Soldiers who returned home from World War I faced a number of problems that also haunted veterans returning from more recent conflicts such as the Vietnam War (in the 1960s and 1970s) and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts (in the 2000s).
Returning veterans from World War I suffered unemployment, serious mental illnesses—including trauma, "shell shock" or PTSD, grief, anxiety disorders, and depression—as well as physical injuries, such as amputations, paraplegia, lung problems, and blindness.
Unfortunately, in the years immediately following World War I, treatments for soldiers' injuries—both physical and mental—were crude and sometimes did more harm than good.
The term "post-traumatic stress disorder" or PTSD wasn't coined until the 1970s—during the first World War, it was simply known as shell shock.
Answer a few questions in our online PTSD evaluation to get personalized feedback. Talking with a therapist or counselor can help you recover.
Check out the Monarch Directory by SimplePractice to see licensed mental health professionals who specialize in clients with PTSD.
You can also browse therapists who specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), as this therapeutic approach has been shown to help PTSD recovery.