Myke Cole talks about What PTSD is:
I’ve talked before about genre writers who have been very open about personal trials, particularly the kind of depression/anxiety conditions that I feel are a natural part of the uneven terrain all authors have to walk. I’ve always appreciated their willingness to go public with these issues, as the first (and false) thing that most people suffering from these sorts of things think is a.) that they’re alone and b.) the problem is unique to them...
... I’d seen the ads on AFN, showing young men with gunpowder still on their hands, often fresh off the battlefield, having trembling flashbacks of a firefight where their best friend went down right next to them. THAT was PTSD.
Except, it wasn’t.
Go, RTWT.
My comment last night was that going by this view, for most of human existence, PTSD has been the norm. It makes me wonder how we might change out foreign policy interactions - say, in Afghanistan - if we were to recognize that for many populations in the world, this is still the norm.
I also hesitate to say it, but... traditionally, the military has been a conservative institution (and I'm using "conservative" in the "civilization vs. barbarian" meaning of the term). I wonder how much of that is exactly because it is made up of individuals with a very different world view than then general populace; individuals with an understanding at a very visceral, personal level that the world is not a safe place.
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