Originally Posted by LeEnfield

There is never any mention of civilians suffering from PTSD during WW2 and many of those saw death and destruction.

Yes, but not on the scale that soldiers did?

I don't believe for a second that there are more servicemembers suffering from PTSD today than there were in previous wars. They are just better informed on the issue. I think PTSD would have been far more common in WWII and well all previous wars compared to Iraq and Afghanistan. There were far more people serving in those wars and combat was much worse back then. Granted, I only experienced combat in Iraq, but in my opinion, Vietnam and all wars fought prior would have been a much worse experience. The rise in PTSD is due to the fact that we are only recently beginning to understand what it is. They can't diagnose PTSD in the Middle Ages if they don't know what it is.

Originally Posted by LeEnfield

When you look at WW2 and the millions that served in the Forces and saw the horrible things and some very nasty fighting PSTD was quite a rare thing. The civilian population of the UK got bombed every day for months at a time and they not only lost there homes but there families as well and when the bombing slowed down there was a rain of V1 and V2 yet was there any PTSD disorders amongst them or is it only the military thing. I served in two combat zones and no one that I served with went down with PTSD. The Casualty rate in some Regiments like mine where always expected to be very high and still are but I have never heard of any one that has refused to fight or go on any mission. Now I am not saying that PSTD does not exist as I know it does, but it be down to the way that persons brain is wired that could cause such a thing.

I don't think you understand what PTSD is. An individual with PTSD is not necessarily going to refuse to go on a mission. People you served with could have had PTSD and you would never know about it. I was diagnosed with it, and I have only told a couple of people about it and I never told anybody I served with. For the record, I didn't "go down with PTSD". It didn't take me out of anything. I NEVER refused ANY mission. I continued to VOLUNTEER myself for missions. I volunteered for a tour in Afghanistan but was denied because I had just finished consecutive tours in Iraq and Colombia and those two tours were AFTER experiencing PTSD symptoms. I know there are people who have it more severely. However, you shouldn't think that just because you didn't hear anything about it means it was a rarity.

I would bet anything that you HAVE served with somebody experiencing symptoms. They just did the same thing I did for a while and ignored them.