On Killing Chapter Summary & Analysis - Section 2, Killing and Combat Trauma: The Role of Killing in Psychiatric Casualties: Chapter 1, The Nature of Psychiatric Casualties Summary

Section 2, Killing and Combat Trauma: The Role of Killing in Psychiatric Casualties: Chapter 1, The Nature of Psychiatric Casualties Summary and Analysis

Grossman says there is a known limit to how much soldiers can sustain combat activities before suffering from long-term psychological issues. Characteristic symptoms of psychiatric disorders can occur in the moment or crop up months or years later. Conversion hysteria on the battlefield is often signified by warriors behaving recklessly with amnesia, dissociations, or paralysis, often of the trigger hand or arm. Some of these can be successfully treated by getting the sufferer to talk about what led up to the events. The classic PTSD—Post Traumatic Stress Disorder—can results in nightmares or heightened sensitivities, including obsessive or compulsive disorders. Therapy and proper drugs can alleviate and often cure these conditions. The final ailment is created when the entire personality or character of the person reforms into what is generally viewed as psychopathology or sociopathology as an effective coping mechanism. Research has shown that only 2 percent of...
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