Was there PTSD in the ancient or medieval world? • Hacker News Board

Re: Was there PTSD in the ancient or medieval world?

#211

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 28, 2020, 8:52 AM UTC

areoform wrote: post #206

_wovb wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for this. I’m a trauma therapist, I work with many people who have PTSD. Reading this article all I could think was: Trauma is a sophisticated concept. As a society and species, we are pretty “trauma naive” in that we have just recently come to this understanding of the very complex web of psychological, somatic, emotional, sociological, intergenerational, and cultural aspects of this experience. Because of th…

Hey palimpsest, I can’t see an email on your profile, is there a way to get in touch?

[deleted]

Re: Was there PTSD in the ancient or medieval world?

#212

Post by wayoutthere » Tue, Apr 28, 2020, 4:29 PM UTC

RichardCA wrote: post #190

wayoutthere wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My theory is that modern "combat PTSD" didn't happen widely until barrel rifling enabled artillery and snipers to hit targets from incredible distances. Before barrel rifling, if you weren't actively fighting, you weren't at too much risk of dying from an unseen enemy attack. You could let your guard down and take a rest when you needed to. But if artillery and snipers are on the board, death can come anywhere, any t…

Completely unscientific - but anecdotally, the Civil War was the first to have the "modern" template for PTSD. And it was the first with rifles. If you look around for similar info about the War of 1812 and earlier it becomes harder to find. https://youtu.be/6LdG1YQDTSY

Yeah, it's just a hypothesis; but based on my own experience with non-combat PTSD it makes sense to me that being unable to shut off the constant hypervigilance in the absence of a threat could easily be a common thread.

The American Civil War was the first "modern" war as it made use of a lot of new technology that had been developed in the early industrial revolution, but barrel rifling is probably the most relevant to the experience of an individual soldier (as opposed to railroads, steam ships or the telegraph, each of which revolutionized the strategic dynamics of war).

Re: Was there PTSD in the ancient or medieval world?

#213

Post by hinkley » Tue, Apr 28, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

acituan wrote: post #208

hinkley wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took an exercise class a while back and the instructor came in one day shaking. On his way to class there was a bad motorcycle accident. Guy didn't die but had life-altering injuries, and the instructor was first on the scene. It was bad. He was vibrating when he came in. I finally convinced him to do some extra shake-out exercises like we already do which helped a bit. After class our timing didn't line up, I was…

Sounds like you did your best to be of support. I’m curious about the particulars of the shaking exercise you recommended. I have heard of one called TRE (trauma release exercises), perhaps something similar?

There’s some static strength involved and so it’s not uncommon to “shake out” your limbs as part of a warm up or a transition between sections.

And I was trying not to lecture this young(er) instructor in front of a room of his regular students, so I didn’t feel I could do more than encourage him to dump some more adrenaline. He was trying to laugh it off, which parts of my extended family are notorious for. Nobody talks about anything.

Re: Was there PTSD in the ancient or medieval world?

#214

Post by valuearb » Tue, Apr 28, 2020, 8:56 PM UTC

Uehreka wrote: post #97

wetmore wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please elaborate.

I unfold my interpreter spectacles It would appear that GP wishes to express skepticism of the concept of PTSD by invoking the “Reproducibility Crisis” that has affected the social sciences. It would seem that GP believes the crisis to be so all-encompassing and fully invalidating that merely speaking its true name is enough to dismiss any modern psychological finding.

Can you name a single “modern psychological finding” that is well supported by reproducible studies with statistically relevant results?

Re: Was there PTSD in the ancient or medieval world?

#215

Post by dredmorbius » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:14 AM UTC

Cederfjard wrote: post #92

_wovb wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for this. I’m a trauma therapist, I work with many people who have PTSD. Reading this article all I could think was: Trauma is a sophisticated concept. As a society and species, we are pretty “trauma naive” in that we have just recently come to this understanding of the very complex web of psychological, somatic, emotional, sociological, intergenerational, and cultural aspects of this experience. Because of th…

Stupid question here, but isn't it possible that experiencing violence and death isn't as highly stressful/traumatic if it's to you like water is to a fish, to borrow your phrase? Especially if you have some sort of belief in an afterlife to console you. Just a question from someone who knows very little about this.

My suspicion is that it's more about puncturing a worldview -- having your sense of natural order invalidated -- or a feeling of utter lack of agency or control, quite possibly both. Overwhelming sensory inputs quite possibly as well, especially painful or disturbing ones, though it may be a component of both the previous. The grief response seems mostly about an upset world-model. Loss of agency seems to be more strongly associated with PTSD.

It's possible that if you grew up in an environment in which death was commonplace, but you experienced, or even just believed in, a sense of agency, you'd experience fewer manifestations of grief or PTSD than we'd consider typical now.

Though perhaps not. I suspect many older psychological disturbances -- nervous exhaustion, mental breakdowns, melancholia and nostalgia (in their original senses) would map strongly to present notions of PTSD and depresion.