Handbook of Posttraumatic Stress

Psychosocial, Cultural, and Biological Perspectives

Rosemary Ricciardelli, Stephen Bornstein, Alan Hall, R. Nicholas Carleton, Rose Ricciardelli, Stephen Bornstein, Alan Hall, R. Nicholas Carleton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781351134613
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychologie
• Subtopic: Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung (PTBS)

The Handbook of Posttraumatic Stress provides a comprehensive review of posttraumatic stress in its multiple dimensions, analyzing causation and epidemiology through prevention and treatment.

Written by a diverse group of scholars, practitioners, and advocates, the chapters in this book seek to understand the history, the politics, and the biological, psychological, and social processes underlying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Featuring studies that focus on some of the most seriously affected occupational groups, the text examines topics such as how individuals experience PTSD in different work settings and the complexities of diagnosis, treatment, and recovery for those workers and their families. Together, the contributions provide an in-depth examination of the current understood causes, impacts, and treatments of and for posttraumatic stress, mobilizing academic, administrative, and clinical knowledge, and lived experience to inform ongoing and future work in the field.

Drawing from range of different topics, fields of study, and research methods, this text will appeal to readers across medical, mental health, and academic disciplines.

Part 1

Foundational

1Changes in Our Understanding of Trauma and the Human Psyche as a Consequence of War

A Brief History

Samantha C. Horswill and R. Nicholas Carleton

Introduction

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) requires exposure to one or more potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs; Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment, 2019), coupled with symptoms of intrusive thoughts and memories, avoidance behaviours, negative changes to cognition and mood, and changes in arousal and reactivity (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The contemporary psychological community views PTSD as a relatively common and treatable disorder, but the current view has not always been the prevalent perspective. PTSD has a complex history, particularly during the twentieth century. Understanding symptoms sequalae to potentially psychologically traumatic events was developed with necessary speed in conjunction with total warfare. Exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events as a function of war became the norm for military services around the globe; cohorts of soldiers began to display ill-understood, but unquestionably severe, physical and psychological symptoms. In the context of World War I (WWI), medical and mental health professionals struggled to understand the adverse consequences of warfare, while also navigating the heavily politicized stigmatization of men who were no longer fit to serve. Prior to WWI the dominant discourse on mental health regarded individuals with disorders as being deficient in some fashion that left them vulnerable. The presumed deficiencies were thought to be the responsibility of the individual, rather than corporations or governments, and were thought to be generally unresolvable. A critical understanding of the immense impact of WWI on mental health requires an understanding of the context; specifically, the available research on psychology and mental health at the time of WWI, the cultural considerations surrounding mental health, and the historical use of technologies.

Before the Great War: The Historical Context

Historical and literary records have long documented human exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events and the changes that can occur in people as a result. Reports of sequelae from witnessing physical traumas occurred as early as The Iliad, where the effects of battle dramatically changed the proverbial “heart” of Achilles. Modern documentation of the symptoms eventually classified as PTSD first appeared in 1667; Samuel Pepys wrote of sleepless nights more than six months after the great fire of London, lamenting that “to this very day I cannot sleep a-night without great terrors of fire” (Pepys, 1667, as quoted by Daly, 1983).

The booming development of the railway system in the 1800s occurred alongside the industrial revolution and expedited everything, including construction-related injuries due to a variety of disasters. Railway construction workers exposed to such disasters began reporting symptoms associated with hysteria, with nerve damage suggested as a possible cause (Erichsen, 1866). The causal mechanisms of hysteria became critical points of contention, as railway corporations confronted new liabilities they had no desire to cover and some medical practitioners protested that publicizing such a disorder would lead to a rise in men taking advantage of corporations for financial benefit (Caplan, 1998).

The idea that the mind could be medicalized did not emerge formally un...