The Trauma of Killing

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Recommended: The emotional effects of war on soldiers

The United States military continues to engage in one of the longest periods of combat operations in our nation’s history. One of the results is an increase in the amount of persons suffering Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2000), a precursor to PTSD is the experience of an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury to self or others. Grossman (2009) argues that an additional factor, the emotional and spiritual response to killing another human being, also takes a tremendous toll on the mental health of returning soldiers. Forty-eight to sixty–five percent of soldiers returning from Operation Enduring Freedom have reported killing an enemy combatant, while 14–28% have reported killing a noncombatant (Hoge, Castro, Messer, McGurk, Cotting, & Koffman, 2004). This paper will discuss Grossman’s (2009) views on the psychological cost of killing others in combat.

The Role of Fear

Nash (2007) points out that soldiers exposed to combat have predictable fears, such as the fear of death or serious injury and the loss of fellow soldiers. Several studies have found, however, that these expected fears are not as pervasive as those who have not served in combat may expect (Grossman, 2009).

A soldier’s “greatest fear is not death but failure, and the shame that accompanies failure. More than anything else, warriors fear letting themselves down and letting their leaders and friends down at a moment when it matters most. They fear most not losing their lives, but their honor” (Nash, 2007, p. 25).

Fear in combat can be both a blessing and a curse. Uncontrolled fear can make a soldier ineffective in combat, placing not only that soldier’s life ...

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...3. doi: 10.1002/jts.20451

Marshall, S.L.A. (1978). Men against fire: the problem of battle command in future war. Glouscester, MA: Peter Smith Publishers.

Nash, W. (2007). The stressors of war. In C. Figley & W. Nash (Eds.), Combat Stress Injury (pp. 11-32). San Francisco: Routledge.

Sherr, M. & Taylor, T.A. (2008). When veterans come home. Journal of Family and Community Ministries, 21(3), 6-16. Retrieved from http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/ document.php/145467.pdf

Singer, M. (2004). Shame, guilt, self-hatred and remorse in the psychotherapy of Vietnam combat veterans who committed atrocities. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 58(4), 377-385.

Van Winkle, E., & Safer, M. (2011). Killing versus witnessing in combat trauma and reports of PTSD symptoms and domestic violence. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24(1), 107-110. doi:10.1002/jts.20614

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