Post-traumatic stress disorder (commonly known as PTSD) is a significant problem associated with military soldiers. This article will primarily focus on the causes of PTSD and its effects on soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will attempt to expand on the soldiers' experiences through my own combat experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will explain what PTSD is, examine the history of PTSD, how people get it, the differences between men and women, and treatment options. As far back as we can go in history, humans have fought for survival. . There have been fights with gigantic mammoths, soldiers charging the front line with swords drawn, or teachers watching their neighbors being gassed to death. These are all very stressful situations that can lead to PTSD and have been around for centuries. As long as there have been humans fighting, there has been PTSD, it just wasn't a term yet. During the Civil War, PTSD problems became so severe that the very first military hospital for the insane was established in 1863 (Bentley). . Before that, because military officials didn't know what to do or what was wrong with these able-bodied men, they simply threw them out on the streets or sent them home. With so many crazy soldiers walking around, it was the public who insisted that something be done to help these soldiers and keep them off the streets (Bentley). It was not until 1905, during World War I, that a connection was made between mental breakdown and mental collapse. and the stress of war (Bentley). At first, there were so many cases of PTSD that authorities thought it was due to concussion from shells, which is why they called it "shell shock." It was the Russians who fucked...... middle of paper ......t. Bellevue College Lib., Bellevue, Washington. May 15, 2011Greist, John H., James W. Jefferson, David J. Katzelnick Facts for Heath. May 11, 2011. Hales, Dianne. Well-being at Bellevue College. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning., 2011 Tarrant, David. “Iraq Veteran’s PTSD is an implacable enemy, but it fights back.” The Dallas Morning News August 22, 2010. May 11, 2011 United States. Department of Veterans Affairs. Treatment of PTSD. October 5, 2010. May 11, 2011. .Unknown, Anthony. “Cognitive-behavioral therapy”. Online. March 31, 2011. PtsdForum Supporting Trauma. May 15 2011.