Addressing the Trauma of Combat

Combat trauma is one of the most horrific traumatic events that a person can suffer, says Kathryn Basham, professor with the Smith College School for Social Work. In Iraq, she says, the trauma is compounded by multiple tours of duty with extended deployments. Basham has served on a congressionally mandated committee that in September will issue a report exploring the physiologic, psychologic and psychosocial effects of deployment-related stress during the Gulf War and in Iraq and Afghanistan.