Study sheds light on interplay among PTSD, combat experience, alcohol use

(Veterans Affairs Research Communications) A new VA study finds that combat experience is linked to a higher risk of alcohol use to cope with PTSD symptoms. But the connection is weaker when accounting for the severity of the PTSD. Dr. Shannon Blakey, a postdoctoral fellow at the Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Durham VA Health Care System in North Carolina, led the study.