Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character

Toohey, Peter; Shay, Jonathan

doi:10.2307/1192701

Cited by 56 publications

(105 citation statements)

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“…Thus, ethical preparation seems to profoundly decrease the betrayal experiences of combatants, which are found in several studies as facilitators of highly negative consequences in military and other settings (C ˇartolovni et al, 2021;. These understandings are emphasized in the essential work of Shay (1994), who found that the betrayal of leaders was a significant catalyst of veterans' anger and loneliness in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.…”

Section: Table 3 Three Hierarchical Regressions Predicting Mies Dimen...mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Currier et al (2015) also reported that some of the antecedents of PMIEs are organizational contributors such as leadership perceived as out of touch with "boots on the ground." In the same vein, Shay (1994) highlighted the importance of leadership betrayals that might be associated with veterans' anger and social withdrawal.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the most consistent finding relates to the association between combat exposure and higher likelihood of exposure to PMIEs (Frankfurt & Frazier, 2016). For example, heavy combat exposure and combatrelated events such as witnessing the death of a close comrade were associated with greater increase in the likelihood of committing transgressive acts (e.g., Fontana & Rosenheck, 1999;Shay, 1994). The validity of these findings is somewhat questionable due to their cross-sectional and retrospective designs, which limit the ability to examine temporal sequencing between antecedents and MI-related outcomes.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Prospective associations between psychological factors, potentially morally injurious events, and psychiatric symptoms among Israeli combatants: The roles of ethical leadership and ethical preparation.

Zerach¹,

Ben-Yehuda²,

Levi‐Belz³

2023

Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

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Background: Exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) during military service is known to be associated with psychiatric symptoms. However, antecedents and outcomes of exposure to PMIEs have only been studied in cross-sectional or retrospective-designed studies. In this prospective study, we examined associations between preenlistment characteristics, predeployment psychological factors, exposure to PMIEs, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and psychiatric symptoms, and the moderating roles of ethical leadership and ethical preparation, among combatants. Method: A sample of 335 active-duty Israeli combatants participated in a 2.5-year prospective study with three waves of measurements. Participants’ characteristics were assessed via semistructured interviews and validated self-report measures between 2019 and 2021. Results: Above and beyond preenlistment personal characteristics and psychiatric symptoms, predeployment psychological flexibility predicted higher levels of exposure to PMIEs-Other and Betrayal, and combat exposure predicted higher levels of exposure to PMIEs-Self, Other, and betrayal. Moreover, PMIEs-Betrayal predicted higher levels of PTSD and psychiatric symptoms, and ethical preparation predicted lower PTSD and psychiatric symptoms. Importantly, among combatants who reported high levels of ethical preparation and leadership, the association between exposure to PMIEs and PTSD and psychiatric symptoms following deployment dissolved. Conclusions: This is the first prospective study of antecedents and outcomes of exposure to PMIEs among active-duty combatants. Clinicians treating combatants should be aware of the putative role of psychological flexibility for exposure to PMIEs, as well as the promising mitigating role of ethical leadership and preparation for moral injury and psychopathological outcomes among combatants.

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Section: Table 3 Three Hierarchical Regressions Predicting Mies Dimen...mentioning

confidence: 98%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prospective associations between psychological factors, potentially morally injurious events, and psychiatric symptoms among Israeli combatants: The roles of ethical leadership and ethical preparation.

Zerach¹,

Ben-Yehuda²,

Levi‐Belz³

2023

Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

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“…Dyck's case study illustrates the high impact and value of local interventions and programs in rehabilitating and reintegrating ex-combatants, while simultaneously serving the needs of a post-confl ict community. Studies of post-combat trauma and rehabilitation in ancient Athens, where citizenship was closely intertwined with military service, have emphasized the role of community theater in offering ex-combatants forms of "catharsis" or "cultural therapy" (Shay, 1994(Shay, , 1995(Shay, , 2002Meineck, 2012). 15 Scholars have long observed that the plots of tragic dramas describe the effects of combat trauma with chilling realism and familiarity.…”

Section: Rehabilitation/reintegrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15 Scholars have long observed that the plots of tragic dramas describe the effects of combat trauma with chilling realism and familiarity. The infl uential studies by Jonathan Shay of combat trauma, survivor's guilt, and the trials of post-confl ict reintegration in the Iliad and Odyssey demonstrate how ancient and modern experiences of war can be mutually illuminating; while theater directors, such as Peter Meineck and Brian Doerries, have used the ancient scripts by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides to design innovative programs by and for veterans and other survivors of confl ict (Shay, 1994(Shay, , 2002Meineck, 2009;Doerries, 2015). In 1995, Shay also wrote a brief essay for the online journal Didaskalia, observing fi ve "basic social and cognitive capacities required for democratic participation", derived from his own clinical practice with Vietnamera veterans (Shay, 1995):…”

Section: Rehabilitation/reintegrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peace Through Sport

Bromberg¹

2023

Classica

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In this article, I advocate for the relevance and utility of ancient materials and sources in theorizing and implementing contemporary peacebuilding methods. In particular, I focus on the enduring use of sports and athletics as tools for transitioning combatants from wartime to peacetime, for mitigating the negative social consequences of warfare, and for developing a resilient, interconnected transnational community. I draw examples from well-documented source materials of ancient Greek athletics in order to make connections between ancient and modern practice and to draw useful lessons for today’s practitioners. By offering transcultural comparisons of approaches to conflict resolution through athletic competition, this article contributes also to debates about the ethics of using sport as an interventionist tool in post-conflict societies and demonstrates the benefits of taking a long historical view of global issues.

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From here to I.A.P.T? (improving access to psychological therapies), preview for a new deal for dynamic psychotherapies: The psychoanalyst as street‐level bureaucrat

Clarke

2023

Appl Psychoanal Studies

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This paper offers a preview of a forthcoming article on the world's first, universal free-to-access, evidence-based talking therapies programme to treat depression: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. It was pioneered not in the USA, but the UK, in 2007. At one time it could have been led by psychoanalysts, but it wasn't. It was a New Deal, in fact, for CBT. But did this New Deal in 2007 also offer psychoanalysis an opportunity to renew its vitality as a discipline, after decades of being eroded by our long-term retreat into private practice? Illustrated in the film From Here to Eternity, through characters played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra, this Preview shows how applied psychoanalysis can once again aspire to become a universal, genuinely popular, relevant professional discipline. How would we engage ethically with psychiatric casualties of war, for example, within an evidence-based practice framework today? A novel, brief psychoanalytic treatment for depression, Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy, was developed for use in the UK's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. It is recommended by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) as cost-effective for treating depression.

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Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character

Cited by 56 publications

References 0 publications

Prospective associations between psychological factors, potentially morally injurious events, and psychiatric symptoms among Israeli combatants: The roles of ethical leadership and ethical preparation.

Prospective associations between psychological factors, potentially morally injurious events, and psychiatric symptoms among Israeli combatants: The roles of ethical leadership and ethical preparation.

Peace Through Sport

From here to I.A.P.T? (improving access to psychological therapies), preview for a new deal for dynamic psychotherapies: The psychoanalyst as street‐level bureaucrat

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