On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman
Authors: Dave Grossman
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capability to sustain combat has completely outstripped our psychological capacity to endure it.
The Manifestations of Psychiatric Casualties In his book No More Heroes Richard Gabriel examines the many historical symptoms and manifestations of psychiatric casualties.1
Among these are fatigue cases, confusional states, conversion hysteria, anxiety states, obsessional and compulsive states, and character disorders.
Fatigue Cases
This state of physical and mental exhaustion is one of the earliest symptoms. Increasingly unsociable and overly irritable, the soldier loses interest in all activities with comrades and seeks to avoid any responsibility or activity involving physical or mental effort. He becomes prone to crying fits or fits of extreme anxiety or terror.
There will also be such somatic symptoms as hypersensitivity to sound, increased sweating, and palpitations. Such fatigue cases set the stage for further and more complete collapse. If the soldier is forced to remain in combat, such collapse becomes inevitable; the only real cure is evacuation and rest.
Confusional States
Fatigue can quickly shift into the psychotic dissociation from reality that marks confusional states. Usually, the soldier no longer knows who he is or where he is. Unable to deal with his environment, he has mentally removed himself from it. Symptoms include delirium, psychotic dissociation, and manic-depressive mood swings. One often noted response is Ganzer syndrome, in which the soldier will begin to make jokes, act silly, and otherwise try to ward off the horror with humor and the ridiculous.
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KILLING AND C O M B A T T R A U M A
T h e degree of affliction in confusional states can range from the merely neurotic to the overtly psychotic. T h e sense of humor exhibited in the movie and television series M*A*S*H is an excellent example of individuals mildly afflicted with Ganzer syndrome.
And this personal narrative provides a look at a man severely afflicted with Ganzer syndrome:
"Get that thing out of my face, Hunter, or I'll feed it to you with hot sauce."
"C'mon, Sarge, don't you want to shake hands with 'Herbert'?"
"Hunter, you're f ed up. Anybody who'd bring back a gook arm is sick. Anybody who'd bring one in the tent is begging for extra guard. You don't know where that thing's been. QUIT
PICKING Y O U R NOSE WITH IT! OUT, HUNTER! OUT!"
"Aw, Sarge, 'Herbert' just wants to make friends. He's lonely without his old friends, 'Mr. Foot' and 'Mr. Ballbag.' "
"Double guard tonight, Hunter, and all week. Goodbye, sicko.
Enjoy your guard."
"Say good night to 'Herbert,' everyone."
"OUT! OUT!"
Black humor of course. Hard laughs for the hard guys. After a time, nothing was sacred. If Mom could only see what her little boy was playing with now.
Or what they were paying him to do.
— W. Norris
"Rhodesia Fireforce Commandos"
Conversion Hysteria
Conversion hysteria can occur traumatically during combat or post-traumatically, years later. Conversion hysteria can manifest itself as an inability to know where one is or to function at all, often accompanied by aimless wandering around the battlefield with complete disregard for evident dangers. U p o n occasion the soldier becomes amnesiatic, blocking out large parts of his memory.
Often, hysteria degenerates into convulsive attacks in which the soldier rolls into the fetal position and begins to shake violently.
THE NATURE OF PSYCHIATRIC CASUALTIES 47
Gabriel notes that during both world wars cases of contractive paralysis of the arm were quite common, and usually the arm used to pull the trigger was the one that became paralyzed. A soldier may become hysterical after being knocked out by a concussion, after receiving a minor nondebilitating wound, or after experiencing a near miss. Hysteria can also show up after a wounded soldier has been evacuated to a hospital or rear area. Once he is there, hysteria can begin to emerge, most often as a defense against returning to fight.
The Manifestations of Psychiatric Casualties In his book No More Heroes Richard Gabriel examines the many historical symptoms and manifestations of psychiatric casualties.1
Among these are fatigue cases, confusional states, conversion hysteria, anxiety states, obsessional and compulsive states, and character disorders.
Fatigue Cases
This state of physical and mental exhaustion is one of the earliest symptoms. Increasingly unsociable and overly irritable, the soldier loses interest in all activities with comrades and seeks to avoid any responsibility or activity involving physical or mental effort. He becomes prone to crying fits or fits of extreme anxiety or terror.
There will also be such somatic symptoms as hypersensitivity to sound, increased sweating, and palpitations. Such fatigue cases set the stage for further and more complete collapse. If the soldier is forced to remain in combat, such collapse becomes inevitable; the only real cure is evacuation and rest.
Confusional States
Fatigue can quickly shift into the psychotic dissociation from reality that marks confusional states. Usually, the soldier no longer knows who he is or where he is. Unable to deal with his environment, he has mentally removed himself from it. Symptoms include delirium, psychotic dissociation, and manic-depressive mood swings. One often noted response is Ganzer syndrome, in which the soldier will begin to make jokes, act silly, and otherwise try to ward off the horror with humor and the ridiculous.
46
KILLING AND C O M B A T T R A U M A
T h e degree of affliction in confusional states can range from the merely neurotic to the overtly psychotic. T h e sense of humor exhibited in the movie and television series M*A*S*H is an excellent example of individuals mildly afflicted with Ganzer syndrome.
And this personal narrative provides a look at a man severely afflicted with Ganzer syndrome:
"Get that thing out of my face, Hunter, or I'll feed it to you with hot sauce."
"C'mon, Sarge, don't you want to shake hands with 'Herbert'?"
"Hunter, you're f ed up. Anybody who'd bring back a gook arm is sick. Anybody who'd bring one in the tent is begging for extra guard. You don't know where that thing's been. QUIT
PICKING Y O U R NOSE WITH IT! OUT, HUNTER! OUT!"
"Aw, Sarge, 'Herbert' just wants to make friends. He's lonely without his old friends, 'Mr. Foot' and 'Mr. Ballbag.' "
"Double guard tonight, Hunter, and all week. Goodbye, sicko.
Enjoy your guard."
"Say good night to 'Herbert,' everyone."
"OUT! OUT!"
Black humor of course. Hard laughs for the hard guys. After a time, nothing was sacred. If Mom could only see what her little boy was playing with now.
Or what they were paying him to do.
— W. Norris
"Rhodesia Fireforce Commandos"
Conversion Hysteria
Conversion hysteria can occur traumatically during combat or post-traumatically, years later. Conversion hysteria can manifest itself as an inability to know where one is or to function at all, often accompanied by aimless wandering around the battlefield with complete disregard for evident dangers. U p o n occasion the soldier becomes amnesiatic, blocking out large parts of his memory.
Often, hysteria degenerates into convulsive attacks in which the soldier rolls into the fetal position and begins to shake violently.
THE NATURE OF PSYCHIATRIC CASUALTIES 47
Gabriel notes that during both world wars cases of contractive paralysis of the arm were quite common, and usually the arm used to pull the trigger was the one that became paralyzed. A soldier may become hysterical after being knocked out by a concussion, after receiving a minor nondebilitating wound, or after experiencing a near miss. Hysteria can also show up after a wounded soldier has been evacuated to a hospital or rear area. Once he is there, hysteria can begin to emerge, most often as a defense against returning to fight.
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