Why was the Vietnam War so traumatic?

The fear of not being secure on patrol, ambushed, with no end in sight of the war ever ending, traumatized many soldier. With no chance of victory, the soldier had to question why he was even there. in simple terms there really was no safe area. the whole darn country was the front line.

What are flashbacks from war called?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sometimes known as shell shock or combat stress, occurs after you experience severe trauma or a life-threatening event. It’s normal for your mind and body to be in shock after such an event, but this normal response becomes PTSD when your nervous system gets “stuck.”

What can trigger war flashbacks?

Flashbacks can be triggered by a sensory feeling, an emotional memory, a reminder of the event, or even an unrelated stressful experience.

What happened in the Vietnamese war?

More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians. Communist forces ended the war by seizing control of South Vietnam in 1975, and the country was unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the following year.

Which war was the most traumatic?

World War One and Vietnam are the wars most closely associated with post-traumatic stress – but it was also a huge problem for the combatants in World War Two, and one that may still be affecting their children and grandchildren today.

Why do PTSD flashbacks occur?

Flashbacks and dissociation are often triggered or cued by some kind of reminder of a traumatic event, for example, encountering certain people, or going to specific places, or some other stressful experience.

What was shell shock called in Vietnam war?

combat neurosis
PTSD–Shellshock–Hit Vietnam Vets Hardest The symptoms of what is now labeled post-traumatic stress disorder have been known since World War I, said Susan Houston, a clinical psychologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach. Then, it was called combat neurosis and shellshock.

What are Vietnam flasbacks?

So called ‘Vietnam flasbacks’ are nothing bad depression and nightmares. Sometimes, in the worst cases, you have images (usually maimed corpses) flashing under your eyes during your daily life.

How bad was the Vietnam War for veterans with PTSD?

Vietnam vets traumatized, war bad; WWI-II soldiers traumatized, expected part of war, (nearly) every man fought, part of doing your duty. The more press PTSD got in the Vietnam era, the more it could be argued that we shouldn’t be there.

Did the United States have a clear political objective in Vietnam?

A Vietnam War example illustrates this issue in a different way. Soldier-scholar Harry Summers, author of the influential On Strategy, argues that the United States lacked a clear political objective during its war in Vietnam.

Why was the Vietnam War so important to society?

The Vietnam War was the first major war where the horrors of war first came into the public eye, so after the war there was a lot of interest in the after-effects on the soldiers, so their medical issues and psychological effects were of great interest for years.