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How Ancient Warriors Coped with the Brutality of War

How Ancient Warriors Coped with the Brutality of War

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As many as 7% of armed forces personnel suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and that figure is expected to rise as the full impact of a decade of war in the Middle East makes itself felt. But, while government failure to tackle the rise of PTSD among military personnel is the shame of our society, PTSD as a side effect of war is not a new thing. The language we use to describe the experience of PTSD might be modern – it was only introduced into the medical dictionary in 1980 – but ancient cultures were well versed in it. Many had rituals to help ease the ruptures experienced by those traumatised by warfare, which we could learn from today.

Coming home from war is difficult. Reintegration into civilian life, especially, is hard. The difficulty of warriors returning home from battle is an old, old story. The psychiatrist Jonathan Shay outlines the nature of this old story in his analysis of the tale of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey.

After victory at Troy, it takes Odysseus ten years to make it home and when he does he is a different man – quite literally, thanks to the disguise he wears. He is emotionless and blank in the face of his wife’s distress. He mistrusts those around him and is uncomfortable in a crowd. The valid adaptations to danger, which kept Odysseus safe during wartime, have persisted into a time of safety. This is a classic experience of PTSD; Odysseus has suffered the three traumatic ruptures of self, time, and cognition.

Odysseus showed signs of PTSD upon his return.

Odysseus showed signs of PTSD upon his return. Gustav Schwab

Three ruptures

These three ruptures characterise the experience of trauma. First, trauma ruptures a person’s sense of identity. They no longer know who they are. They struggle to identify with the person they were before they experienced the trauma. They may even feel that that person is dead. In the aftermath of trauma, there is therefore a need for people to redefine themselves and their relationship with the world they used to know.

The second rupture is one of time. For many sufferers of PTSD, the past continues to invade the present in the form of repeated nightmares, flashbacks, and repeated experiences of the trauma. The sufferer of PTSD lives in the shadow of the trauma, never quite knowing when it will rear its head once again. Recovery must therefore begin in a place of bodily safety and security.

The third rupture caused by trauma is a rupture in cognition. This is characterised by a failing of words and an inability to talk about the experience that they’ve had because it doesn’t make any sense to them. This applies to both their ability to talk about what they experienced, as well as how they feel. Not being able to talk about it is incredibly detrimental to the recovery process.

Ritual cleansing

Ancient cultures understood better than us the need to aid warriors when they returned from war and many had rituals that helped heal these ruptures. For example, in Rome, the vestal virgins would bathe returning soldiers to purge them of the corruption of war. The Maasai warriors of East Africa had purification rites for the homecoming of their fighters. The Native Americans held sweat lodge purification rituals for returning warriors in which their stories could be told and their “inner pollution” could be left among the hot stones, evaporating into steam and cleansing the warrior.

Maasai warriors had purification rituals.

Maasai warriors had purification rituals. Paul/flickrCC BY-NC-ND

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, there is some understanding of the need to purify soldiers after warfare, too. In the Bible, the Hebrews are instructed to purify themselves before entering back into the camp after battle. This process also found its way into Christian penances.

In medieval warfare, all those who fought in battle were required to do penance (confess their sins, receive absolution, and make an outward expression of their repentance), even those who did not kill. Those who did kill were required to undertake extra penances. This requirement was obviously connected to the need to assuage a sense of guilt and culpability – giving relief from shame.

These ancient cultures understood something fundamental about returning soldiers and PTSD and mobilised the rituals of their cultures to support their transition and heal their traumatic ruptures. A similar effort is needed to support armed forces personnel today.

The beginning of a military career is characterised by ritual. Daily patterns, drills, uniforms, and passing out parades mark out the first few months of life in the armed forces. But coming home after war is a different story. A ritualised homecoming, drawing on the practices of faith where appropriate, might help to promote the healing of PTSD.

Top image:  King Sverre’s journey over the Voss Mountains (public domain)

This article, originally titled ‘How PTSD treatment can learn from ancient warrior rituals’ by Karen O'Donnell was published on The Conversation and has been republished under a Creative Commons license.

 

Comments

I am beginning to exhibit signs of PTSD from the election of Trump and is only going to worsen. :)

The ghost of a war commrad appears to Odyssus and warns him no to go rushing home as he had done. For he had survived 10 years of war only to be killed in the bath tub by his own wife and her new lover. Upon his return to Ithica, Odyssus takes his old friends advise and appears as a begger. It was a good thing he did it too because the wealthy men courting his wife were waiting to kill him.

I don’t think he had PTSD. He just had forwarning and the help of the Gods.

Menelaus, Helen’s lawful husband, was pretty messed up though. He said that he would lock himself in his house for a month at a time and weep over fallen commrads. He had been doing that for 10 years. Helen was messed up about the war too.

--Still learning--

Please consider the following as a front page article on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder -

The Transcendental Meditation program has been approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for over 20 years for soldiers with PTSD.

Kindly watch and share with all -

"PTSD and Transcendental Meditation - David George, Infantryman" (2:34; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ki4c-XkYsM / excellent!)

and

"Transcendental Meditation Improves Performance at Military University" (5:12; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIH0913lQe0 )

Also see, "Use a Treatment for PTSD That Actually Works" in The Hill, Washington DC

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/262340-use-a-treatment...

and

"Transcendental Meditation May Reduce PTSD Symptoms, Medication in Active-Duty Personnel" in EurekAlert (01/11/16)

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/mcog-tmm011116.php

Thanks!

Bill @ BillsArtBox.com

P.S. Please visit http://www.operationwarriorwellness.org/ for more information.

Note: Results are available for long-standing PTSD symptoms, as well, including for Vietnam Veterans.

Also, see the dramatic effects for Domestic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for women and children, and for PTSD for "First Responders", at http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/#video=6gM_sXiUPvo (5:24)

Also, from http://www.army.mil/ :

"Transcendental Meditation - a Path to Healing"

"Doctors promised him through medication and hard work he could potentially heal over the course of years, but since transcendental meditation he has moved much closer to achieving his recovery in months."

- U.S. Army official website

I love the idea about cleansing and healing rituals as a way of welcoming people officially back into the human family of the culture after a traumatizing experience. This one practice may be what the world needs now more than almost anything else for a variety of types of traumatized individuals.

I have to add a note of doubt about your opening statistic.

7.8 % of Americans *in the general population* will have PTSD at some point in their lives, according to this source: www.ptsd.ne.gov/what-is-ptsd.html

According to RAND, this link says, Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans have PTSD at a rate of 20%. www.veteransandptsd.com/PTSD-statistics.html

Other sources for statistics on PTSD occurrence in veterans may vary within this range. Your estimate is definitely at the low end of the estimates and you give no source.

In my experience working with trauma survivors of another kind that does overlap with the veteran population (survivors of sexual assault and abuse) this type of estimate tends to fall low in documented sources rather than running high because people with PTSD do not trust others and have a range of reasons for not seeking help and not wanting to be diagnosed and counted. Therefore I believe your number could be possibly very low compared to reality.

PTSD doesn't only hit military - I had a wolloping nasty run in with PTSD that still affects me some 30 years after the fact. I still get nightmares, hyper-alert insomnia issues, trust issues and *am* an entirely different person from my pre-abusive relationship self. It took years of therapy to deal with some of my issues, and learning to trust again and an incredibly understanding husband ... and I am not the only woman with abuse-caused PTSD.

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