Post-traumatic Stress Disorders

Last update: 24 November 2011,
by Maureen Bell

For practice guidelines related to post-traumatic stress and its treatment click here.

Mental health staff have access to the Journal of Traumatic Stress. You'll find it in the e-Journals A-Z list at the top right of this page.

Military Psychiatry

War Neuroses : Netley Hospital, 1917 : Wellcome Film
This film is from the Wellcome Film collection, an online digital collection of moving images on 20th-century healthcare and medicine, chronicling the history of medicine over the last 100 years. The film shows the symptomatology of shell-shock in 18 men and its treatment by two leading R.A.M.C. neurologists in two British military hospitals towards the end of the First World War.

ADF Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy
The 2011 ADF publication Capability through mental fitness: Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, provides a blueprint for the development of the 2012-2015 Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan; which will allow the finalisation of the Dunt review (Review of Mental Health Care in the ADF and Transition through Discharge) recommendations, and align Defence with the national mental health reform agenda.

ADF Mental Health Reform Program
Includes full text of a number of reports.

Dents in the Soul: Dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
A video produced by the Australian Department of Defence - Joint Health Command, dealing with post traumatic stress disorder in a military context.

Mental Health in the Australian Defence Force and Transition Through Discharge
Includes the full text of Professor David Dunt's Review of Mental Health Care in the ADF and Transition through Discharge, January 2009, as well as the Government's reponse.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Diagnosis and Assessment
Subcommittee on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder of the Committee on Gulf War and Health: Physiologic, Psychologic, and Psychosocial Effects of Deployment-Related Stress. Washington D.C., National Academies Press, 2006.

PTSD Compensation and Military Service
Committee on Veterans' Compensation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Board on Military and Vterans' Health. Washington D.C., National Academies Press, 2007.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorders

All In The Mind - 9 October 2004 - When trauma tips you over: PTSD Part 1
All In The Mind - 16 October 2004 - The Scene of the Crime: One Too Many? PTSD Part 2
All In The Mind - 28 October 2006 - Therapy in the shadow of terror
All In The Mind - 12 February 2011 - The mind in crisis: to debrief or not to debrief?
Transcripts and audios from All in the Mind, a series on ABC Radio National. Other programs can be found here

Annual Literature Summary - Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health
Includes articles in the field of trauma, PTSD and related conditions. It is not intended to be a comprehensive literature review and does not provide a critical analysis; rather, it is a selection of articles published during the year that ACPMH consider important contributions to the trauma and mental health field. Material on military mental health is included.

Bessel van der Kolk
Bessel van der Kolk is a world authority on PTSD. This web page, from the Trauma Center of the Justice Research Institute, describes his work and links to some of his writings.

CDC | Disaster Mental Health Resources
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.

Center for Mental Health Services - Tips for Talking About Disasters
The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is the Federal agency within the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that leads national efforts to improve prevention and mental health treatment services.

Center for Mental Health Services - Publications on Mental Health and Disaster Issues
Publications on Mental Health & Disaster Issues, from the The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Mental Health Information Center in the United States.

David Baldwin's Trauma Information Pages
This is an excellent site with many links to journal articles and reports.

Disaster Psychiatry Resources
The Disaster Psychiatry page was developed by the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster to provide information useful to psychiatrists in preparing for and responding to disasters and other traumatic events.

Disasters & Terrorism
Resources from The American Psychological Association Help Center.

Field Manual for Mental Health and Human Service Workers in Major Disasters
By Deborah J. DeWolfe and edited by Diana Nordboe. DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-537 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Printed 2000. This pocket reference provides the basics of disaster mental health, with numerous specific and practical suggestions for workers.

Mental Health and Traumatic Events
Resources from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Mental Health Response to Mass Violence and Terrorism: A Training manual
The document was written by Deborah J. DeWolfe, and reviewed by a group of experts on mass violence and mental health response. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, 2004.

PILOTS Database
Produced by the National Center for PTSD, the PILOTS database is an electronic index to the worldwide literature on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health consequences of exposure to traumatic events. Access is free to all.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Gateway
A public service of the Dart Foundation in the United States.

Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism: A Public Health Strategy
Committee on Responding to the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism, Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, Institute of Medicine. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 2003.

Psychosocial Issues for Children and Families in Disasters: A Guide for the Primary Care Physician
This report was produced by the Work Group on Disasters American Academy of Pediatrics. Copyright Saylor, Swenson, and Stokes, 1994.

Resource Guide for Critical Incident Stress and Debriefing in Human Service Agencies
Published by the Human Resources Branch, Victorian Government Department of Human Services, May 1997.

Trauma Response®
From the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, a collection of articles, many of which have appeared in their journal Trauma Response.

Traumatic Stress & Secondary Traumatic Stress Compassion Fatigue, and Vicarious Traumatization
A page produced by Beth Hudnall Stamm, a research psychologist. Included in the resources is a useful collection of tests.

Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Assessment of the Evidence
Committee on Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Institute of Medicine. Washington D.C., National Academies Press, 2008.

Virtual Hospital: Clinical Psychopharmacology Seminar : Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
The Virtual Hospital is a digital library of health information from the University of Iowa. On January 1, 2006, Virtual Hospital ceased operations due to a lack of funding.

WHO | Mental Health in Emergencies
A collection of World health Organization documents on refugees and those exposed to conflict situations.