Mental Health Needs of Cohabiting Partners of Vietnam Veterans With Combat-Related PTSD

Cohabitating female partners of male combat Veterans who were receiving outpatient posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment at two Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers completed a telephone survey to assess partner treatment needs and current rates of treatment use. Although most women rated individual therapy, family therapy, and women-only groups to help cope with a partner with PTSD as highly important, only slightly more than one-quarter of the women had received any mental health care in the previous six months.