PTSD in history, other cultures

[Ken White]

, though I think I recall LTC(R) Grossman saying something about SOF guys being sociopaths....but sociopaths in a good, sheepdog-like way.

After all, we can't really bark; we gotta bite to get the point across to the wolves...

[davidbfpo]

A colleague and friend who worked in Cambodia, after the UN supervised election, approx. ten years ago, found that the whole nation has been traumatised.

I would suggest that PTSD features in machete conflicts, for example child soldiers in West Africa. Western knowledge of this is dependent on access, language skills etc (prompting what books are there in French, Algeria?). More likely is population movement to the West, so enabling visibility in their writings, asylum procedures (court proceedings eg Zimbabwe in the UK) and the work of such bodies as the UK (name unsure of) Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture.

davidbfpo

[Ski]

Jonthan Shay's book "Odysseus in America" and "Achilles in Vietnam" are probably the two best books I've read on the subject. Shay uses examples from Greek mythos as a lens to examine PTSD and combat trauma.

[120mm]

My memory fails me, but I believe there was a "compare and contrast" work out there, that addressed Luftwaffe vs. USAAC efforts to deal with "combat fatigue.

I also saw an interesting History Channel series that, (despite it's main theme of attempting to prove that God doesn't exist,) showed how Hebrew warriors cleansed themselves, mentally, morally and physically, after battle.

I'm particularly interested in at what point does "PTSD" change from being a normal reaction to sustained stress, and start being a genuine disease. I'm also wondering how PTSD can be "spread" through suggestion.

I am a pretty emotional guy, and I have a non-combat MTBI from a few years ago, and I swear nearly everywhere I go, medic types try to push a PTSD classification on me, despite never having been exposed to a situation that could be remotely classified as stressful during OIF I.