##Pre-Modern PTSD

You might be interested in threads from the FAQ section on "Post Tramatic Stress Disorder before the modern era":

General

-o- "How did the soldiers of antiquity/medieval times deal with the inevitable PTSD type issues that come from brutal hand to hand combat?" (147 comments | 1 year old)

• Examples from all across time, with analysis and source criticism present in several of the comment threads.

-o- "Was PTSD any more, or any less, prevalent amongst ancient and medieval soldiers than todays soldiers?" (16 comments | over 2 months old)

• This thread delves into a discussion of the merits and flaws of an often cited work on PTSD amongst pre-modern warriors.

Ancient

-o- "Are there any indications of combat PTSD in societies like the Spartans, Khan's or Alexander's armies?" (31 comments | 1 year old)

• This thread narrowly focuses on Roman soldiers and thus is able to do strong analysis of the available texts and evidence in a way not done in other threads.

-o- "Is there any information on Post-traumatic Stress in societies in which warfare was looked at in a more favorable light (e.g Sparta)?" (41 comments | 2 years old)

• The topmost comment draws examples from another, but down below there's a source brought in to analyze pre-modern combat which results in a debate both about such occurrences and the value of the source.

-o- "Did men of the past suffer emotional trauma from war and killing?" (6 comments | 1 month old)

• This thread goes deep into the source criticism and interpretation when making judgements of whether or not pre-modern peoples were experiencing what would be diagnosed as PTSD in the modern day.

-o- "Is there evidence of PTSD in ancient warrior cultures?" (14 comments | 1 year old)

• A few more ancient examples and a focus on a book dealing with PTSD in the ancient era.

-o- "Did Ancient peoples suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or similar psychological issues?" (55 comments | 2 years old)

• There's a wealth of examples drawn up in this thread though not as much analysis.

Medieval

-o- "Did soldiers in the middle ages get PTSD? If so, was it different then PTSD now?" (83 comments | 2 years old)

• There's some debate in this thread whether or not the circumstances that people lived in during the Middle Ages made them more resilient or not to PTSD.

-o- "Is there any mention in medieval books and records from those times of what we now call PTSD in knights, soldiers, warriors etc?" (9 comments | 1 month old)

• There's one large quote given in this thread about how clergy specifically cited the psychological toll of combat as a reason against it.

Early Modern and Modern

-o- "How was PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) treated in the Middle Ages of Europe (or anywhere during 400A.D. to 1500A.D.)? How well documented are we upon the subject?" (26 comments | 10 months old)

• Despite the title, this thread focuses on Early Modern Europe and also deals with the difficulty of retroactively diagnosing people through their writings.

-o- "How common was PTSD in 18th and early 19th century armies? Particularly in Napoleon's armies" (4 comments | 11 months old)

• One commenter talks about a high level officer who may have experienced PTSD such that it impacted his decision making at a critical moment in a major battle.

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##Followup Questions

If, after looking through the above threads, there are major questions that have been left unanswered or specific topics given insufficient detail, feel free to ask followup questions. Liberal quoting from these threads are encouraged to both allow for clearer answers and to prevent users from wasting time repeating points already addressed.

The following users are flaired on the topic and/or have answered questions on it in the past, and would likely be able to answer these followup questions:

-o- /u/

-o- /u/Caherdaniel

-o- /u/sapere_avde