Cultural shift in mental illness: a comparison of stress responses in World War I and the Vietnam War

Abstract

Objectives Post-traumatic stress disorder is an established diagnostic category. In particular, over the past 20 years, there has been an interest in culture as a fundamental factor in post-traumatic stress disorder symptom manifestation. However, only a very limited portion of this literature studies the historical variability of post-traumatic stress within a particular culture. Design Therefore, this study examines whether stress responses to violence associated with armed conflicts have been a culturally stable reaction in Western troops. Setting We have compared historical records from World War I to those of the Vietnam War. Reference is also made to observations of combat trauma reactions in pre-World War I conflicts, World War II, the Korean War, the Falklands War, and the First Gulf War. Participants The data set consisted of literature that was published during and after these armed conflicts. Main outcome measures Accounts of World War I Shell Shock that describe symptom presentation, incidence (both acute and delayed), and prognosis were compared to the observations made of Vietnam War post-traumatic stress disorder victims. Results Results suggest that the conditions observed in Vietnam veterans were not the same as those which were observed in World War I trauma victims. Conclusions The paper argues that the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder cannot be stretched to cover the typical battle trauma reactions of World War I. It is suggested that relatively subtle changes in culture, over little more than a generation, have had a profound effect on how mental illness forms, manifests itself, and is effectively treated. We add new evidence to the argument that post-traumatic stress disorder in its current conceptualisation does not adequately account, not only for ethnocultural variation but also for historical variation in stress responses within the same culture.