Civil War and PTSD

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060206233356.htm

A 2006 study done by investigating Civil War records at the National Archives demonstrated that war trauma can be documented in this country back to the Civil War. It was called "irritable heart or soldier's heart" and was connected with a lifetime of higher rates of physical and mental disorders in those who had seen combat. The factors that had the most significance were the youth of the soldier, intensity of combat (represented by percentage of soldiers killed in a company) and finally, prisioner of war status. This study is especially important because researchers were able to analyze the soldier over his entire lifespan.