ABSTRACT
Posttraumatic stress disorder was once thought to be relatively uncommon, but recent estimates suggest that between 10 and 39 per cent of people will suffer it during their lives (Breslau et al. 1998; Kilpatrick and Resnick 1992). For many the disorder becomes chronic and disabling. In 2002 a class action suit was brought by 2000 British service personnel against the UK Ministry of Defence relating to psychological trauma sustained in conflicts including Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Bosnia and the first Gulf War. The action was largely unsuccessful, in part because of shortcomings in our factual base regarding psychological trauma prevention, but it nevertheless sounded a loud warning for the future (Bisson 2003). PTSD can no longer be ignored. In the search for knowledge there is a tendency to repeat research confirming what we already know, as opposed to probing new territory (McFarlane and van der Kolk 1996b). This book ventures into new territory. PTSD simply put is a complex and persistent reaction to severely threatening life experiences. It has an irrational or phobic quality, but unlike ordinary phobias it usually involves other elements, particularly a marked irritability or aggression. I will briefly describe two typical cases to orientate those unfamiliar with it.
