1. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

• Called "Soldiers Heart," "Shell Shock" or "Battle Fatigue" in combat veterans
• Called rape aftermath or rape reaction in sexual assault victims
• Affects twice as many females as males in civilian life
• Affects young children as well as elderly
  
• Lifetime prevalence: 8%

There is nothing new about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder which is abbreviated PTSD. Throughout recorded history, people have been aghast in awful moments. The word aghast means terrified; struck with amazement. Warfare always produces posttraumatic stress disorder with its somatic effects recognized during the Civil War as "Soldiers Heart"; nervous system innervations emphasized in World War I as "Shell Shock"; and a more general loss of vitality understood as "Battle Fatigue" in World War II.

Although military medicine has been the source of much of our early understanding of PTSD, civilian traumas actually account for more cases of PTSD because trauma is ubiquitous throughout peacetime and, happily, warfare has been somewhat circumscribed over the past half century. Consequently, females as well as males have developed PTSD through civilian life trauma. In fact, twice as many females as males develop PTSD in part because they experience more of the kinds of interpersonal trauma that often lead to PTSD.

PTSD is no respecter of age and afflicts children and the elderly as well as adults. Overall, the lifetime prevalence of PTSD is 8% while the prevalence at any point in time is 5%, showing clearly that individuals can recover from PTSD.