Caring for Veterans with Deployment-Related Stress Disorders: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Beyond

According to recent studies, at least one fourth of military personnel returning from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq have received a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Whether the causes stem from a more complex environment in these post-9/11 war zones, or from higher rates of survival of injuries, the prevalence of PTSD and other war-related stress disorders among returning military personnel is on the rise.

Veterans of any war face major challenges reintegrating into civilian society, but these challenges become much more complex with an accompanying stress disorder. This book explores the myriad causes and consequences of these peculiar war-zone disorders and emphasizes prevention and treatment through better assessment, psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions, and appropriate evidence-based treatments. Contributors to this book are leaders in the clinical and research communities devoted to studying and treating PTSD and other war-trauma stress disorders among military personnel. The editors of the volume are all top officials and researchers at the National Center for PTSD of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.