PTSD is something that occurs when you find out that Antagonist A is sending their kids to say "hi" Canadian solidiers ‘cuz they‘re handing out candy etc. Then finding those kids blown to bits by mortars the next day, or watching it happen. Antagonist A blames B. Later, you find out that Antagonist A ordered the mortar shells, and that Antagonist B was nowhere near. Do the math.
It may not happen then, but it can happen after 3, 4, 5 similar instances, especially if you‘re not allowed to do anything about it, or have to stand and watch. Like any psychological problem, a lot of it stems from a feeling of helplessness. You may be the meanest, best trained soldier on the face of the planet, but if in spite of all that you are wholly incapable of changing something that is just plain wrong, you could conceivably snap.
It may sound trite (but then, I‘m a civilian), but M*A*S*H has some really good episodes on people dealing with PTSD, or shell-shock. You see enough horror, and your mind shuts down.
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A quote from the (old) 2RCR web site:
Swank and Marchand‘s World War II study determined that after 60 days of continuous combat, 98 percent of all surviving soldiers will have become psychiatric casualties of one kind or another. (Swank and Marchand also found that the 2 percent who are able to endure sustained combat had as their most common trait a predisposition toward "aggressive psychopathic personalities.")
- David A. Grossman
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