at the uniformed services university of the health sciences in bethesda, maryland, dr. andy baum is studyg post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans. [dr. baum] we bring vietnam veterans and various control group subjects into our laboratory, and we ask them to watch a film which most people would consider stressful, but which combat veterans may find more stressful because it's a film of combat surgery. we measure their blood pressure and their heart rate before, while, and after they view the film to see how reactive they are to that kind of stressful, relevant stimulus. plse work rapidly. we ask them questions about how they feel, whether they are experiencing symptoms of somatic problems-- headaches, backaches, pains-- whether they're depressed or anxious, and whether there are certain kinds of situations that seem to make them feel that way. i think the thing we're most interested in and the thing i most want to understand how these acute events become such long-term albatrosses for people and why it is, while most people can deal with these things, why it is some