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How War Affects Mental Health

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Ever since the beginning of time, war has existed. War might have been different thousands of years ago, but at the end of the day they engaged in wars to fight and win. As I just mentioned, war is ever evolving, and one of the main thing that has evolved the most are weapons. In this paper, I will explain how war affects individual’s mental health. I will be utilizing the two articles, one being From shell shock and war neurosis to post traumatic stress disorder: a history of psychtraumatology (Crocq and Crocq) and Caesar in Vietnam: Did Roman Soldiers Suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (Melchior), both being about PTSD and how it affects individuals. I will also be referring to a documentary called, Thank You for Your Service: The …show more content…

I argue that war affects the mental health of combat veterans. War has always excited because, wherever there is people, there is going to be conflict. That conflict can then be solved through dialogue which can ultimately end with agreements, or it can end in war. Wars can go on for days, weeks, months, and years. Since war has always excised, the use of weapons has also existed. Weapons have definitely have evolved over the years, but weapons were created to cause harm and have been doing so since their creation. In Caesar in Vietnam: Did Roman Soldiers Suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, written by Aislinn Melichor, states that, “There are essentially three possible triggers [for PSTD]: witnessing horrific events and/or being in mortal danger and/or the act of killing-especially close kills where the reality of one’s responsibility cannot be doubted” (Melichor 217). There is no doubt that combat soldiers experience traumatic events when they are in combat. They experience the death of their fellow comrades, the death of civilians, and the death of their enemies. In my opinion, it does not matter whose death they witness or who they killed, it still has an effect on the soldiers. Furthermore,

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