PTSD: The battle that never quits

It wasn’t always called that. During the Civil War era, it was called Nostalgia, Soldier’s Heart and even Railroad Spine. All of the terms expressing a part of what PTSD is, but not hitting it all. Nostalgia, we tend to think of it as a warm and fuzzy memory, but the definition is more along the line of just a memory and a reaction connected with it, whether good or bad. Soldier’s Heart referred to the cardiac symptoms that come along with the malady. The increased heart rate, the palpitations, mostly caused, we know now, by anxiety.