When comparing wartime settings, those of World War I are terrifically more traumatic and gruesome to today's situations. By acknowledging the correlation of “PTSD” and “Shell Shock”, it grants the opportunity to take a further look into the underlying causes and descriptions of these two conditions. With “Shell Shock” being the most distinct psychological disorder, World War I soldiers faced in Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the characteristics can be viewed as very similar to today’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). At the time soldiers first started experiencing “Shell Shock” in World War I, it was puzzling and difficult to identify all the possibilities to why these men were experiencing such harsh …show more content…
In the novel, the first most relevant posttraumatic behaviors are demonstrated through Paul's character, by means of him reflecting on his past interests he had before entering the war, in comparison to his attitude after. When Paul returned home he began to experience isolating thoughts: “I imagined leave would be different from this. Indeed, it was different a year ago. It is I, of course, that has changed in the interval. There lies a gulf between that time and today. At that time I still knew nothing about the war, we had been only in quiet sectors. But now I see that I have been crushed without knowing it. I find I do not belong here anymore, it is a foreign world.” (Remarque 1). Unfortunately, there wasn't much help or treatment physicians could offer to those in need. Resulting in depression, nightmares, anxiety and sudden displays of anger or aggression. It wasn't until the late 1970s, the condition of post-traumatic stress disorder, rephrased its common symptoms to include the long-term challenges.("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)"). Now psychologist have even been able to classify; head trauma, life-threatening natural disaster, rape, beating, and domestic abuse, to being trauma-related contributors for PTSD. Resulting in about 7.7 million Americans to be suffering from the condition in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)").Thanks to discoveries like these, people are more aware of post-traumatic stress disorder and are capable of recognizing the signs and symptoms. Now PTSD is seen as a key related condition, people associate with war and other traumatic-related