There was a recent HBO show dedicated to PTSD and they discussed stories all the way back to the Civil War. That show got me wondering. I have been interested in ancient times for some while now. Though I haven't read a whole lot, I am familiar with ancient civilizations such as the Greeks, Rome, Carthage, the Jews migration to Israel, The Crusades, etc. In these times, it was common to see entire town/cities wiped out. Every last man, woman, and child slaughtered. And they were slaughtered, not by rifles or bombs, but up close and personal with swords. You also have cases of gladiators being forced to fight to the death. Its hard to imagine now that people actually enjoyed watching that.
Yet I haven't seen any testimonials of soldiers suffering from what we now call PTSD back in ancient times. Not that they don't exist, but I'm just not familiar with any. This has got me wondering if PTSD is a recent phenomena (by recent, I mean the age of gunpowder). If so, then why is that? Is it because death and slaughter was that much commonplace back then?
What can be done now to minimize the PTSD among out troops today?
Yet I haven't seen any testimonials of soldiers suffering from what we now call PTSD back in ancient times. Not that they don't exist, but I'm just not familiar with any. This has got me wondering if PTSD is a recent phenomena (by recent, I mean the age of gunpowder). If so, then why is that? Is it because death and slaughter was that much commonplace back then?
What can be done now to minimize the PTSD among out troops today?