The Postwar Healing of Vietnam Veterans: Recent Research

The author discusses four themes in the literature on Vietnam veterans' readjustment to civilian life: the unique characteristics of the war; postwar malaise and clinical syndromes; different response patterns to combat experience; and the unique aspects of psychological recovery and healing among Vietnam veterans. After examining literature related to each theme, he warns that therapists and researchers must recognize the diversity of veterans' experiences and of their responses to combat. He points out that the majority of veterans suffer from a subclinical malaise rather than from a diagnosable disorder, and that these veterans could benefit greatly from some form of intervention. Finally, to advance postwar healing, the author stresses the importance of more subtle conceptualizations of stress, more varied forms of intervention, and greater efforts to rehabilitate national respect for service.