparing groups Icom and IIcom and IIIcom showed that increasing the number of psychiatric co-morbidities is correlated with poorer Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Conclusion. Psychological health and low self esteem are associated in chemical warfare agent exposed veterans. This highlights the need for attention to one of them, if the another is disturbed. This can help psychiatrists and psychologists to improve their mental health.