The second series of the hugely popular political action thriller Jack Ryan begins with a CIA analyst teaching new recruits to stop relying on the news as a source of intel for what’s going on in war. That’s because we can never know first hand what soldiers face in conflict.
But we do know it is often traumatic. Luckily, psychological research can help explain how likely they are to be able to cope – and how to prevent problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Soldiers, such as those serving in Ukraine, are at high risk of developing PTSD. It is the crippling stress reaction where memories of trauma hijack the mind, make sufferers feel highly alert, unsafe, exhausted, on edge and as though they are permanently changed for the worse.
