Mild psychological diseases - soldier specific?

[TteFAboB]

Greetings,

Could a soldier suffer from some mild disorder, something that would probably go unnoticed, undiagnosed, just for being in the Army? Neurosis, compulsion, obsession, anxiety or some sort of anti-social behavior that is not so severe to be easily detected at anytime but that might present itself in specific situations.

Is there such a thing? Can a soldier be affected by war just enough to become a little looney but not enough as to be diagnosed with severe disorders?

Perhaps this type of lesser neurosis wouldn't exactly be exclusive to soldiers, but to anybody who has a psychologically demanding job, for example: Air Traffic Controllers. Would Stress have this effect? Would spending a decade in the Navy on a stressful post be enough to cause a disorder on an individual prone to it, even in times of peace?

What are you asking? Are human beings subjected to stress? perhaps.
Does undue stress cause sociopathic behavior? Perhaps. Is a member of the military subjected to more stress than a civilian. Perhaps.

Stress is not the answer to everything. The 'group dynamic' can be a cause. People as individuals are smart and rational. Get a group of them together and one never can tell what is possible.

A wiser man than myself once said 'life is 10% what happens and 90% how one reacts to it'.

[Sailor Steve]

I can only speak personally. I've blamed my problems on the past-or tried to, anyway-military, war, drugs, upbringing; but the fact is I've always been a little "odd", and it's just me.

I'm sure that a traumatic experiences can haunt us later, but just being there? I find it hard to credit.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by TteFAboB

Greetings,

Could a soldier suffer from some mild disorder, something that would probably go unnoticed, undiagnosed, just for being in the Army? Neurosis, compulsion, obsession, anxiety or some sort of anti-social behavior that is not so severe to be easily detected at anytime but that might present itself in specific situations.

Is there such a thing? Can a soldier be affected by war just enough to become a little looney but not enough as to be diagnosed with severe disorders?

Perhaps this type of lesser neurosis wouldn't exactly be exclusive to soldiers, but to anybody who has a psychologically demanding job, for example: Air Traffic Controllers. Would Stress have this effect? Would spending a decade in the Navy on a stressful post be enough to cause a disorder on an individual prone to it, even in times of peace?

Yes.

Every human has his limit. Also, different types of jobs attract different types of people. That can already work as a filter for different personality characteristics dominating in a given type of job. But be careful not to take this as an excuse for stereotyping people and jobs. Understand it more in terms of tendencies, not as harcoded values in a fixed blueprint.

You do not expect a shy, kind, tender feminine type of man who finds his luck in working with handicapped children in the kindergarten to dream of a career with the Seals. A fire-eater and fan of frontline action probably does not know what the hell he should do with dying old people in a gerontological hospital full of retarded grannies. Both type of men would feel dislocated in the other guy's job. Both men would have different definitions of what stresses them. both men would have different tolerance levels for different kinds of stress. you will find different ways of behaviour and social interaction between men in different types of jobs. Some of that is because of individual personality characteristics, part of it is different kinds of individual biographies and education history. you do not find many members of worker's class amongst doctors. You do not find too many highly educated gentleman from noble families in frontline assault troops. There is no use in rejecting such differences. They are a reality, pc or not. for many kinds of jobs we know by significant statistical examinations that different kinds of jobs have different risk levels of individuals producing typical psychopathological symptoms. In some cases you can even find significant differences in probabilities for different psychosomatical symptoms in certain types of jobs (not too mention typical physical health risks like dust-on-the-lung amongst miners, for example).

the military is a closed society, sometimes a club of extremists when considering certain branches like special commandos, snipers, etc. That different living environments also produces different fallout inside men's psyche (not always necessarily pathological symptoms, but simply mental and social and behavioural "patterns"), comes quite naturally.

additionally, social environments to some degree dictate how the individual cope with stress. and there are differences in coping between individuals, too. In some environments you bare almost forbidden to talk about fear, or horror you have seen - there is a code of silence. In other jobs you are almost demanded to talk endlessly about even the smallest issues on your mind. Some people who have worries retreat to their within. Others start to become agressive, or feel a need for physical work, or the search the nearness of friends, or the huge group of buddies.

[SimNut]

Originally Posted by TteFAboB

Can a soldier be affected by war just enough to become a little looney but not enough as to be diagnosed with severe disorders?

Anyone, soldier or civilian, who has been part of or witness to war, is affected by it.

Whether or not it causes a disorder is up to the individual.

My father, a career US Marine, was in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He never talked about it, even if asked. He was the most level headed, normal, and strongest person I have ever known. There were over 450 people at his funeral, if that tells you anything.