The War Memorial as Healing Environment: The Psychological Effect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Vietnam War Combat Veterans’ Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that experiences with memorials might reduce trauma-related symptoms. Magazines and scholarly work suggest that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, helps Vietnam War veterans overcome combat-related losses. This study tested the memorial’s effect on veterans’ trauma-related symptoms and identified features of the memorial that impacted symptoms. The longitudinal, quasi-experiment was conducted using standardized measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. The study included 62 male Vietnam War combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD. The measures were administered before and after the trip to the memorial. The results showed that the severity of a veteran’s symptoms varied by how many times he had visited the memorial before the study. There were distinct links between the memorial’s design features and a veteran’s experiences of the memorial. The study’s results indicated that architects can create effective memorial designs by understanding how memorials facilitate the mourning processes.