Ptsd
 

I was just wondering if someone, (maybe who served in Korea or WW 2) can tell me why they never mentioned PTSD and it seems from Vietnam Nam to Afganistan, it has become a big mental health issue.

They used to call it "shell shock" or "battle fatigue". It is why my father and many of his friends were alcoholics.

PTSD and shell shock are the same. And they are different.

The same because shell shock was an intellectual forerunner to PTSD. PTSD was influenced by the experiences of psychiatrists working with veterans returning from Vietnam. As such the two ideas set out to do pretty much the same thing.

The difference however is that shell shock was specific to the experiences of combat whereas the concept of PTSD has developed to be more wide ranging.

My father and three uncles came back from serving in WW2 and also became alcoholics. The local tap rooms in the local neighborhoods were full of them Friday through Saturday night in the post war years. If you truly went around the bend you were institutionalized in state run mental hospitals and you never came out. As a result of a court order, I think, in the early or late 1960s the institutions were closed and depopulated with patients turned out on the streets. My personal opinion is that that a lot of dangerous people on our streets today would be locked up if the system still existed. Whether such a system can be rationalized and justified is another question entirely.

My poor sweet uncle was never the same after serving in Korea. I remember, when I was a kid, my mother attributing it to his having been "gassed" in the war. Poor guy could never hold a job after that. Uncle Dave. He was so good to us kids.

I think PTSD has always been there. We just know more about it now.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

Some of the better novels/histories about war cover post traumatic stress disorder in just about every war they are describing especially if horrible things happened in those conflicts. Anything from the Battle of Agincourt to the Battle of Okinawa to those fighting in Afghanistan now.

I have also seen it from first responders as I watched my uncle's face as he described cleaning up of an airplane crash near O'Hare Airport in the late 1970s. He was the Fire Chief of Itasca, Illinois. But he did not like talking about it all that much. American Airlines Flight 191 - Wikipedia

I see that you are relatively new to TOTV'S and will temper my reply. I read your post as if you are questioning the diagnosis of people currently suffering from PTSD and making a comparison that is Apples to Oranges. It is a much different world now than it was before.

If it is questioning a specific person you know that has been diagnosed tell us what you have done to help him or her instead of questioning the difference between the times of Boardwalk Empire (1920's & 1930's) and Empire (2018).

If that isn't what you meant I apologize. People from a very bad time in N.Y.C. suffer with it every day all these days after that terrible event. Imagine the poor souls living with that pain. No specifics need be mentioned in this forum. In my opinion, it's like me saying I have a headache an someone saying I don't. :ohdear:

Here’s another link to some information on PTSD...

History of PTSD: How Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was Slowly Recognized as a Disorder

When such effects on those who had fought in the Civil War were seen, the term “Soldier’s Heart” came into use.

Experts - 'soldier's Heart' And 'shell Shock:' Past Names For Ptsd | The Soldier's Heart | FRONTLINE | PBS

Had not heard of "Soldier's Heart" before. Thanks for the information.

CFrance I also believe that holding a job was typically the last thing to go with a person suffering from PTSD. Alcoholism, social issues, daily anger, family issues, divorce, and destructive self esteem usually precede loosing ones job. (if at all). The job is usually the easiest to hold onto.

Well, at least their marriage held together. The family was so critical of him. It couldn't have helped.

To the OP, I for one am glad the condition has been identified and is being studied for a possible solution. My belief is it has always been there.

Post Traumatic Stress disorder has been mentioned as a factor in the mass shooting in California this week. The young man had seen action. However I read an article from a credible source that said his high school track coach said he had attacked her. She did not report it. That suggests to me that he had anger issues early on and could have had mental issues then.

Some things we will never know. It does seem that the moral fabric of our society is torn in a way that I have never realized or at least not been aware of in my long life. I don't know if it is how we are raising our children, handing them over early to others, or if it has to do with the enormous problem of drug addiction, or if we as a society have turned away from rules and are playing some game of see what I can get away with.

I am sure I am not alone in saying it breaks my heart.

Technology has advanced way past our early time and far more information is available now than ever before. I don't think things have changed too much, just different. Every generation seems to think things are getting worse, not better. From my perspective, my children have had far more opportunities than we did.

one reason it may seem you hear more about it since Vietnam and the Middle East wars is how they were fought. In these wars, there was no sense of "safety" being "behind the lines". It is often not possible to know who was threat. so the "fight or flight" response was always on, flooding the body and mind with adrenaline. So always in constant stress. As for other wars, as others said, my mother said my father was never the same...he certainly had the anger part.