Soldier Trauma Essay

They leave their homes to fight and make the world a better place, but come home completely different. They are war heroes who cannot seem to adjust to everyday life, so they see a doctor. Once evaluated, they are given a name with a lot of technical jargon to follow. However, no soldier is told what it is, does, or how it will change their life forever. It has gone by many names: Shellshock, Battle Exhaustion, Aftershock, Post-Vietnam Syndrome, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not an uncommon occurrence for soldiers. It has been taking place under many names and many different forms since the First World War. However, even though it is a widely known and accepted disorder today, it has not always been this
Had the belief that psychological or physical trauma assisted in soldiers’ vulnerability to this disorder, even those without a history of psychological problems, been widely accepted, the understanding of what became PTSD could have been created at a substantially earlier date. However, in the years after World War Two, there was a large amount of stigma surrounding the diagnosis of Gross Stress Reaction. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Ontario, Canada defines the stigma surrounding mental health as: having fixed ideas and judgments—such as thinking that people with substance use and mental health problems are not normal or not like us; that they caused their own problems; or that they can simply get over their problems if they want to.
This stigma prevented many soldiers from seeking the help they needed, and potentially made room for more problems later in life. This stigma followed through until the Cold War Era in Canada. The treatments for Gross Stress Reaction during this time was more humane than the treatment of Shellshock, however, it was still incredibly disruptive to the lives of the soldiers who were treated at the