War Trauma and its Aftermath

An International Perspective on the Balkan and Gulf Wars

Laurence Armand French and Lidija Nikolic-Novakovic

War trauma has long been associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a term coined in 1980 to explain the post-war impact of Vietnam veterans. The Gulf and Balkan wars added new dimensions to the traditional PTSD definition, due largely to the changing dynamics of these wars. With these wars came unprecedented use of reserve and National Guard personnel in U.S. forces along with the largest contingent of female military personnel to date. Rapid deployment, sexual assaults, and suicides surfaced as paramount untreated problems within coalition force. Rapes, torture, suicides, and a high prevalence of untreated civilian victims of the Balkan wars added to the new dimensions of the traumatic stress continuum. Suicide bombers and roadside bombings added to the definition of combat stress, as military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan were forced to be constantly vigilant for these attacks—regardless of whether they served in combat areas.

University Press of America

Pages: 198 • Trim: 6 x 9¼

978-0-7618-5801-0 • Paperback • December 2011 • $49.99 • (£38.00)

Subjects: Psychology / Psychopathology / Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), History / Europe / Eastern, History / Military / Persian Gulf War (1991), History / Military / Other, History / Military / Veterans, Psychology / Mental Health

War Trauma and its Aftermath

An International Perspective on the Balkan and Gulf Wars

Paperback

Summary

War trauma has long been associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a term coined in 1980 to explain the post-war impact of Vietnam veterans. The Gulf and Balkan wars added new dimensions to the traditional PTSD definition, due largely to the changing dynamics of these wars. With these wars came unprecedented use of reserve and National Guard personnel in U.S. forces along with the largest contingent of female military personnel to date. Rapid deployment, sexual assaults, and suicides surfaced as paramount untreated problems within coalition force. Rapes, torture, suicides, and a high prevalence of untreated civilian victims of the Balkan wars added to the new dimensions of the traumatic stress continuum. Suicide bombers and roadside bombings added to the definition of combat stress, as military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan were forced to be constantly vigilant for these attacks—regardless of whether they served in combat areas.

Details

University Press of America

Pages: 198 • Trim: 6 x 9¼

978-0-7618-5801-0 • Paperback • December 2011 • $49.99 • (£38.00)

Subjects: Psychology / Psychopathology / Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), History / Europe / Eastern, History / Military / Persian Gulf War (1991), History / Military / Other, History / Military / Veterans, Psychology / Mental Health

Author

Laurence Armand French is a sociologist, criminologist, and psychologist. He has worked with traumatic stress clients for over forty years. Previously, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1959-65.

Lidija Nikolic-Novakovic speaks both English and Serbian fluently. She lived in Vojvodina with her family during the NATO air attacks from March to June of 1999.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction to Psycho-cultural and Historical Precedents to Classifications of Traumatic Stress
Psycho-cultural Factors
Emergence of Standards for Medical and Clinical Classifications
Classifying War Trauma
Incidence of PTSD Worldwide

Chapter Two: Continuum of Socio-Cultural Adjustments to War trauma from Sublimation to Suicide
Introduction
Irma’s Story
Lidija’s Story
Serious Trauma: Rape and Torture
Trauma and Suicide

Chapter Three: The Neurophysiology and Neuropsychology of Trauma Adjustment
Introduction
The Basis of Human Neurophysiology
The Neuropsychology of Human Behavior
Chapter Glossary

Chapter Four: Dimensions of Gulf War Trauma
Introduction
The U.S. National Guard
The First Gulf War – Kuwait and Iraq
The Second Gulf War – Iraq and Afghanistan
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Dimensions of Combat Stress
Invisible Wounds of War
Social and Cultural Factors of the U.S. Military
The Unintended Consequences of War Trauma
Substance Abuse
Sex Abuse within the Military
War related Violence and Suicide

Chapter Five: Dimensions of Balkan War Trauma
Introduction: The First and Second Balkan Wars
Antecedents to the Third Balkan War
The Balkan War of 1991-1995
The Balkan War of 1996-2002
Review of the Clinical Literature on the War’s Aftermath
Veterans
General War Trauma
Refugees
Women and Children
Reconciliation
Map of Yugoslavia

Chapter Six: Assessment and Treatment of Trauma
Introduction: Reliability and Validity
Screening and Assessment
Mental Status Exam
The DSM-V Proposed PTSD draft revisions
The MMPI’s
The Validity Scales
The Clinical Scales
Political Correctiveness and MMPI revisions
Other Tests for Depression and Anxiety
The Projectives
Brief Assessment tools for Anxiety and Depression
Training Protocols in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia
The Slavic-language Personality Inventory-360
The Problem-Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT)
Partner/Relationship Inventory (PRI)
Summary
Treatment Protocols
Psychotherapies
Psychopharmacology
Combination Therapies
Preventive and Aftercare Protocols

Chapter Seven: International Trauma Bibliography
Endnotes

Index

War Trauma and its Aftermath

An International Perspective on the Balkan and Gulf Wars

Laurence Armand French and Lidija Nikolic-Novakovic

War Trauma and its Aftermath

An International Perspective on the Balkan and Gulf Wars

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