*Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Capps, Donald. Fragile Connections; Memoirs of Mental Illness for Pastoral Care Professionals. Chalice Press, 2005  This is a collection of stories related to mental illness in general. An insightful window into mental illness and an appropriate pastoral care response.

Canterell, Bridget, C. Down Range: To Iraq and Back. WordsmithBooks, 2005.
This is an excellent book explaining war trauma, and the way that it changes people. It is for those seriously interested in the transition from war back to peace. It was recommended over and over by soldiers who had fought in Iraq (when I, Lora, worked at Walter Reed Army Hospital for one year). The soldiers found they understood themselves better and it helped them to explain their situations to their families.

Day, Jackson H. Risking Connection in Faith Communities: A Training Curriculum for Faith Leaders Supporting Trauma Survivors. Sidran Press, 2006.

Fuller Rogers, Dalene C. Pastoral Care for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Healing the Shattered Soul. Haworth Press, 2002.  A good resource including information on PTSD; causes, symptoms and treatment. It has a section on working with therapists, counselors and doctors. This book includes resources for thinking theologically about PTSD and the spiritual implications of trauma, for reading and interpreting scripture from a trauma lens as well as suggestions for rituals and services for victims of trauma. The book has a section on veterans as well as pastoral care issues for pastors and caregivers.

Grossman, Dave and Loren Christensen . On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace . PPCT Research Publications, 2004.  Explores in detail what physically and mentally happens to most people when confronted with a deadly threat.

Quynn Elizabeth. Accepting the Ashes- A Daughter's Look at Post Traumatic Stress Disorder . WomanKraft Press, 2005.   Authored by the daughter of a combat veteran of the Viet Nam war.  After battling PTSD for over 3 decades, her father died in 2004.  After his death, she wrote this book to share her experience with other veterans and their families as they are now trying to understand and live with the common result of war, PTSD. See also the book's website.

Tick, Edward. War and the Soul : Healing Our Nation's Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Quest Books, 2005. 
Still living in an interior war zone, the heart responds to everyday situations as though they were vicious attacks, to ordinary relationships as though they were the friends and enemies from the battlefield.  Thus, while our nation and others around the world continue their war-making, while many citizens living in safety and affluence remain ignorant of war's true cost, countless veterans and survivors remain trapped for life in that landscape of hell we call war.

Williams, Kayla. Love my Rifle more than You. W.W.Norton, 2006.
A poignant and insightful memoir of one woman's decision to join the army, her experience in Iraq and the day to day reality of fighting in the Middle East. 

Yoder, Carolyn. The Little Book of Trauma Healing: When Violence Strikes and Community is Threatened. Good Books, 2005. "The primary premise and challenge of this Little Book is that traumatic events and times have the potential to awaken the human spirit, and, indeed, the global family. But this requires acknowledging our own history and that of the enemy, honestly searching for root causes, and shifting our emphasis from national security to human security."

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