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Looming Vulnerability pp 217–233Cite as

Exploring Potential Links Between Looming Vulnerability and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

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Abstract

The written narrative above is from a young soldier who deployed to Iraq more than once at a young age. He is personally known to one of the authors and this narrative is used with his permission. His experience may be typical of that associated with the extreme stress of continued combat and that of many individuals who are diagnosed with PTSD.

Over us looms atrocious history

Jorge Luis Borges

In Memory of Angelica (1979, p. 177)

“You’re standing in the middle of the street. You can feel the heat radiating in the soles of your boots, reflecting off of the cracked pavement in the scorching sun that hovers menacingly in the Iraq sky. Sweat pours down your face and drips onto the detached vehicle door in your hands. You and a fellow soldier are carrying the door to the side of the road to clear the street. The reverberating boom of a Blackhawk medical helicopter landing nearby fills your ears and the rancid smell of gasoline, blood, and charring flesh is still hanging in the air. There is a distant echo of voices shouting in the background; to your right, the remains of a deceased suicide bomber are smoking, a blackened car engine nearby—the vivid result of the hellish scene that occurred minutes earlier. Blinking a few times, you look around. There is no lifeless corpse of a suicide bomber; no burning engine; no landing helicopter. You’re standing on the sidewalk waiting for the bus, safely home in any given city across the country. The hustle and vivacious pace of life of modern American society surrounds you as you stare towards the middle of the street. Physically, you’re home. Psychologically, you’re still standing in the streets of Iraq”.

Anonymous Quote from a Young Soldier

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VI, USA

    Linda D. Chrosniak & John H. Riskind

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  1. Linda D. Chrosniak
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Correspondence to John H. Riskind .

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Chrosniak, L.D., Riskind, J.H. (2018). Exploring Potential Links Between Looming Vulnerability and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. In: Looming Vulnerability. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8782-5_14

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