A commonplace

[womzilla]

This ties in with some things I'm thinking about in another context.

In a james_nicoll thread about the most damaging book published within f&sf, goatmother said this:

If I was going to draw a distinction between good and bad [military sf], it would be this: in the good stuff, the protagonists end up with the symptoms of PTSD in at least some measure. In the bad stuff, the protagonists get over it by quoting Kipling at each other. I exaggerate only slightly.

Comments

[wizwom.livejournal.com]

Er, do you have any figures on PTSD prevalence among veterans of major wars?

Because, well, 2 million men fought for America in WWII, and my impression is the vast majority of them had no real problem with it. They did what they could, and what they had to, and then they went on with life when it was over.

Seeing death is not terribly traumatic to most people. Not even seeing bloody, senseless, unforseen death.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Remember the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents story where Dynamo succumbed to some sort of combat fatigue and was a sort of suggestible zombie for a while, being used as a pawn by both sides?

[avram]

Well, most soldiers never see combat anyway, so you’re not going to get two million PTSD cases for WW2.

Anyway, you may want to read this page about PTSD in older soldiers, from the US Dep’t of Veterans Affairs. It compares medical literature on the matter from before and after the formalization of PTSD as a diagnostic entity.

[wizwom.livejournal.com]

I found PTSD statistics of 30% for Viet Nam, 8% for Gulf War I, 11% for Aphghanistan, and 15.5% for the current Iraq situation.

WWII and Korean were 20% lifetime, about 10% chronic.

[avram]

Are those percentages of the total of the soldiers who fought in that war, or of the ones who saw combat?

[wizwom.livejournal.com]

Total for the cadre, I would assume.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Hm, by that definition, if you're willing to let fantasy in, LotR would count as the good stuff. I find this aesthetically pleasing.