Internet Resources
- Four Decades Later: Vietnam Veterans and PTSDOn March 25, 1973, the role of overt American intervention in the Republic of Vietnam ended. On May 7, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford proclaimed the end of the “Vietnam era.”
- The Long-Term Impact of PTSD in Vietnam War VeteransOur understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few decades. Once referred to by terms such as "shell shock," the full impact of this diagnosis has become much clearer in the decades following the Vietnam war.
- Mental casualties of Vietnam War persistLessons learned could be applied to Iraq.
- Vietnam War Study Raises Concerns About Veterans' Mental HealthA federally mandated study shows that almost 300,000 Vietnam veterans still struggle with daily health problems linked to the traumas they experienced more than 40 years ago during the war.
Streaming Media
- My Father's Vietnam: The Psychological Burdens of WarA personal documentary about a public subject, My Father's Vietnam personifies the connections made and unmade by the Vietnam War. Featuring never-before-seen photographs and 8mm footage of the era, My Father's Vietnam is the story of three soldiers, only one of whom returned home alive.
Perspectives
Achilles in Vietnam
An original and groundbreaking book that examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In this moving, dazzlingly creative book, Dr. Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A classic of war literature that has as much relevance as ever in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is a "transcendent literary adventure" (The New York Times) and "clearly one of the most original and most important scholarly works to have emerged from the Vietnam War" (Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried).
Flashback
With record numbers of soldiers returning from the Middle East already suffering from PTSD, 'Flashback' provides a necessary lesson on the real tragedy of battle for soldiers and their families, something that continues long after the war ends.
Shook over Hell
Vietnam still haunts the American conscience. Not only did nearly 58,000 Americans die there, but by some estimates 1.5 million veterans returned with war-induced Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This psychological syndrome, responsible for anxiety, depression, and a wide array of social pathologies, is here placed in an historical context. Eric Dean relates the psychological problems of veterans of the Vietnam War to the mental and readjustment problems experienced by veterans of the Civil War.
Healing Suicidal Veterans
Veterans are suffering a "mental breakdown" epidemic, often linked to post traumatic stress from the terrors of combat, traumatic brain injury, and drug and alcohol abuse. The problems triggered by an excessive number of deployments, financial and family trouble, fragmented or nonexistent support systems, and increased domestic stress have caused a mass depression among vets. Healing Suicidal Veterans takes readers firsthand into the "situation room" where crisis intervention and addiction therapist Victor Montgomery explores the psychological wounds of war and the ways they contribute to the tragedy of suicidal veterans. He presents the Montgomery Model for ending veterans' suffering and anguish and putting them on solid paths to healing. The book offers veterans strategies for realizing they are not failures if they seek aid, and it gives families and loved ones ways to understand, cope with, and help their veteran in need.