Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Every war has its toll, measured not only by the number of those soldiers killed and injured but also by the number of those who survive but suffer from invisible mental injuries. Those veterans who have survived often turn into living casualties of war.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the most acute psychological cost of combat and a problem that particularly affects memory and arousal, is described by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.) as “the re-experiencing of an extremely traumatic event accompanied by symptoms of increased arousal and by avoidance of stimuli associated with the [Page 1366]trauma” (p. 429). It can appear soon after one witnesses or participates in a catastrophic incident or develop ...