We are still paying the psychological trauma of the Civil War. 2/3 of the males in the country had been in the armies, and they returned with PTSD, an unknown malady that became known in the postwar period as "reverie," since it appeared the sufferers couldn't seem to stop dealing with the war. This led directly to Prohibition, because (as is well known in modern PTSD treatment), the sufferers were self-medicating with alcohol and then engaging in domestic violence (another well-known outcome of PTSD). The women and children, not knowing the source of the problem, blamed the drinking, and eventually a movement developed to get rid of alcohol that ended with national Prohibition - which led to the "professionalization" of criminal behavior.
The widespread dysfunction found in American families also comes from this - almost all familial dysfunction is multi-generational, as the children of abuse grow up thinking That's The Way Things Are and continuing the behavior as adults with their own children.
In so many ways, the unresolved Civil War is with us every day.
April 12, 1861: We are still dealing with the psychological trauma of the Civil War.
Excellent essay, very accurate.
We are still paying the psychological trauma of the Civil War. 2/3 of the males in the country had been in the armies, and they returned with PTSD, an unknown malady that became known in the postwar period as "reverie," since it appeared the sufferers couldn't seem to stop dealing with the war. This led directly to Prohibition, because (as is well known in modern PTSD treatment), the sufferers were self-medicating with alcohol and then engaging in domestic violence (another well-known outcome of PTSD). The women and children, not knowing the source of the problem, blamed the drinking, and eventually a movement developed to get rid of alcohol that ended with national Prohibition - which led to the "professionalization" of criminal behavior.
The widespread dysfunction found in American families also comes from this - almost all familial dysfunction is multi-generational, as the children of abuse grow up thinking That's The Way Things Are and continuing the behavior as adults with their own children.
In so many ways, the unresolved Civil War is with us every day.