Timeline

Below is a timeline of the history of PTSD. Click on the arrows following each item to go to the part of this website that discusses each event.

• 1678: Swiss Physicians identify ‘Nostalgia’ →
• 1700s: Dominique Jean Larrey describes the disorder as having three stages →
• 1855: Government Hospital for the Insane is established →
• 1861-1865: U.S. military physicians document the stresses of Civil War soldiers →
• 1871: Jacob Mendez Da Costa publishes a study about ‘irritable heart’ →
• 1905: ‘Battle shock’ is regarded as a legitimate medical condition by the Russian Army →
• 1917-1919: Distress of soldiers is attributed to ‘shell shock’ during WWI →
• 1918: Smith and Pear advocate for the term ‘war strain’ and for treatment of soldiers’ emotional symptoms →
• 1919: Freud’s colleagues publish a book about his theory of ‘war neurosis,’ and Freud writes the introduction →
• 1920: Freud submits a memorandum about the rumored brutal treatment of psychologically wounded soldiers →
• 1939-1945: Terminology changes to ‘combat exhaustion’ during WWII, and U.S. Army adopts the official slogan, “Every man has  his breaking point” →
• 1943: General George Patton slaps two soldiers who were recuperating in a military hospital, and is ultimately relieved of his duties →
• 1945: U.S. Army creates a training video for unspecialized medical officers for the treatment of combat exhaustion, including administration of sodium pentothal and suggestive therapy→
• 1946: The National Mental Health Act is passed, and provides for expansion of mental health facilities →
• 1947: U.S. Army releases a documentary about causes and treatment of mental illness during WWII →
• 1952: ‘Gross stress reaction’ is included in DSM-I →
• 1953: Harold Wolff proposes a holistic model of stress based on an evolutionary model →
• 1965: Each military battalion is provided with officers trained to treat psychological problems during the Vietnam war →
• 1968: ‘Gross stress reaction’ is dropped from DSM-II →
• 1969: Pettera, Johnson, and Zimmer conceptualize ‘Vietnam combat reaction’ →
• 1972: Chaim Shatan raises awareness of ‘post-Vietnam syndrome’ in the New York Times →
• 1980: ‘Posttraumatic stress disorder’ is added to DSM-III →
• 1987: DSM-III-R drops requirement that stressors be outside the range of normal human experience →
• 1993: Pat Barker’s work of historical fiction, Regeneration, is released →
• 2005: PBS FRONTLINE releases “The Soldier’s Heart” documentary →
• 2008: Grey’s Anatomy introduces a character with combat-related PTSD →
• 2008: The major motion picture, Brothers, is released →
• 2010: HBO releases “Wartorn 1861-2010″ documentary →

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