About War, Stress and PTSD

Important articles and helpful advice for dealing with the effects of War, Trauma, Stress, Combat Stress and PTSD. Many of the items featured in the Guidelines and Materials section are helpful in assisting those engaged in combat and disaster relief.

War Trauma: Lessons Unlearned from VIetnam to Iraq - Vol #3 By Raymond M. Scurfield, DSW, LCSW Website/Info   Available on Amazon.com

"Finally, the general public (non-veteran and non-therapist) will find the treatment of the personal challenges and changes forged in war intriguing. Scurfield's extensive work with Vietnam veterans in his 25+ year career with the Department of Veterans Affairs informs and enriches this work, which includes very engaging treatments of his return to Vietnam with his clients... we have a long way to go to develop this understanding, but A Vietnam Trilogy is a very good place to start." ---- Gary E. May, Assoc. Prof. of Social Work, University of Southern Indiana, in Traumatology, Fall 2005

Guidelines for Vets’ Families
By Raymond M. Scurfield, DSW, LCSW
Web   PDF   Word
Useful advice and important do's and don't's for families of veterans to help them cope and overcome stress. Good handout for professionals and veterans involved in helping vets and those affected by Combat Stress.


40 Lessons Unlearned From Vietnam to Iraq About War and Its Impact
By Raymond M. Scurfield, DSW, LCSW
Web   PDF
PTSD is the human cost of war on Americans---regardless of which war.
Myths and realities that are misunderstood about war. And more.


Myths & Realities: Wars and Disasters
By Raymond M. Scurfield DSW, LCSW 
Web   PDF   Word
One of the world's leading PTSD experts dispels important myths and explains the realities about combat stress and PTSD.   


The DOD and the VA: Problems and Solutions to Serving
Our Nation's Finest. (Exclusive DRAFT COPY)
By Raymond M. Scurfield DSW, LCSW
Web   Word
A brief but hard-hitting look at what's behind the challenges and problems faced by DOD and Veterans Administration that includes common sense advice for dealing effectively with those problems.
Important information for VA, Military and Government leaders.


Determining The Percentages Of Responsibility Technique
By Raymond M. Scurfield DSW, LCSW  Word
For readers who may wish to apply this technique to survivors of trauma other than war, the steps of the Percentages of Responsibility technique are described herein in wording that is generically applicable.


Professional Articles and Insights

Treating War's Toll on the Mind  WEB  PDF (With photos)
By Betsy Streisand
Thousands of soldiers have post-traumatic stress
disorder. Will they get the help they need?




The War Room  PDF
By LTC Kathy Platoni, Psy.D.
"...There is war in my own head. Those of us who served in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom have set foot into rooms from which we may never leave. I have been most fortunate to have experienced total immersion into an unfathomable and bottomless well, where most Americans will thankfully never be forced to descend, and have lived the depth and breadth and horror of a war where the cowardly enemy waits to slaughter and incinerate his victims with the most cunning of guerrilla warfare tactics. The results are never less than gruesome..."

Healing on the Home Front  GO
By LTC Kathy Platoni, Psy.D.
"The type of stressors seen in Operation Iraq Freedom are unlike any seen in other wars because we are dealing with an enemy who wears no uniform and operates covertly. In this urban war, there are no front lines and no rear echelons — war is everywhere and inescapable."


Army psychologist using new ways to treat stress  GO 
By Mark Hare
"As bad as it is, I find it miraculous that 'only' 15 percent to 30 percent of returning Iraq war veterans are dealing with post traumatic stress disorder or some related mental health problems. This war has no front line, the enemy is impossible to identify, the dangers are everywhere. There is no safe place...."


The Dramatic Disparities between the Tragic Casualties of
Virginia Tech and War  GO   PDF
By Raymond M. Scurfield
"Wait a minute. Why not the same extent of coverage and homage for each serviceman and woman KIA and WIA as that accorded to the Virginia Tech casualties? Are American servicemen and women war casualties so inconsequential as to not deserve such prominent, in-depth homage as a group, let alone as individuals?"


Bringing the War Home  GO
By Cecilia Capuzzi Simon
"Sometimes it's a loud bang, like a car's backfire. Sometimes it's the sound of children screaming or crying. Sometimes it's the benign drone of a classroom lecture, or a stranger's ill-informed comments about the war in Iraq, or the drive over a bridge in the dark of night. All are triggers that send Jesus Bocanegra's mind straight back to the hot, dusty streets of Tikrit, where he and his unit of cavalry scouts tore down Iraqi flags and monuments and raided homes searching for weapons caches, civilian soldiers, and Saddam Hussein himself..."


Civilian workers in Iraq suffering combat trauma  GO
By Anna Badkhen
Chronicle Staff Writer
"He scans pastures and chicken farms for roadside bombs. He shoots wary glances at the faces of shoppers and moviegoers, searching for potential suicide bombers. Explosions blow off Thompson's limbs, over and over, in nightmares that stalk his sleep. The war haunts him the way it haunts thousands of U.S. troops returning from their tours of duty in Iraq..."