Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (2008) 14: 414-422. doi: 10.1192/apt.bp.107.004697
© 2008 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Gulf War syndrome – has it gone away?

Mark Tarn, Neil Greenberg and Simon Wessely

Mark Tarn is a specialist registrar in liaison psychiatry at King’s College Hospital, London, and is also a serving Army officer. Previously he was a military general practitioner and served as a GP tutor in the Army’s air assault brigade. His interests include the interface between primary and secondary care. Neil Greenberg is a senior lecturer at King’s College London and is also a military consultant psychiatrist in the Royal Navy (King’s Centre for Military Health Research, 3rd Floor, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9RJ, UK. Email: sososanta{at}aol.com). He has a keen interest in organisational mental health, traumatic stress and in psychological health in military personnel. Simon Wessely is a Professor of Epidemiology and Liaison Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. His research interests are in the grey areas between medicine and psychiatry, clinical epidemiology, psychiatric injury and military health. He is the civilian consultant advisor to the Army; this is an honorary and unpaid role.

‘Gulf War syndrome’ was a phrase coined after the 1991 Gulf War. This article looks at the variety of hypotheses that have been put forward about the origins of the concept and the studies attempting to characterise the health manifestations of Gulf service and the lasting effects on veterans. It also serves to bring readers up to date with research on the present deployment in Iraq. Finally, consideration is given to how Gulf War syndrome compares with the rich historical literature of post-conflict medical syndromes and how sociological factors may interact with symptom attribution in veterans.