I have a sincere interest in learning the answer or answers to the following question: During WWII a grand total of 16,354,000 men and women served in the various branches of the United States Armed Forces. There were 291,557 combat related deaths and 133,842 non-combat deaths--a total of 405,399. 670,846 individuals were wounded for a total casualty count of 1,076,745. In addition another 30,304 were missing in action. PTSD was unknown at the time--identified as combat fatigue, shell shock (WsWI) or something else. War is horrific, no matter where or when its fought. The negative effects of combat on those human beings engaged in battle is impossible to measure--really! What I have to wonder about is why the incidence of workplace violence--folks going postal, is so much more prevalent today than it was during the late 40s, the decade of the 50s and most of the 1960s? What is it about our culture that has changed us so dramatically? As bad as treatment for PTSD is, the fact is at least its been identified and folks are getting some help, even if its imperfect. We should continue to treat PTSD, making helping those affected by it to cope and, some day, get better. At the same time I believe we should try hard to figure out what is missing today that was more available 50, 60 or 70 years ago. Were we, collectively, a stronger, more emotionally stable society back then with more and better support available through our families and close friends? Maybe so. Were our personal and corporate values that much more rock solid; to the point where we had more and better anchor points? This phenomena has me wondering.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 18:00:26 +0000
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