ISSN: 2578-5095
Authors: Sefa B*
The modern concept of trauma and posttraumatic stress diagnosis has evolved to a large degree from documentations of soldiers’ pre-and-post war experiences, and observations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the first Word War on the development of the concept posttraumatic stress disorder at the turn of the century. Even though soldiers’ war histories and stories were popular in previous wars, the moving point for understanding and classification of traumatic stress gained more importance and systematic investigation after WW-I. Due to the large number of drafted soldiers, and veterans and the death count, WW-I had a great impact on a large number of soldiers, their families, and the society as a whole. During the First World War attention was focused for the first time on the illness known as “shell shock†or “traumatic neurosis.†Due to military needs and compensation reasons, treatment options were searched for in many parts of the world. Traumatic experience was named “shell shock†and was thought to be a neurological disorder caused by explosive bombing.
Keywords: History of PTSD; War and Trauma; Military Trauma; Shell Shock
