Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Carol S. Fullerton, Ph.D., is Associate Professor (Research) and Scientific Director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. She received the Meritorious Service Medal (1990) for her consultation and research to the Sioux City, Iowa, United plane crash of 1989 and the Exceptional Service Medal (1993) from USUHS for research and consultation on disaster and traumatic events. She is a Fellow of the American Orthopsychiatric Association and a Member of the American Psychological Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress studies.Robert J. Ursano, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, School of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Chair of the APA Committee on Psychiatric Aspects of Disaster, and a member of the American College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Ursano has written more than 100 publications on the effects of trauma, war, and disaster.

• Introduction. The other side of chaos: understanding the patterns of posttraumatic responses. Acute Responses to Trauma and Disaster. Multiple stressors following a disaster and dissociative symptoms. Exposure to traumatic death in disaster and war. Posttraumatic responses in spouse/significant others of disaster workers. Comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. War-related psychopathology in Kuwait: an assessment of war-related mental health problems. Children of the storm: a study of school children and Hurricane Andrew. Long-Term Responses to Trauma and Disaster. Persistence of PTSD in former prisoners of war. Comorbidity of substance abuse and PTSD. Posttraumatic stress disorder and the risk of traumatic deaths among Vietnam veterans. Combat exposure and PTSD among homeless veterans of three wars. Acute to chronic: etiology and pathophysiology of PTSD -- a biopsychological approach. Neurobiological alterations in PTSD: a review of the clinical literature. Conclusions. Trauma, time, and recovery. Index.