rashes, or fires. Modlin (1986) finds that "the disorder appears more likely to occur if the stressed person is alone when he or she experiences the stressor, and it is longer lasting if the stressor is other than an 'act of God'" (p 26). Multiple-event traumas occur on a sustained basis. The rape of a child in which the perpetrator continues the sexual abuse is one example. Other examples are military combat or concentration camp interment.
PTSD first received medical attention during the 19th century as physicians diagnosed veterans of wars. The disorder was origin-ally defined in medical textbooks as "traumatic neurosis" or "war neurosis" (Modlin, 1985, p. 26). During World War I the affliction was termed "shell shock." Although psychoanalytic journals reported their findings on these symptoms, little attention was paid by the medical community until after World War II. As a result, DSM I in 1952 published a diagnosis called "gross stress reaction," but described the affliction as "temporary and reversible" (p. 28). Nevertheless, practicing psychoanalysts
...