Page 252 - Total War on PTSD

CHAPTER 19 - LONELY SOLDIERS: THE ISOLATING TOLL OF WAR TRAUMA AND PTSD
Jacob Y. Stein, Ph.D., I-Core Research Center for Mass Trauma and Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Source: ChapterAuthor Jacob Y. Stein, Ph.D.
English poet John Donne (1572-1631) has famously asserted that, “no man is an island.” This iconic proclamation connotes that we are all connected and inter-depended in one way or another. Indeed, from the dawn of civilization humans have been social creatures, living together and forming families, communities, states, societies and cultures. We depend on one another for countless different things, from the most rudimentary and mundane tasks of our lives such as public transportation and getting our groceries to the most intimate of companionships sought in aromatic relationships. From an evolutionary perspective, our inclination to seek closeness with others has been entrenched into our nature by evolutionary processes spanning from prehistoric times, when men had to hunt together, to modern times, when social media reigns. The fact is, that for most of us,
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