Spirituality in the line of duty: Perspectives from first responders with acute posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder.
Psychological Services · 2024-04-11 · Qualitative study
Abstract
Spirituality/religion is clinically relevant to patients experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or alcohol use disorder (AUD). Despite the comorbidity of PTSD and AUD among first responders (i.e., firefighters, law enforcement, paramedics, corrections officers), relatively little research has investigated the lived experience of first responders with PTSD and AUD as it related to spirituality and religion. As such, 12 (100% cisgender men, 91.7% White/European American) first responder psychiatric patients with comorbid PTSD and AUD were recruited from a psychiatric program serving first responders in the Northeast. Participants completed a semistructured interview, and transcripts were coded and thematically analyzed. The following themes and subthemes were identified: spiritual/religious distress (subthemes: abandonment, progressive deterioration of moral certainty, and loss of faith/doubt), spiritual/religious coping (subthemes: supporting sobriety and coping with PTSD), spirituality/religion in treatment, spirituality as distinct from religion, and spirituality and first responder culture. Findings highlight the need for additional research examining the role of spirituality/religion at the intersection of PTSD and AUD among first responders as well as the development of spiritually integrated treatment for this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
Abstract © the authors or publisher, via PubMed. Reuse and removal
Tags
Alcohol · Clinician perspective · Poisoning & substance use
Related articles
- Alcohol Misuse and Correlates with Mental Health Indicators among Firefighters. (Subst Use Misuse, 2025)
- The association between PTSD symptom clusters and religion/spirituality with alcohol use among first responders. (J Psychiatr Res, 2024)
- Spirituality/Religion Among First Responders With and Without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Misuse. (J Dual Diagn, 2024)
- PTSD Symptom Severity and Alcohol Use among Firefighters: The Role of Emotion Regulation Difficulties. (J Dual Diagn, 2023)
- Examining Transdiagnostic Factors among Firefighters in Relation to Trauma Exposure, Probable PTSD, and Probable Alcohol Use Disorder. (J Dual Diagn, 2021)
- Occupational stress and alcohol use: a study of two nationwide samples of operational police and ambulance, personnel in Norway. (J Stud Alcohol Drugs, 2007)