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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PTSD from all other wars was just as apparent.
Think of ‘shell shock’ for instance.
It was just disparaged and hidden away.
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.
Days of combat seem compared Vietnam and World War II , Vietnam was significantly hire per soldier if I’m not mistake.
The reason PTSD was/is more common in Vietnam and post-Vietnam vets than in WWI and WWII vets is the same as why there are more kids diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders post-2000, or diabetes post-1990 – diagnostic criteria have changed significantly over time. Research on PTSD in veterans was mostly conducted post-Vietnam on veterans of the Vietnam War, and eventually the definition was broadened to include other sorts of trauma (sexual assault, child abuse, etc).
WWII veterans definitely showed their own version of PTSD, though. Most of the men in my grandparents’ generation of my family served in the military during the war, and none of them talked about it. I only became aware of their combat decorations after they died, and the only time I heard about their service was when one of them would shut off the John Wayne war movie of the week and inform us that war wasn’t entertainment.
I’m not sure how to respond to this in the ELI5 format but I’ll post this and see if the mods allow.
I have severe PTSD from my time deployed from 07-09. I have a lot of issues I deal with quietly and a lot of issues that I can’t control that make me think I’m insane. I struggle with thoughts of suicide every day and I really think the only reason I’m still here is my ego and my kids. There are mountains of issues I have and I’m lucky that most people in my life do there best to try and sympathize and understand. The fact is, they can’t. And I can’t express my feelings well enough. After many years of severe alcoholism and drugs I was able to somehow get a lawyer connect from a gun range that took power of attorney from me. They got me a disability rating at the VA, which is a life changer. I knew I needed to dive in and get help or I was going to be dead. I was given tools and was shown these options while still in the service but it took some act of god and a really amazing person that I really loved to even get me where I am now. I still struggle every single day and I think about death at all times. I can’t sleep for fear of dreams and all I want is to be numb and feel nothing. All this is still after getting help and doing the work to be and feel better. I have the tools. I was shown how to get access. I know, have, and believe in support and still always feel this way.
I will never compare my service to a NamVet that was in direct combat. I don’t try to understand or commiserate. I feel what I went through is pale to their experience. I spent more time deployed than most of them but I would never and can never relate.
They had none of the support I had and were hated by more than enough for their service. We were boys and sent to do a job over something none of us had control over. When you’re in theater, you become what you need to be. When you come home. You are left to deal with that person you became and it’s impossible to understand. I don’t have answers but I will never compare my experience with a combat vet from that war or any other than mine.
I’ve had Nam vets say similar to my experience from their perspective. …bla bla about never knowing your enemy and having to make choices about not knowing if you made a good kill or not.
Maybe it’s just best to not compare trauma and just take care of people regardless. I think we’d all be better for it.
I’m not sure it is the case that Vietnam was worse than the other wars. But some things that were different:
* trauma medicine had really advanced. Wounded soldiers could be helicoptered from front lines to a surgeon in time to save their lives. Lots more wounded who lived compared to previous wars. Those survivors were maybe more likely to have mental trauma.
* the rules of engagement sucked. WWII and previous wars had a clear enemy who wore regular uniforms and operated under an obvious chain of command. Vietnam was jungle warfare against an insurgency and a massive problem telling civilians from combatants. A lot of war crimes happened. And air power wasn’t as much advantage in a jungle vs. Northern Europe.
* It’s pretty demoralizing to realize your war is unwinnable, and even more demoralizing when you find out about the Pentagon Papers and DoD knew Vietnam was unwinnable by 1968. War continued until 1975.
In addition to all the thoughtful things people have said about the trauma of fighting a fuzzy enemy for an unclear reason and coming home to disdain, and our advancing understanding of PTSD, the profile of people who fought in Vietnam was different.
WWII was pretty much a universal draft, fighting a war with such heavy moral weight that people volunteered in droves even before being drafted. Vietnam soldiers were people who didn’t have the resources to legally evade the draft.
So not only was the war nasty, it was fought almost entirely by people who knew that the lower classes were fighting while the upper classes were enjoying college and cushy National Guard assignments.
The Vietnam vets came home by plane rather than ship. Too fast and disorienting, no time to decompress.
Vietnam wasn’t more devastating, it’s just that people were paying more attention.
In recent years, there’s been talk about the increase in the suicide rate for men, but it’s just now *catching up* with where it was in the 1950s. (US suicide rate for men in 1950: 21.2 per 100,000 people. Rate in 2015: 21.1.)
You might be experiencing some recency bias. Granted we didn’t know as much about psychology when the world wars were ending but the term for PTSD was “shell-shocked” and it was widely known. But in your lifetime, the majority of veterans living with PTSD would’ve been Vietnam vets because the world war vets were all very old or dead. But Vietnam is the first major American war to occur relatively close to the increase in study and understanding of ptsd
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