Monday, February 8, 2010
PTSD and Trench Warfare
Since soldiers in the trenches during WWI were packed tightly together, they surely witnessed traumatic deaths to their left and right. This firsthand experience (literally feet, even inches away from the brutal deaths) accounted for the great amount of PTSD patients after the war, even if they did not know it was actually a disease. PTSD represents the worldwide emotional and psychological consequences of WWI and its chaotic methods of trench warfare. Perhaps this severe mental disease (plus the fact that trench warfare was inefficient) acted as one of the reasons why trench warfare did not carry on into WWII. The main powers saw the effects of battle on their returning soldiers and may have rethought trench warfare, shaping the modern world of warcraft (haha)
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ReplyDeleteI don't know that leaders saw or acknowledged PTSD as a condition. Perhaps you are right in the sense that men who were soldiers become generals and remember their horrible experiences. They might attempt to change the shape of war to spare their men the same experience that they had. Other than that though, I doubt that any serious recognition was given to this illness.
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