Collective Traumas in War and Society

            The continuous or long-term exposure to trauma brings about a much greater number of psychiatric casualties. Although traumas like natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, or terrorist acts like the attack on America on September 11th, 2001, have affected a great many of people and will continue to affect many, the quickness of these tragedies may allow the recovery from these collective traumas to be either faster, or the resulting psychiatric damage to be less. Although millions were effected in some way, most have been able to move forward with little or no problems in their everyday activities. This may also be true for those involved in traumatic but short-term tragedies in combat today, such as rocket-attacks or roadside bombs in Iraq. Although the events of both are difficult to experience, and terrifying both during and after, the short-term experience of these situations allows soldiers to get back to a certain level or comfort (although the lack of a safe-zone in modern warfare does detract from this) more quickly, allowing them to relax before the events of the day have the opportunity to affect them psychologically.

            The terrible events of war and terrorism have affected civilians in larger numbers in more recent wars. The deaths of innocent people has not only affected the soldiers and civilians present, but also those left behind when a country sends troops to war.  

        Vietnam saw the reactions of American men and women upon the return of troops from war. Protesters did not just express anger toward the government for sending them, but placed blame on each individual soldiers involved in the fighting, accusing them of killing innocent women and children during battle, and enforced a guilt amongst not only the soldiers involved during the battle but also the American population as a whole. We, as a society, forced a traumatizing psychological response on ourselves for actions that had already occurred and were beyond the control of most.  This guilt and trauma has shown to affect generations beyond those involved, and the trend of blame has carried on to more recent wars.

           History has shown America that we are able to adapt to the traumas of war and disaster, and grow as a culture more capable of accepting these disasters, and of helping the victims of trauma. Studies and psychologists have shown us that we are able to influence a positive change and control the effects through treatments, understanding, and teaching. Historically men and women were treated as weak and less capable when the tragedies of life affected them beyond the actual physical events, but today our culture will allow those in need to seek help and find ways to respond more adequately. This adaptation has been very positive, and later generations will reap the benefits that we are currently striving for. Young people today will be able to understand and expect reactions from people involved in both small tragedies and collective traumas, and act appropriately to assist both individuals and entire communities. After recent disasters, our society has come together to show compassion and understanding to those in need. Oftentimes simple actions are allowing victims to feel that they still belong in their communities, preventing a previous belief of being pushed away and having to deal with their problems on their own.

           Throughout history, America has seen many collective traumas. Our resilience as a society to learn from each disaster and to help those affected both directly and indirectly will continue to allow our society to strengthen and teach future generations how to deal with the psychological effects of their own major disasters. The most important aspect will be to find a way to help each other without allowing blame to be placed, one of the major contributors to long-lasting psychological effects.