As early as 1970, VVAW initiated "rap groups" to help veterans readjust: these were venues for veterans to discuss troubling aspects of the war, their disillusionment, and experiences after returning home. They gained the aid of prominent psychiatrists Dr. Robert Jay Lifton and Dr. Chaim F. Shatan to direct their sessions. VVAW's work contributed to "Post-Vietnam Syndrome" being recognized in 1980 as posttraumatic stress disorder by the American Psychiatric Association in its "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders." Such discussion groups are often used in the VVAW "rap group" treatment methods are the basis for treating PTSD today.