Sheepdog Tip of the Day, After Combat tip 148
In the Vietnam veterans manifesting PTSD (and probably in many who don't exhibit PTSD symptoms) the rationalization and acceptance process appears to have failed and is replaced with denial. The typical veteran of past wars, when asked "Did it bother you?" would answer, as a veteran did to Havighurst after World War II, "Hell yes .... You can't go through that without being influenced." The Vietnam veteran's defensive response to a nation accusing him of being a baby killer and murderer is consistently, as it was to Mantell and has been so many times to me, "No, it never really bothered me .... You get used to it." This defensive repression and denial of emotions appear to have been one of the major causes of post traumatic stress disorder.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Killing
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Additional Resources
For PTSD, Shepherd Resource Group.