ABSTRACT
War is trauma. War-related death is trauma. Suicide is trauma too. General Carl
Gottfried von Clausewitz noted the physical, mental, and emotional stress of
combat and called it “friction.” The nature of war can result in a traumatic reaction
in any normal person. It is trauma. Charles Figley and William Nash (2007), in
their introduction to the book Combat Stress Injuries, write, “The nature of war
is destruction,” and ask some questions:
(1) What are the positive and negative short-and long-term consequences
of war fighting for the warfighter? (2) What are the pre-combat factors
that affect these consequences? (3) What are the factors during and fol-
lowing combat that affect these consequences? (4) What are the psychosocial
and medical programs, treatments, and interventions that mitigate the
negative consequences of combat and enhance the positive consequences?
