Human Adaptation to Extreme Stress

This book is one additional indication that a new field of study is emerging within the social sciences, if it has not emerged already. Here is a sampling of the fruit of a field whose roots can be traced to the earliest medical writings in Kahun Papyrus in 1900 B.C. In this document, according to Ilza Veith, the earliest medical scholars described what was later identified as hysteria. This description was long before the 1870s and 1880s when Char­ cot speculated on the etiology of hysteria and well before the first use of the term traumatic neurosis at the turn of this Century. Traumatic stress studies is the investigation of the immediate and long-term psychosocial consequences of highly stressful events and the factors that affect those consequences. This definition includes three primary elements: event, conse­ quences, and causal factors affecting the perception of both. This collection of papers addresses all three elements and collectively contributes to our understanding and appreciation of the struggles of those who have en­ dured so much, often with little recognition of their experiences.

Contenu

I. Theory.- 1: Understanding the Traumatized Self: Imagery, Symbolization, and Transformation.- 2: The Serial Self: War Trauma, Identity, and Adult Development.- 3: Coping with Extreme Trauma.- 4: Diagnosis and Phase-Oriented Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.- 5: Conceptual Issues in Research with Survivors and Illustrations from a Follow-Up Study.- II. Research.- 6: Combat Experience, Comradeship, and Psychological Health.- 7: The Psychological Effects of Being a Prisoner of War.- 8: Predictors of Psychological Well-Being among Survivors of the Holocaust.- 9: Dominant Attitudes of Adult Children of Holocaust Survivors toward Their Parents.- 10: Confronting the Unimaginable: Psychotherapists' Reactions to Victims of the Nazi Holocaust.- III. Treatment.- 11: Post-Traumatic Self Disorders (PTsfD): Theoretical and Practical Considerations in Psychotherapy of Vietnam War Veterans.- 12: Treatment Issues in the Psychotherapy of Holocaust Survivors.- 13: The Psychiatric Effects of Massive Trauma on Cambodian Refugees.- 14: Diagnosis and Treatment of Survivor Guilt: The Bad Penny Syndrome.- 15: Native American Healing and Purification Rituals for War Stress.- 16: Complicated Postcombat Disorders in Vietnam Veterans: Comprehensive Diagnosis and Treatment in the VA System.- Epilogue.