It was a humid summer day when Stan, a Vietnam veteran hero, walked into a small clothing store with a fully loaded semiautomatic rifle. He instructed everyone in the store to take cover, and then began firing wildly into the ceiling. He soon surrendered to the police without ever threatening or hurting anyone. Upon questioning, Stan related a story of his adventures in Vietnam, about a teenage Vietnamese girl that came running toward him while he paused for a cigarette on a country road. The girl was carrying a bomb with a spring detonation device in her hand. Stan fired a single round at the girl which then caused a massive explosion that tore the child's body apart. The image of this scene had repeatedly been relived in frightening waking dreams. Stan was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of post-traumatic stress disorder, especially in relation to wartime psychological stress.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental illness that develops in some individuals who have experienced an overwhelming and unusual event that generates tremendous stress, such as military combat, a natural or man-made disaster (such as an earthquake or plane crash), or a violent assault. The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1987), states that PTSD can occur only following a psychologically distressing event that is outside the range of usual human experience. The stress-causing event usually evokes tremendous fear or a sense of helplessness and commonly involves a threat to one's life or the lives of a beloved one, destruction of one's home or town; witnessing the death or injury of another as the result of violence; or learning about the threat or harm experienced by a close friend or relative.
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder involve a prolonged maladjustment to a peaceful, normal lifestyle. Speci...