PTSD...3000 Years Ago

[AWP]

Interesting article about finding evidence of PTSD in ancient Assyria with links to the study and articles.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...ldiers-were-haunted-war-too-180954022/?no-ist

I thought this may sound sound familiar to some, an old school Red, White, and Blue cycle.

Soldiers in ancient Assyria (located in present-day Iraq) were tied to a grueling three-year cycle, the BBC notes. They typically spent one year being “toughened up by building roads, bridges and other projects, before spending a year at war and then returning to their families for a year before starting the cycle again.”

 

[LibraryLady]

We aren't the first society/culture to say: War is Hell.

Nor most likely the last...

LL

 

[Gunz]

Makes sense. Why should humans back then react to war any differently than humans now? Interesting article. I'm familiar with the red, white and blue training phases. The Corps had Phase 1, 2 and 3 when I was in, but essentially similar in content. The Assyrian cycle sounds pretty brutal, even with the year off.

BTW, I read something 10 or 15 years ago--that I will look for--that compared the striking similarities in the post-war emotions and attitudes of Confederate veterans and Vietnam veterans.

 

[pardus]

Makes sense. Why should humans back then react to war any differently than humans now? Interesting article. I'm familiar with the red, white and blue training phases. The Corps had Phase 1, 2 and 3 when I was in, but essentially similar in content. The Assyrian cycle sounds pretty brutal, even with the year off.

BTW, I read something 10 or 15 years ago--that I will look for--that compared the striking similarities in the post-war emotions and attitudes of Confederate veterans and Vietnam veterans.

Because people are different. We have a completely different outlook on life and value of life than people did even 70 years ago. In WWII we had no problem killing people which in this day and age would be considered murder, mass or otherwise.

I have no doubt at all that people have always been badly affected psychologically by conflict, but humans today aren't the same as humans 3,000 years ago.

This article makes some leaps of faith that are unsubstantiated by evidence.

"Hearing and seeing ghosts talking to them" Sure, could indeed be Soldiers having psych issues post battle, but bear this in mind, I can still find in this advanced day and age, seemingly mentally sound people saying they are hearing and seeing ghosts and gods.

 

[RackMaster]

 

[Gunz]

Because people are different. We have a completely different outlook on life and value of life than people did even 70 years ago. In WWII we had no problem killing people which in this day and age would be considered murder, mass or otherwise.

I have no doubt at all that people have always been badly affected psychologically by conflict, but humans today aren't the same as humans 3,000 years ago.

This article makes some leaps of faith that are unsubstantiated by evidence.

"Hearing and seeing ghosts talking to them" Sure, could indeed be Soldiers having psych issues post battle, but bear this in mind, I can still find in this advanced day and age, seemingly mentally sound people saying they are hearing and seeing ghosts and gods.

Well, you make a point. Humans are still humans but our tolerences and values, as you say, change over time. I agree with that. Never the less, I would argue that combat back then was even more intense and visceral than it is today. You had your sword, your shield and your muscles and you waded into your enemies hacking and parrying, maybe for hours, an incredibly exhausting, brutal and bloody way to fight. (You and I both know I think how hard it is to hack your way through jungle with a machete...imagine the jungle hacking back!)