In an article from Australia, there's a great quote about combat trauma/PTSD, and its very ordinariness.
(The article's topic is how "mental health problems caused by war service afflict veterans' families and children too.) One of the premises of the article is that, based on a study, "Sons and daughters of Vietnam veterans are three times more likely to commit suicide than those of similar age in the general population (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2000, Suicide in Vietnam veterans' children: Supplementary report no.1). According to the same report, "They are also more likely to die of accidental death, experience depression and abuse alcohol or other drugs."
That's the overall pretext for the article. However, now comes the excellent quote, with a bit of preamble from the article itself, linked here:
According to Professor Hedley Peach, conducting research into veterans' sons and daughters is vital, not only to examine in detail the reasons behind their poor health but to set up support services that work for them. He is also eager for doctors to consider war service when treating patients, as in many cases it could help diagnosis .... Peach, a member of the scientific committee advising the Government on the feasibility study and professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne, says the Government should also consider studying grandchildren of Vietnam veterans to avoid more problems spiralling down through the generations.
''If the sons and daughters have got mental health problems and have young children themselves, what effect will that have on the grandchildren? We have to break the cycle.''
He suggests stressful familial environments could be behind the children's mental health problems, already highlighted by existing research. While many people with mental illness have a genetic predisposition to their condition, veterans were screened for mental illness before they went into the service, making stress a more likely factor in the children's ill health.
''In studies done by clinical psychologists running PTSD clinics for Vietnam veterans, children have reported a high level of dysfunction in families,'' he says. ''When we focused on Agent Orange so much in the past we missed the bigger picture. We are seeing the same sorts of problems in veterans of the Iraq and Gulf Wars, and fighters in World War II are now saying they suffered from the same problems. It is not due to any specific war, it is the generic effect of combat.''
Thanks to Kathie Costos for this reference...