Similarities Between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder And The Military

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Military
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health disorder that must be better understood by the military. PTSD, battle fatigue, shell shock, and several other phrases describe a condition that has been observed in war veterans for centuries. In Achilles in Vietnam, Jonathan Shay studied veterans of the Vietnam War with PTSD and explained the similarities between these veterans and Achilles in the book The Iliad. PTSD is triggered by traumatic events that result in symptoms that can lead to very bad behavioral problems. Without proper awareness and understanding of how to identify and treat the disorder, many veterans will have difficulty functioning normally in society. For this
These types of trauma were shown in The Iliad when Agamemnon betrayed Achilles by taking away Bresies, a girl he captured during the war and considered to be rightfully his. This made Achilles so angry he wanted to kill Agamemnon. Achilles suffered even more pain when his very close friend, Patroclus, was killed “My comrade is dead, lying in my hut mangled with bronze, his feet turned toward the door, and around him, our friends grieve. Nothing matters to me now” (Homer Book 19.226). Traumatic events such as watching others die, being wounded, or carrying out orders to kill others when there is no moral reason to do so are common reasons for the onset of
According to Shay, going berserk may cause the victim to kill and mutilate many people without thinking about their own safety or the safety of others. In The Iliad, Achilles shows similar behavior when he kills hundreds of the enemy troops on his own without showing any mercy, even when the river tries to drown him. Achilles also shows animal-like behavior to Hector before and after he kills him. Hector asked Achilles to honor his corpse if he is killed. Achilles refuses, saying: “Don’t try to cut any deals with me, Hector. Do lions make peace treaties with men? Do wolves and lambs agree to get along? No, they hate each other to the core, and that’s how it is between you and me, no talk of agreements until one of us falls and gluts Ares with his blood.” (Homer Book 22.287) If the symptoms of PTSD go untreated, it can be very difficult for the victim to function in society. In the book The Things They Carried, the quote: "The war was over and there was no place in particular to go" (O’Brien 157) shows the feelings of the inability to fit in. Other long term symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, detachment, memory loss, and constantly being on guard. Many soldiers still subconsciously prepare for an attack even if they are just sitting at home. An example of this is when Shay