Combat stress reaction History
Sigmund Freud studied the effects of war neurosis. His concluded that under ideal conditions the tension between impulses and prohibitions are kept at a minimum. Life experiences create impulses or reflexes, and these impulses create drive. Prohibitions are developed over time and come from parents or other adults. Traumatic stress can cause powerful impulses that a person can no longer repress. For combat situations this could cause service-members to flee, or to blindly attack. The attempt to repress these impulses eventually leads to the psychoneurosis symptoms and even loss of physical functions. Charles R. Figley and William P. Nash. Dec. 4th 2006.