Introduction
As far back as 490 BC, the Greek historian Herodotus described the psychological impact of exposure to traumatic events in his accounts of soldiers’ reactions to the horrors of war. However, not until the nineteenth century would the sequelae associated with what today is called Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) gain scientific attention. Beginning with British doctor John Eric Erichsen (1818–1896), “trauma syndrome” was identified in survivors of train accidents and attributed to organic causes. The German neurologist Hermann Oppenheim (1858–1919) renamed the syndrome “traumatic neurosis” and similarly identified organic changes in the brain as the origin of unexplainable reactions to horrifying and life-threatening events (Van Der Kolk, McFarlane, & Weisaeth, 1996).
Not until the research and clinical work of psychiatrist Pierre Janet (1859–1947) would traumatic stress responses be rigorously described as symptoms of a psychological disorder. Janet viewed...
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References
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Online Resources
The Trauma Center. http://www.traumacenter.org/
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Kerr, L.K. (2014). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In: Teo, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_347
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