Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

This installment of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Disaster Behavioral Health Information Series (DBHIS) focuses on stress and the emotional and substance use effects of serving or having served in the military. The annotated bibliography includes direct links to tip sheets, guides, and other resources that can be used to help military personnel and their families cope with stress and deployment-related issues. The helpful links page provides a list of organizations, websites, and agencies that offer additional assistance.

Resources are organized as follows:

Annotated Bibliography

• For Military Personnel—Resources for military personnel to use in monitoring and protecting their own behavioral health while deployed overseas or when returning from a deployment.
• Returning from Deployment
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Stress
• Grief
• Suicide Prevention


• For Families of Military Personnel—Resources for the families of military personnel to use in monitoring their stress levels and substance use as well as protecting their own emotional health while their loved ones are away.
• Families
• Children


• For Teachers and Other School Personnel—Resources to help classroom teachers, school administrators, and school boards as they work with students who have a deployed parent.


• For Behavioral Health Professionals and Other Service Providers—Resources for trained behavioral health professionals to use when treating military personnel who are suffering from stress, PTSD, or other behavioral health conditions due to participation in combat, extended deployment, or disaster response. These materials should serve as a supplement to formal training and should not be used without prior experience and knowledge of treating military personnel.

Helpful Links

• Organizations Working with Military Personnel and Their Families
• Mental Health, Traumatic Stress, and PTSD
• Brain Injury
• Children with Parents in the Military
• Grief
• Suicide Prevention


• Websites for Service Providers That Are Working with Military Personnel and Their Families