Behavioral and psychological responses to chemical and biological warfare

Abstract

Understanding the behavioral and psychological responses in a chemical environment is critical to individual health and unit functioning. Reports of incidents of acute nerve agent and other organophosphate exposures and of repeated low-dose toxic exposures can provide information about psychiatric symptomatology, performance disruption, and recovery. This paper presents a review of the literature on the longer term consequences of acute and chronic exposure to nerve agents and other organophosphates. In addition, reports on psychological responses during chemical warfare training are reanalyzed to identify behavioral and psychological casualties attributed to the unique stressors of the CBW environment.