Types of Trauma

Veterans may go through many different kinds of traumatic and stressful experiences. During wartime, types of traumatic experiences include combat, blasts, sexual assault, witnessing death and injury, and living in severe conditions.

The effects of war on veterans include specific effects associated with various groups such as women veterans and older veterans, and associated with various events such as war zone exposure, peacekeeping situations, and more. Veterans of various ethnic minority groups might have special needs. Here you will find fact sheets and videos specific to ethnic minority veterans.

Recent research has confirmed high rates of military sexual trauma (MST), which occurs for both men and women. MST includes sexual harassment and sexual assault. These pages tell you about these types of sexual trauma and other violence and how they may affect survivors and their loved ones.