Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Returning Iraq and Afghanistan Soldiers:

A Bibliography Plan

Justin Rajkowski

Fall 2009

LIS 601

Dr. Nahl

A. Topic 3

B. Scope, Organization and Intended Audience 3

C. Style Manual 4

II. Search Strategy 4

A. Print Sources 4

B. Library Catalogs 4

LC Classification Call Number Areas 4

C. Databases- General and Multidisciplinary 7

D. Specialized Databases-Medical, Psychological and Sociological 8

E. Internet Sources and Search Engines 11

F. Conclusion 12

Appendix A: Search Strategy Relevancy Tables 13

Key: 13

Appendix B: Sample Annotated Bibliography with Sub-Topics 18

I. Adjusting to Civilian Life 18

II. PTSD in Female Soldiers and Veterans 18

III. Couple and Family PTSD Therapy 19

Endnotes 19

I. Introduction

A. Topic

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects a large portion of the population, both civilians and soldiers. Ten percent of women and five percent of men experience it at some point in their lives. It is a medical and psychological disorder that affects victims of violent crimes and combat veterans. PTSD has a long history but the American Psychological Association did not formally classify it until the 1980s. There were reports of World War I troops being “shell shocked” after being exposed to constant bombardment in the trenches. Recently, servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are reporting PTSD symptoms while returning to civilian life. The Encyclopedia of Psychology defines PTSD as “an anxiety disorder that develops in some individuals after exposure to an extremely traumatic event(s). For an individual to be diagnosed with PTSD, the traumatic event(s) experienced or witnessed must involve actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others.”[1] Patients may have varying symptoms, but generally victims have recurring dreams and nightmares or dissociative episodes where the traumatic event is re-experienced. Patients diagnosed with PTSD are often affected emotionally and socially. The victim may feel socially isolated or have difficulty expressing emotions. PTSD patients may also be hyper-vigilant and have difficulty concentrating on simple tasks. Clearly, the disorder is debilitating and it affects a growing number of soldiers and their families.

B. Scope, Organization and Intended Audience

This bibliography plan will provide resources on post-traumatic stress disorder for families of soldiers returning home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Materials selected are based on their relevance to soldiers and their families. However, veterans of earlier conflicts might also find these sources to be relevant to their situation. PTSD is a current issue that affects a growing portion of the population and this bibliography plan serves as a guide to materials about this disorder. This plan is organized by database type (general or specialized) and Internet sources are discussed afterwards.

C. Style Manual

To format the citations I consulted Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.[2]

II. Search Strategy

A. Print Sources

I started my search the old-fashioned way with a print resource, Balay’s Guide to Reference Books.[3] I was not successful with this source at first. I tried looking under “PTSD”; “Post-traumatic stress disorder”; “Anxiety Disorders”; and “Veterans” but could not find any print reference sources this way. However, eventually I found two psychology encyclopedias, Pam Baxter’s Psychology: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources and V.S. Ramachandran’s Encyclopedia of Human Behavior.[4][5] The latter source proved to be the most helpful, as it provided an article on post-traumatic stress disorder complete with a bibliography section that contained citations of general articles on PTSD. This article helped ground my research and gave me a sense of the symptoms of PTSD. By browsing in the BF call numbers of BHSD reference I also found another helpful encyclopedia not listed in Balay’s guide. Through this collocation method, I encountered Alan E. Kazdin’s Encyclopedia of Psychology, (see endnotes). This source included an introduction to post-traumatic stress disorder and a short bibliography.

B. Library Catalogs

LC Classification Call Number Areas

RC 321-571 Neurosciences, Biological psychiatry, and Neuropsychiatry.

UH 600-629.5 Military hygiene and sanitation.

Hawaii Voyager[6]

I thought that the University of Hawaii Voyager catalog would be a good place to start looking at books on this topic. I started browsing by subject using Library of Congress subject headings.[7] Using the LC subject heading IRAQ WAR, 2003 --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS I retrieved several highly relevant results as noted in the relevancy table. One monograph, Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences and Services to Assist Recovery (LC Classification: RC 552. P67 T34 2008) came up in many Voyager searches.[8] I continued browsing by LC subject headings, the most helpful were: VETERANS --MENTAL HEALTH --UNITED STATES, COMBAT DISORDERS, WAR --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS, VETERANS --PSYCHOLOGY. The Library of Congress authorities stated to use the subject heading POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER instead of STRESS DISORDER, POST-TRAUMATIC. Voyager used both so I searched using both of these subject headings. Browsing by LCSH produced many relevant results, but I found that a combination of controlled vocabulary (CV) and natural language (NL) gave highly relevant titles as well. For example the Boolean search string WAR --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS (SU) AND Iraq (keyword) yielded several highly relevant results, including the aforementioned Invisible Wounds monograph. Interestingly enough, the IRAQ WAR, 2003 --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS subject heading yielded many highly relevant hits, but AFGHAN WAR, 2001 --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS retrieved far fewer results, perhaps because there is more information available for PTSD in Iraq. The COMBAT DISORDERS term proved to be useful, and I retrieved many relevant books even without including Iraq or Afghanistan in the search string. Overall, the Voyager system seems to have many books for PTSD in Iraq, but not quite as many that are specifically tailored for the Afghanistan conflict. For this reason, in most of my database searches I used “Iraq” as the geographical keyword because I found that most books and articles that deal with the current Iraq war also handle the 2001 Afghanistan invasion. The LC call number areas RC 321, RC 550 and RC 552 contained the most relevant material. By physically browsing through the stacks, I found general books on post-traumatic stress disorder and also more specialized titles that deal with PTSD in relation to the current conflicts in Iraq/Afghanistan.

Library of Congress[9]

Obviously, this catalog is much more comprehensive than Voyager. Therefore, through my Library of Congress searching and browsing, I encountered many new titles that were not in Voyager. However, various issues such as constant session timeouts and page loading errors sometimes made the Library of Congress catalog experience unpleasant. Nevertheless, I found several interesting items that I did not find elsewhere. The LCSH controlled vocabulary searches proved to be most effective. In particular, the VETERANS --MENTAL HEALTH --UNITED STATES term yielded highly relevant items, especially when combined with the “Iraq” keyword. Another LCSH search, WAR NEUROSES, was also useful. Using this term I located Living and Surviving in Harm’s Way: A Psychological Treatment Handbook for Pre- and Post-Deployment of Military Personnel (LC Classification: UH629 .L58 2009) through the “Guided Search.”[10] Like in Voyager, a combination of keywords and LCSH terms yielded highly relevant items. For instance, the Boolean search string COMBAT --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS AND Iraq (keyword) gave a small set of results, but were all highly relevant. When I added the geographical terms Iraq or Afghanistan to LC subject headings searches, it excluded PTSD material from earlier wars such as Vietnam, and narrowed the results down to the current conflicts. Searches that obtained Vietnam-related records were labeled as “somewhat relevant” (SR) because these can still be of use to today’s returning soldiers and their families, even though they may not current. The chaos and intensity of war has not changed since Vietnam.

Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS)[11]

I received fewer book results using HSPLS. For this topic, CV browsing produced more relevant results in the HSPLS catalog. Also, a Boolean keyword search of “post-traumatic stress disorder AND Iraq returned some interesting new titles, including Major John D. Roche’s The Veteran’s PTSD Handbook: How to File and Collect on Claims for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (LC Classification: RC 552. P67 R63 2007).[12] This book describes ways to handle the practical issues surrounding PTSD, such as dealing with VA hospitals and Social Security. Through HSPLS, I also found a comprehensive bibliography on PTSD by Cheryn D. Picquet and Reba A. Best.[13] It is primarily directed towards victims of rape and other violent crimes, but also includes a directory for veterans seeking treatment assistance. This bibliography is from 1986, but I feel it is still at least somewhat helpful for soldiers and their families due to its listings of veteran outreach programs. (There is no copy at Hamilton, I provided Dewey Decimal because it is located at Hawaii State Library). Overall, HSPLS provided a few useful items such as the Picquet bibliography and the handbook, but some CV searches using LCSH yielded material that was not relevant. For example, WAR --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS resulted in over 100 hits, but most were books about psychological warfare or courage in time of battle. I used the same LCSH for Voyager and retrieved more relevant items (see above). It is interesting that when I use the same LC subject heading in different library catalogs I get such a wide range of topics.

C. Databases- General and Multidisciplinary

Academic Search Premier[14]

I decided to start the database search with Academic Search Premier so I could see how post-traumatic stress disorder relates to several different academic fields. It was interesting to see so many PTSD case studies, news articles and scientific reports represented in a wide variety of academic journals and newspapers. Like the previous library catalog searches, a combination of CV and natural language terms proved to be an efficient strategy. The Academic Search Premier thesaurus included a new CV term, REINTEGRATION OF VETERANS. This encapsulates many concepts rolled into one descriptor. “Reintegration” means several things: adjusting to civilian life, handling war memories and the treatment of PTSD. This CV term, when used in conjunction with the natural language keywords Iraq and Afghanistan, yielded a small set of highly relevant materials. One such item was Forever Changed: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Female Veterans (LC Classification: RC 321 .P4) by Diana Feczer and Pamela Bjorklund.[15] This case study focused on one female soldier’s diagnosis and recovery from PTSD. Cases of wartime PTSD in female subjects is becoming more common since a larger number of women are now joining the ranks and fighting alongside men. Academic Search Premier is a great source for anyone seeking general information on PTSD, but material in this database also examines the disorder from different angles. Through this database, I found many titles that presented other interesting aspects of combat PTSD, including its increasing relevance to women.

MasterFile Premier[16]

I selected MasterFile to gather sources because post-traumatic stress disorder is a current issue covered in many types of periodicals. Since MasterFile searches through many general periodicals, I thought this would be a good database for up-to-date information on PTSD. I found a few news articles on the tragic shooting at Fort Hood, TX, since it is believed that the shooter might have suffered from PTSD. Also, I found some articles that describe the general symptoms of PTSD. CV and natural language searches each yielded many relevant titles, although some LCSH terms such as COMBAT --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS and VETERANS --MENTAL HEALTH did not work with this database. These sources are a great starting point for soldiers who are seeking relief from post-traumatic stress disorder. An article in Exceptional Parent entitled Pain, Depression, PTSD, and the Silent Wounds of War is an excellent introductory source of information for families of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans.[17] MasterFile provided citations and abstracts from many other highly relevant articles in popular periodicals that have a large readership. I am impressed by the amount of information in this database about this topic. It is good to know that there is a large amount of PTSD resources available for the general periodical audience.

Ingenta[18]

Ingenta is a multidisciplinary database that covers millions of citations throughout thousands of journals. Impressive as that may be, I am not enthralled about its design and lack of CV searching capabilities. The searching process was awkward at first, maybe because I am accustomed to the CSA and EBSCO HOST interfaces. The advanced search mode is limited, but at least it allowed me to get creative with natural language. A Boolean search of “post-traumatic stress disorder” AND (Afghanistan OR Iraq) yielded Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Service Utilization in a Sample from Iraq and Afghanistan by Christopher Erbes, Joseph Westermeyer, Brian Engdahl, and Erica Johnsen.[19] This is a case study that investigates the unfortunate consequences of untreated PTSD, including quality of life issues, alcohol abuse, depression, and suicide. Overall, Ingenta is a decent database that offers about 10-12 highly relevant articles about PTSD, enough for soldiers and their families to get an introduction.

D. Specialized Databases-Medical, Psychological and Sociological

PsycInfo[20]

PsycInfo searches citations and abstracts from psychology journals and books. Successful searches in this database reflect the physical, emotional and mental dimensions of post-traumatic stress disorder. There is an abundance of controlled vocabulary terms in the PsycInfo thesaurus and CV browsing typically generated highly relevant results. I discovered a couple new CV descriptor terms in the thesaurus, including COPING BEHAVIOR and EMOTIONAL TRAUMA. When used in tandem with natural language, these descriptors led me directly to many relevant items. For instance, most searches in PsycInfo contained several highly relevant articles on PTSD treatment options for Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. A Boolean search string, POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND Iraq (keyword) listed: Janice Hutchinson and Lisa Banks-Williams article entitled Clinical Issues and Treatment Considerations for New Veterans: Soldiers of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.[21] This article advocates treatment on the family level. Similar searches with CV and natural language brought up many articles that assist the PTSD victim’s loved ones. Treatment is not directed solely towards the soldier, rather the whole family unit benefits from PTSD therapy. Through analysis of the PsycInfo results, it seems that PTSD recovery is about maintaining and strengthening relationships when the soldier returns home. This is an excellent database for examining PTSD treatment options and several highly relevant articles appeared for most every search using CV found in the thesaurus combined with natural language. The new descriptor EMOTIONAL TRAUMA combined with “Iraq” (keyword) proved to yield numerous articles dealing with the emotional consequences of battle. This new term was not found in any other database but still gave useful articles within PsycInfo. Overall, I would recommend this database for psychologists and healthcare professionals due to its variety of controlled vocabulary terms.

PILOTS[22]

This source, sponsored by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, is a specialized database dedicated to literature about trauma. It is available through CSA Illumina. The acronym stands for: Published International Literature on Traumatic Stress. It contains many highly relevant items about post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric disorders. Due to the scope and content of this database, most searches that I conducted were highly relevant no matter if I used CV or natural language terms. (Occasionally I used an LCSH term that was not recognized by PILOTS, thus ending in no results). I found some interesting and cool new treatment plans for PTSD veterans. One such plan, called Virtual Iraq, was promoted in the following article: Using Virtual Reality to Help our Patients in the Real World by Barbara Olasov Rothbaum.[23] In this new treatment regimen, soldiers are immersed in a “virtual Iraq” to help disconnect painful memories from mundane, everyday events. Using this plan, a soldier who may become startled and frightened when a car backfires is taught not to overreact to the sound. Everyday sounds become insignificant again through this therapeutic software. The PILOTS database also yielded another important PTSD bibliography entitled, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Service Members and New Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: A Bibliography and Critique.[24] This new bibliography, published by the National Center for PTSD in Winter 2009, compiles case studies and scientific articles to aid PTSD researchers who are providing treatment for Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. (The aforementioned Invisible Wounds of War book is listed in this bibliography.) Searching with both CV and natural language, this database provided at least 300 relevant articles that deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. PILOTS is a comprehensive source for anyone who wishes to examine the full effects of PTSD on various facets of a soldier’s life.

Alt- Health Watch[25]

In my goal to provide sources on PTSD holistic treatment options in this bibliography plan, I consulted this database, which searches periodicals and reports that deal with the topic of alternative medicine such as yoga, acupuncture and massage therapy. However, using CV browsing and natural language searching, I found only a few relevant articles that specifically target returning Iraq/Afghanistan veterans as the audience. There are a few interesting articles on yoga and massage therapy and their application to stressed-out soldiers, such as “Healing the Wounds of War” by Chris Towery, found in Massage Magazine.[26] Perhaps in the future there will be more alternative PTSD treatments documented in this database, but at time of writing there aren’t very many.

Medline[27]

This database focuses on the standard forms of PTSD therapy and treatment through the fields of traditional nursing and pharmaceuticals. A handy list of controlled vocabulary proved to be very helpful when browsing through sources in Medline. The CV helped to consolidate search words into compact scientific search terms. For instance, the descriptor STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC PREVENTION AND CONTROL helped me to combine three concepts into one, allowing me to get to relevant sources quickly. Natural language searches were not very fruitful in Medline, but CV searches using these specialized descriptors proved to be most useful. In addition to various articles on nursing, this database also yielded some articles on conjoint therapy and its application to PTSD veterans, such as Candace M. Monson, Steffany J. Fredman and Kathryn C. Adair’s report.[28] Overall, most searches in this database provided scientific reports that analyze various PTSD drug treatments. If I were a librarian, I would recommend these materials only to medical professionals. These types of sources contain much medical jargon and are not easy to read. Families who are looking for PTSD treatment options may not understand these technical reports and should look elsewhere.

Sociological Abstracts[29]

As the name implies, this database draws from sociology journals and books. I was interested in learning about the social aspects of PTSD, but there were only a handful of relevant sources that analyze PTSD through from a sociology point of view. There wasn’t much CV to work with, only one (POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER), so I was forced to rely mostly on natural language search terms. One search brought up an excellent paper about PTSD and homelessness by Ione Y. DeOllos.[30] This article would be a useful source for a social worker that is trying to help get veterans with PTSD off the streets. The author interviews single homeless men to pinpoint the symptoms of PTSD. Besides this highly relevant source, I did not find much else to work with in this database. Perhaps the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will act as a catalyst for future research on PTSD and sociology.

E. Internet Sources and Search Engines

Google[31]

In this age of instant gratification, it is no surprise that Google remains the most popular search engine. When someone has an information need, he or she usually consults the searching powers of Google. Results are usually at least somewhat relevant. Even if you misspell a word, Google offers corrections. With this in mind, Google seems like a good place to start research, but actually for this assignment, I consulted it near the end of my research process. In advanced search mode, I entered “post-traumatic stress disorder” in the exact phrase box and in the “all of these” box I typed “Iraq”. This search yielded the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder website, which is operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.[32] This is a useful site for soldiers to find out about PTSD symptoms and recovery. There is even a special area in this website which caters to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and families. For most Google searches of PTSD, I retrieved many relevant sources by browsing through the first few pages of results.

Amazon[33]

I enjoy using the Amazon site and I especially like the “Other customers bought this…” feature. I actually used this function to obtain highly relevant book records in my searches. A simple keyword search of “post-traumatic stress disorder” retrieved soldier memoirs and health books about PTSD. One such highly relevant item was a Clint Van Winkle’s memoir of his recovery from PTSD after serving in Iraq.[34] Autobiographical sources like these can give other soldiers inspiration and encouragement to seek treatment themselves. When I added the term “Iraq” to my searches, I obtained many more relevant books. I also browsed by subject (by clicking on “Customers also bought… and “Books on related topics”).

F. Conclusion

Through this assignment, I learned about the ways to retrieve and organize information. I learned how to locate and use controlled vocabulary in searches. I also refined my ability to search with natural language and often found myself combining CV with natural language to obtain highly relevant results. For my topic, this combination method worked best for most searches. However, the medical and psychological databases seemed to place an emphasis on controlled vocabulary. I therefore learned the scope of each new CV term that I encountered. Through analysis of database searches that obtained only a few relevant results, I also learned that PTSD is an under-represented issue in some fields such as sociology and alternative medicine.

This topic is a current issue for returning veterans and their loved ones. A larger amount of soldiers are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health problems, and I feel that the sources in this bibliography plan would help their situation. Also, this assignment helped me to gain further knowledge about searching. Not all information can be found using a simple Google search, and it is important that librarians be knowledgeable with different types of sources. A librarian must know how to search and organize information to suit a patron’s needs. Through the numerous controlled vocabulary and natural language searches in all of these sources, I gained an understanding of the fundamentals of information structure. This assignment provided an excellent opportunity to learn about different types of sources and their relevance to a given topic.

Appendix A: Search Strategy Relevancy Tables

Key:

These tables correspond to the databases in the order that they are listed.

Controlled vocabulary (CV) search terms are in ALL CAPS.

Exact phrases are enclosed in quotations.

Boolean connectors (AND, OR, NOT) are italicized.

An asterisk (*) indicates truncation or stemming.

Fields:

SU= Subject (CV)

DE= Descriptors (CV)

KW= Keyword (Natural Language)

TX= All text

Relevancy:

HR= Highly relevant, most items were relevant.

SR= Somewhat relevant, mix of relevant and non-relevant items.

NR= Not relevant, very few relevant items.

Search String

Field

Rating

Hawaii Voyager

IRAQ WAR, 2003 --PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS	SU	HR
VETERANS -MENTAL HEALTH- UNITED STATES and IRAQ	SU & KW	HR
COMBAT DISORDERS and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
WAR –PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS and veteran* and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
AFGHAN WAR, 2001 –PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS	SU	HR
STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC	SU	SR
WAR –PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS and Iraq	SU & KW	SR
VETERANS –PSYCHOLOGY	SU	SR
WAR -NEUROSES –UNITED STATES	SU	SR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER –ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT	SU	NR

Library of Congress

ptsd and veterans	KW	HR
VETERANS –MENTAL HEALTH –UNITED STATES and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
COMBAT DISORDERS and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
COMBAT –PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
“post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans”	KW	SR
“war neurosis”	KW	SR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER –UNITED STATES	SU	SR
PSYCHOLOGY, MILITARY and Iraq	SU & KW	NR
WAR –PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS and Iraq	SU & KW	NR

Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS)

VETERANS –MENTAL HEALTH	SU	HR
WAR –NEUROSES	SU	HR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER –UNITED STATES	SU	SR
WAR –PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS	SU	SR
COMBAT –PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS	SU	SR
STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC and Iraq	SU & KW	NR
PTSD –PSYCHIATRY	SU	NR
post-traumatic stress disorder and veterans	KW	NR

Academic Search Premier

post-traumatic stress disorder and Iraq	KW	HR
COMBAT PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS and Iraq	DE & KW	HR
REINTEGRATION OF VETERANS and POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER	DE	HR
IRAQ WAR, 2003- and POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER	DE	HR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER and Iraq and treatment	DE & KW	HR
ptsd and veteran*	KW	SR
“post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans”	KW	SR
COMBAT –PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS	DE	SR

MasterFile Premier

post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment and Iraq	TX	HR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER and Iraq	DE & TX	HR
IRAQ WAR, 2003- and POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER	DE	HR
WAR NEUROSES and IRAQ WAR, 2003-	DE	HR
post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment	TX	SR
“post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans”	TX	SR
SOLDIERS –UNITED STATES and POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER	DE	SR
war-neuroses and Iraq	TX	SR
war-neuroses and treatment	TX	NR
PSYCHOLOGY, MILITARY and IRAQ WAR, 2003-	DE	NR

Ingenta

combat disorder and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	KW	HR
post-traumatic stress disorder and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	KW	HR
soldiers mental health and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	KW	SR
ptsd and Iraq war	KW	SR

PsycInfo

soldier* and Iraq and post-traumatic stress disorder	KW	HR
post-traumatic stress disorder and Iraq	KW	HR
EMOTIONAL TRAUMA and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
COMBAT EXPERIENCE and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
MILITARY VETERANS and POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER and Iraq	SU & KW	HR
POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER and Iraq	SU & KW	SR
COMBAT EXPERIENCE and famil*	SU & KW	SR
POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER and COPING BEHAVIOR and veteran	SU & KW	SR
war neuroses and Iraq	KW	NR
“post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans”	KW	NR

PILOTS

post-traumatic stress disorder and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	KW	HR
post-traumatic stress disorder and (Afghanistan or Iraq) and therapy	KW	HR
PTSD and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	DE & KW	HR
PTSD and IRAQ WAR and (treatment or therapy)	DE & KW	HR
PTSD and (IRAQ WAR or AFGHAN WAR)	DE	HR
PTSD and (IRAQ WAR or AFGHAN WAR) and rehabilitation	DE & KW	HR
PTSD and (Afghanistan or Iraq) and famil*	DE & KW	HR
PTSD and (Afghanistan or Iraq) and treatment	DE & KW	HR

Alt- Health Watch

post-traumatic stress disorder and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	KW	HR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER –TREATMENT	SU	HR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER and SOLDIERS –HEALTH	SU	SR
post-traumatic stress disorder and veteran*	KW	SR
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER –TREATMENT and veteran*	SU & KW	NR
“post-traumatic stress disorder in Iraq”	KW	NR

Medline

post-traumatic stress disorder and Iraq	KW	HR
STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC and IRAQ WAR, 2003-	SU	HR
STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC THERAPY and IRAQ WAR, 2003-	SU	HR
COMBAT DISORDERS and IRAQ WAR, 2003-	SU	HR
STRESS DISORDERS, POST-TRAUMATIC PREVENTION & CONTROL and IRAQ WAR, 2003-	SU	SR
COMBAT DISORDERS and AFGHAN CAMPAIGN, 2001-	SU	SR

Sociological Abstracts

POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER and (treatment or therapy) and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	DE & KW	SR
post-traumatic stress disorder and veteran*	KW	SR
combat disorder and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	KW	NR
PTSD and (Afghanistan or Iraq)	KW	NR

Google

“post-traumatic stress disorder” (exact phrase) & Iraq veterans (all of these)	--	HR
“post-traumatic stress disorder” (exact phrase) & Iraq (all of these)	--	SR
“post-traumatic stress disorder” (exact phrase) & Afghanistan or Iraq	--	SR
“post-traumatic stress disorder” (exact phrase) & treatment therapy family (any of these)	--	SR

Amazon

post-traumatic stress disorder Iraq veteran	--	HR
post-traumatic stress disorder	--	SR
post-traumatic stress disorder Iraq	--	SR
post-traumatic stress disorder Iraq treatment	--	SR

Appendix B: Sample Annotated Bibliography with Sub-Topics

I. Adjusting to Civilian Life

1. Department of Veteran Affairs. Returning from the War Zone: A Guide for Military Personnel. Washington, D.C.: Department of Veteran Affairs, 2005. (VA 1.10:M59)

A guide to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how it relates to combat veterans, with a description of symptoms and treatment options. Provides general PTSD information in a clear and understandable format. Emphasizes the importance of getting treatment in order to fully recover. Valuable resource for returning soldiers who need help readjusting to civilian life.

2. Tanielian, Terri and Lisa H. Jaycox, eds. Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008. (RC 552. P67 T34 2008)

Discussion of psychological and cognitive injuries that are associated with military deployment. Places a special emphasis on PTSD and its relationship to major depression and traumatic brain injuries. Thorough examination of the real-life consequences of PTSD such as suicide, substance abuse, homelessness, etc. Includes several chapters that analyze the emotional fallout of the current Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

II. PTSD in Female Soldiers and Veterans

3. Feczer, Diana and Pamela Bjorklund. “Forever Changed: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Female Military Veterans, A Case Report,” Perspectives in Psychiatric Care 45:4 (October 2009): 278-291. (RC321 .P4)

Focuses on one female soldier’s experience with post-traumatic stress disorder following her return from Operation Iraqi Freedom. A comprehensive investigation of PTSD in combat veterans, including medical statistics and epidemiology. There is a discussion of the female subject’s deployments and recovery from PTSD, offering an assessment of the current status of post-traumatic stress disorder and its increasing significance to female soldiers.

4. Paulson, Daryl S. Haunted by Combat: Understanding PTSD in War Veterans Including Women, Reservists, and Those Coming Back from Iraq. Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007. (RC 552 .P67 P38)

Introduces post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by providing a thorough history of the condition and stresses the complexity of treatment and recovery. A comprehensive survey that examines the effects of PTSD in a diverse group of subjects including regular troops, reservists and civilians of all ages and backgrounds. Investigates the causes of PTSD and ways to alleviate symptoms. Contains several anecdotes from recent Iraq and Afghanistan battles and case reports of recovering veterans.

III. Couple and Family PTSD Therapy

5. Erbes, Christopher, Melissa A. Polusny, Shelly MacDermid, and Jill S. Compton. “Couple Therapy with Combat Veterans and Their Partners,” Journal of Clinical Psychology 64:8 (August 2008): 972-983. (RC 321. J74)

A thorough discussion of integrative behavioral couple therapy (IBCT) and its application to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Stresses the importance of couple and family therapy in the PTSD recovery process. A methodical analysis of the IBCT recovery process including a case report to illustrate the effectiveness of couple therapy for PTSD patients.