Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

PTSD

Discussion in 'WWII General' started by Krystal80, Mar 23, 2011.

  1. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,021
    Likes Received:
    1,815
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    \

    Several of them desperately needed it too.
     
  2. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,808
    Likes Received:
    3,036
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    This was originally published last summer. Must be a slow news day.
    "Young British men who have served in the armed forces are three times more likely to have been convicted of violent offences than their civilian peers, according to a study published on Friday.
    The report in the Lancet, the first to marry the experiences of almost 14,000 military personnel with details on the Police National Computer, also shows how troops who have been in combat are more likely to be involved in violent offending back in the UK.
    The study's authors believe this raises questions about how the military and the NHS supports serving and former troops, some of whom end up abusing alcohol or developing severe mental health illnesses following tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    Drawing on a random sample of 13,856 serving and ex-personnel mostly from the army, researchers from King's College London looked at criminal offending rates and the possible links between them and post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and other mood disorders.
    The study found that of 2,700 men serving in the armed forces under the age of 30, 20.6% had been convicted of a violent offence, compared with 6.7% in the general population. Men who had seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan were 53% more likely to commit a violent offence than those in non-frontline roles. And personnel who had multiple experiences of combat had a 70% to 80% greater risk of being convicted of acts of violence.
    Violent offences covered a broad range of acts, from verbal harassment to homicide. They did not include incidents of domestic violence."
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/15/soldiers-convicted-violent-offences-report

    Same doctor recently spoke at this seminar. Would have liked to hear her-
    http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/news/events/2013/feb/The-Psychology-of-Violence.aspx
     
  3. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,808
    Likes Received:
    3,036
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    There ya go, Jugs.
    Sorry Urq, somehow managed to lose your post.
     
  4. urqh

    urqh Tea drinking surrender monkey

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2002
    Messages:
    9,683
    Likes Received:
    955
    Censorship.....Don't worry...It was not really at home in the ptsd thread anyway....No worries.
     
  5. Fred Wilson

    Fred Wilson "The" Rogue of Rogues

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2007
    Messages:
    3,000
    Likes Received:
    328
    Location:
    Vernon BC Canada
  6. Ilhawk

    Ilhawk New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2015
    Messages:
    383
    Likes Received:
    44
    I have 2 reactions. First the article is stupid. Fireworks can be causes and stressors to ptsd. Attention getting for some? Maybe. Real for others? For sure. People with PTSD can get worn out by it and I can easily see people putting up signs trying to stop it.

    Second, I do think the signs can be demeaning. PTSD is complex and there are many triggers/stressors. The signs in a sense cheapen the illness.

    In all the interviews I've done, I've not come across one 327 guy who didn't exhibit signs of PTSD from ww2. Some of the guys die absolutely terrible deaths if they slip away slowly with flashbacks and dreams.

    If you can find it, I highly suggest reading Louis Simpson's Soldier's Heart. It is about PTSD. He earned a Pulitzer. He also earned a Purple Heart with the 327 GIR.

    Here is one of his poems put to words on youtube. Take the time to really listen to it. This was fought in an ambush along the Carentan Canal au Flot to the marina. 327 G was on the west bank. 401 A (327 3Bn) on the east.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtb1gxZ9kM0

    In another work about the same fight, he talks about several buddies crying out Momma Mia Momma Mia as they were dying.

    For you Michiganders' John Beilein's Uncly Tom Niland was in this fight.
     
  7. Fred Wilson

    Fred Wilson "The" Rogue of Rogues

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2007
    Messages:
    3,000
    Likes Received:
    328
    Location:
    Vernon BC Canada
  8. Ilhawk

    Ilhawk New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2015
    Messages:
    383
    Likes Received:
    44
  9. Takao

    Takao Ace

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    10,103
    Likes Received:
    2,574
    Location:
    Reading, PA
  10. Fred Wilson

    Fred Wilson "The" Rogue of Rogues

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2007
    Messages:
    3,000
    Likes Received:
    328
    Location:
    Vernon BC Canada
    Thanks! Website says you can read it free by opening an account.
    $14.00 for 12 pages? [​IMG]
     
  11. Takao

    Takao Ace

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    10,103
    Likes Received:
    2,574
    Location:
    Reading, PA
    You can read online for free, but you have to register with JSTOR, then you can read up to 3 JSTOR articles for free every 14 days.
     
  12. Ilhawk

    Ilhawk New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2015
    Messages:
    383
    Likes Received:
    44
    If you know someone at a university or certain libraries i think it can be free through j store.
     
  13. Weathy

    Weathy New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2018
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    According to the VA, during WWI PTSD was referred to as Shell Shock, and during WWII the term was replaced by Combat Stress Reaction (CSR) or Battle Fatigue.
    Does anyone know with any authority, outside the medical profession, did lay people more commonly say Combat Stress Reaction or Battle Fatigue. Interested for historical fiction accuracy.
     
  14. lwd

    lwd Ace

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    12,322
    Likes Received:
    1,245
    Location:
    Michigan
    When I was growing up (50's and 60's) I heard the terms "combat fatigue" or "battle fatigue" fairly often. Never (that I remember) heard the term "Combat Stress Reaction". If you have access to an on line newspaper depository you might be able to search for the terms there (if they are in a scan able format). You might also want to consider starting a thread specifically to answer this question. The information request sub forum is designed for questions like this.
     
  15. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,180
    Likes Received:
    5,654
    Read the Medical Department Green Book.
     
  16. lwd

    lwd Ace

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    12,322
    Likes Received:
    1,245
    Location:
    Michigan
    There are 4 of them. In the one dedicated to Europe I see "combat exhaustion" mentioned more than "Combat fatigue" but no mention of "Combat Stress Reaction" In the one on the Pacific war "Combat Stress" appears a couple of times but no "Combat Stress Reaction". Combat and Battle "fatigue both occur more often. The one on the Med is all "Battle Fatigue". None of them appear in the zone of the interior document but "operational fatigue" does. This was from a rather cursory search.
     
  17. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,180
    Likes Received:
    5,654
    The Commanding General's final report for Bougainville mentions "Lack of moral fiber". He states that men diagnosed with this should never be in positions of authority in the USMC.
     
  18. wooley12

    wooley12 Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2017
    Messages:
    708
    Likes Received:
    200
    Location:
    PNW
    Some interesting opinions here in this thread. I've done a lot of reading of bios, conversing with Ranger descendants and some WWII medical research. When I got interested in researching my father's experiences in WWII in the 1st Ranger Btn one of my questions was "Why no PTSD? Or was it there and I couldn't see it. Best I believe that he was able to bury the sounds, sights and smells of what he experienced deep into his back of his mind and keep it there. I've seen/read/heard about a number of war vets including my FIL, a heavy machine gunner at The Bulge burying the memories. From what I recall of the early VFW parties, the beer flowed heavy and the wives drove home. IMO, dad was spared the symptoms of PTSD due to his continued dumb luck of wrong place in the right place at the right time. He got blown up twice but only mildly injured both times. Second time was at Chuinzi Pass. At that time over 35% of the American casualties were psychiatric. The company surgeon saw he was cracking was using the new "send them to the rear" treatment for combat fatigue. My avatar is a picture of him taken while visiting his AAF brother during his time off. He went back to drive for that surgeon through the wars end and earned the Combat Medial Badge driving an ambulance. Probably saw more death and dying than most.

    One of the stats I see that comes up a lot is how WWII vets spent less time in combat than in Nam or the current 20 year wars. I wonder if contractors in today's wars are included. If they were, how the numbers of cases in the different wars compare?
     
  19. KMZgirl

    KMZgirl Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2007
    Messages:
    375
    Likes Received:
    93
    Location:
    The South
    Long story short, dad served in WWII but Mother said he had "shell shock." Could "shell shock" have been more commonly used by lay persons at that time? She used the term even in the 70's when I was first told.... It could have been because father was born in 1914 and was familiar with the older term. I'm thinking the individual's age had more to do with what term they used, unless they were a professional of course.....
     
  20. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,180
    Likes Received:
    5,654
    Shell shock was used in WWI, they thought the prolonged thunderous barrages were the cause of the problem, brain got rattled by all those concussions. So yeah, Mom would have known the term.

    There's a movie about this and the general results of WWII, "The Best Years of Our Lives."
     
    formerjughead likes this.

Share This Page