Friday, July 09, 2010

Room for Debate: Should More Veterans Get P.T.S.D. Benefits?

This debate in the Times shows that while the legitimacy of the PTSD diagnosis may now be almost universally accepted, the implications of the diagnosis are still controversial. I believe that considering the history of the idea of psychological trauma lends perspective to contemporary controversies. During the 1980s I researched the history of this idea. For those who are interested, here is a copy of one paper I wrote on the subject: Emotional Trauma and the Development of the Idea of Neurosis in the United States: 1865-1930.