![PTSD [GIF - 3.59MB]](https://pic8.co/sh/IiJy5U.gif){kind=link}
Question is PTSD the same as Shell Shock in WWI? Go luck up some videos on shell shock. Holy sheet. Also has PTSD been a thing historically? Did the Roman soldiers or Vikings get PTSD?
Shell shock was sort of a "mistake". When soldiers in WW1 began displaying symptoms of what we know as PTSD today, the officers initially thought they were just being pussies. But then the symptoms persisted, even after the troops spent 5 weeks being shelled almost non-stop in a bunker/trench network.
Doctors initially believed this to be "shell shock", a physical condition caused by the repeated, sustained barrage of shells- they believed that this was causing some kind of brain damage, leading to the symptoms.
I think by the end of WW2, they had figured out it wasn't the shelling itself that was causing this. They had identified this condition as "Battle Fatigue", which is just what it sounds like.
It wasn't until like a decade after 'Nam when PTSD became more fully understood.
Interesting fact about PTSD in the ancient world: When a Roman was selling a slave, he was legally required to disclose two things to the potential buyer- Has the slave attempted suicide? Obvious question to ask, they wouldn't want to buy a slave that'd off himself in a few days. The other question: Has the slave ever been mauled/attacked by a large animal, such as a wolf, bear, lion, etc.? Now why would they ask that question? Because PTSD most commonly manifests in people who have been mauled by animals. The Romans knew that this fucked up the mind of the victim.
They never were required to disclose whether or not the slave had been in battle. There was probably a good chance that the slave you're buying was an enemy soldier, captured and allowed to live under the condition that he behaves as a slave. He may have watched his best friend hacked to bits, his brother ran through with spears, he was probably beaten into submission- but nobody cared about any of this. Why not? BECAUSE BACK THEN, IT WAS EXPECTED OF MEN TO FIGHT IN BATTLE. IT WAS NORMAL. Today, we are raised from birth being told "All violence is bad, no matter what. All killing is bad, no matter what." And then we join the military at age 17-18, and they have the task of undoing all of this "violence bad" bullshit and turn you into a warrior who would aggressively engage and kill threats. This has to mess with your mind.
Great informative comment
Where do you learn this stuff
Fucking firsthand experience, lots of research.
There's a great YouTube channel called Lindybeige; he makes fantastic video essays on some very unique, interesting topics relating to warfare. This is where I learned of this practice of Roman slave trading, from a video where he dove into why PTSD wasn't really identified in ancient times.
One of my favorite videos from him: Where does a rout begin? He talks about a formation of spearmen, 500 for the sake of example, and how/where in the formation a rout may happen. Paraphrasing Lindybeige, the obvious answer is "Well the rout would start in the front, where the fighting/killing is happening. A man realizes he's in mortal danger, decides he no longer wants to fight, turns and pushes his way through the formation- this exposes the man to his left and right. The enemy may surge forward upon seeing a man run, precipitating a rout as more men in the front decide to flee." But thinking on it further, perhaps it couldn't happen in the front, because those men are so fucking busy trying not to get skewered or bashed over the head, that turning their backs might be impossible. So then he goes on to talk about other parts of the formation. Great stuff.
For most of humanities existence life was pretty fucked up. It only got easy real recently
Thanks!
In history you wouldn't survive a war and then go on to live for another 50-60 years so it probably wasn't that noticeable. Also civilians were more immersed in the struggles of war so the difference between "spent desert storm watching Iraqis burn from DU shells hitting their tank" and "jerked off and watched Ren and stimpy while my grunge faze faded" wasn't as pronounced.
I think men (and women too) were probably harder and more exposed to violence so really fucked up things during war probably didn't hit them as hard. They did after all go to gladiator games the way modern day normies go to sportsball games. Not to mention they probably went on summer trips to grandma's villa and passed the rotting corpses of crucified criminals along the Appian Way.
I'm no expert, but I think WWI was the first time they really started using things like mustard gas and tanks and machine guns and really upped the brutality of things. That might have shocked the fuck out of people. But again, I'm no history expert.
I think you're on the right track. On Shell Shock- the doctors initially believed that these symptoms were being caused by brain damage, from the concussive force of being shelled; 8 men sitting a bunker, being shelled for 3 days non-stop, they believed this was causing concussions.
PTSD tends to manifest in people who experience horrific events where they had little to no control over the event. A bear mauling you, for example- that helplessness you feel? That is the root of PTSD. Rape victims? Probably similar to a mauling, depending on how brutal the rapist is. Car accidents? You were doing everything right, but some jackass swerved and hit you, fucking you up and killing your passenger friend. War? You're walking around, shells landing non-stop, occasionally you see one of your friends drop down in agony as he is ripped to bits by shrapnel. Or a sniper pops your friend's head clean off, and you have no idea where the shot came from and can do nothing to remedy the situation. The one common thread between all of these things: HELPLESSNESS. That last batch of shells missed you- but maybe the next salvo has a round with your name on it. And you'll never know what hit you- see, if you're being shelled, and you can hear the shells incoming, you're probably safe if you get down flat on your belly. However, if a shell is heading directly at you, you will not hear it. One moment you're fine, the next you're barely conscious, torn to pieces, have no idea what the fuck happened, you know you're dying, and there is nothing you can do about it.
PTSD is caused by helplessness in intense situations, usually involving violence.
Id be down with having major highways lined with the corpses of crucified criminals and corrupt politicians, as would I go to a live deathmatch for entertainment.
Hell yea
Who were those morons that tried using horses at the beginning of world war 1? What a bunch of DUMMIES. Lmfao.
That's what I was thinking of, cavalry riding into machine gun fire. Holding on to some "noble" idea of war and then running right into that.
Kind of like how people nowadays think that the left wants to play fair and do the right thing and respond to logic and reason and aren't just hypocrites who want to kill us all. They've got the machine guns on us and we're worried about taking the high road and playing fair.
Yes. Accept men used to just deal with it.
Now excuses are made for it or demonized.
Yes, it's the same phenomenon as shell shock.
That’s what happens to Mario when one of those evil turtles gets him
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