PTSD in War Veterans

PTSD is a psychological response to the experience of intense traumatic events, principally those that jeopardize life. It can affect people of any age, culture or gender. While the public has become increasingly aware of this disorder in recent years, the condition has been known to exist since the times of ancient Greece and has been identified by many different names. During the American Civil War it was referred to as "soldier's heart", in the First World War it was called "shell shock", and in the Second World War it was known as "war neurosis."1 Many soldiers were characterized as having "combat fatigue " while encountering symptoms associated with PTSD during warfare. In the Vietnam War, this became known as a "combat stress reaction. " Some of these soldiers continued on to develop what became labeled in 1980 as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.2 The following will attempt to explore and analyze the etiological progression of PTSD, as documented throughout the United States history of war, starting with World War I to the current situation in Iraq. Additionally, the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment methods will be examined from both a Western/Biomedical perspective as well as an Eastern/Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective. According to A.J. Glass, it was during World War I that the correlation betwee