There is definitely a connection between Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the soldiers who fought in WWI, there's no question about that. In any war, especially a war on such a large scale, there will be many soldiers affected by PTSD. We know that military combat counts as a "traumatic event" that leads to PTSD, but what about the nature of warfare in WWI, would differentiate PTSD cases from other wars?
The use of poison gas must have been a factor for PTSD in the Great War. Soldiers witnessing their comrades die in such a helpless manner would have traumatized the mind. Seeing them unable to defend themselves against an enemy wafting in on the breeze must have been so foreign to the soldiers they could easily have gotten PTSD.
The new fighting styles in World War I would contribute to PTSD, too. The few surviving soldiers of an "up and over" charge would be traumatized by the sight of hundreds of their fellow soldiers dead. The futile nature of these charges combined with the new weapons technology designed to more effectively kill would make a fearsome sight. Repeating these senseless charges, with no hope of success, would play tricks with a soldier's mind.
In every war there is PTSD. The varied percents of those affected by PTSD depends on the harshness of the combat experiences in the war, and even though term post-traumatic stress disorder wasn't coined until the '70s, there's no doubt it played a role in the surviving soldiers after the war ended.
This was a very good point that PTSD occurs in any war. We proved this when we learned about the PTSD that is happening now with soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think that one reason that the rates of PTSD were particularly high during WWI is that the level of torture had not really been seen in a global scale. Because of this, there was not much awareness of PTSD. I think that today suffering with PTSD can be slightly aided.
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