I noticed that a lot of media and publications talk about Vietnam War veterans suffering from PTSD and other psychological/mental health issues.
What was so devastating in this specific war comparing to other wars (i.e. WW1 and WW2) that caused so many vets’ trauma?
Or is it a matter of fact that during previous wars mental health care was less developed?
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OP your second guess is likely the most correct, the study of trauma just wasn’t as developed. PTSD didn’t become an official American psychiatric diagnosis until 1980 when it was included in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III). The much of the available published research regarding PTSD is based on studies done on veterans of the war in Vietnam, which had only concluded 5 years earlier.
This doesn’t mean that solders didn’t suffer from PTSD in prior conflicts. There are are accounts as far back as the Assaryian Empire (1300 B.C. to 609 B.C.) of soldiers experiencing PTSD symptoms after returning home from tours of duty.
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