Tag Archives: Trauma

We are today at a time that sees a growing incidence of natural catastrophes, global terrorism, ongoing and potentially looming military conflict. The disasters of late and in particular the wars of the recent past have brought to the foreground frequently ignored, and often misinterpreted health issues. Anxiety and trauma disorders are increasingly becoming more prevalent.

One such particular ‘trauma’ issue is the so called PTSD, the post-traumatic-stress-disorder. This trauma, related to the experiences of warfare, combat and terror was first diagnosed in Vietnam -War – veterans and was only acknowledged and classified by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder in 1980. Its introduction was controversial yet “filled an important gap in psychiatric theory and practice” [3, n.p.]. With this, it was for the first time, acknowledged that trauma could be produced from an external causative factor, and was not an immanent shortcoming of the particular patient showcasing the specific set of symptoms [3].