Survivors

How war vets—and the rest of us—heal from trauma.

by Tracy Stecker, Ph.D.

The Association Between Violence and PTSD

"It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness" Confuscius. The worst part for him was standing there watching, not being able to do anything to help as he watched an Afghan man whip an innocent 8-year old Afghan boy at his captain's urging. Read More

How Brotherhood Heals Trauma

I am not a warrior. No one would accuse me of looking like a warrior. It would surprise people who know me to know that I love war movies like the HBO television series "Band of Brothers" based on novels written by historian Stephen Ambrose. Read More

Hire a Vet

Hire a vet

When I have a job opening, I look for candidates possessing the following qualities:

CompetenceDisciplineStructure and skills in organizationLoyalty

It's my opinion that individuals who serve in the military have tendencies toward the four qualities listed above. In addition, they tend to have the following qualities: Read More

Why dogs heal PTSD

Many of our military personnel returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been traumatized by their experiences in the warzones. While the majority struggle with their experiences, most will not go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops as a result of a traumatic experience and involves symptoms of vigilance (i.e., bei Read More

Asking for help

Two years ago, a military nurse who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan tried to kill himself for the first time. Since then, he has had three suicide attempts, has lost his livelihood and experiences extreme anxiety at the idea of stepping foot inside a hospital because of his traumatic experience in a warzone. He has still not gotten any help. Read More

Tracy Stecker, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Psychiatric Research Center in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School.

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