Recovering From the War: A Woman's Guide to Helping Your Vietnam Vet, Your Family, and Yourself

Delves into the various problems that confront Vietnam veterans and their families

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a trendy diagnosis applied to survivors of everything from childhood sexual abuse to the Vietnam war. However, Mason, wife of a Vietnam helicopter pilot, plows through the battlefields of Vietnam, describing their horrors and clearly analyzing why this particular war left an inordinate number of veterans psychologically disabled. In demonstrating how family members can help victims of PTSD, Mason treats the family as a system in need of repair--she posits that a disturbed veteran's family develops unhealthy ways of compensating for his behavior that paradoxically enable him to remain dysfunctional--much like the codependent families that surround and protect alcoholics. Addressed to women who have relationships with Vietnam vets, the book will be beneficial to anyone who loves, works with or simply wants to understand someone damaged by the war. Author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The wife of the author of a best-selling Vietnam memoir, Chickenhawk ( LJ 7/83) , Mason is a trained crisis-counselor, which may be one reason why her book consistently provides such down-to-earth wisdom. Mason admirably counsels loved ones (and the vets who might be reading over their shoulders) on how to deal with such post-traumatic stress disorders as emotional isolation, impacted grief, and continual flashbacks of long-ago traumas. She also explains why spouses and family should strive to avoid a co-dependent, co-survivor relationship, instead offering insightful guidance on furthering the healing process for troubled vets who have become experts at psychic numbing. Compelling, well researched, and important. For all general collections.
- William Abrams, Portland State Univ. Lib., Ore.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.