Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder alone does not explain the total psychological impact of war, according to a Nottingham academic.

International conflicts are now more the norm than the exception and it’s never been more important to understand the effects of war on soldiers, in order to help them when they return from active service.

Work by Associate Professor of Health Psychology Dr Nigel Hunt, suggests that there are environmental factors associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that are simply overlooked.

In his book Memory, War and Trauma he takes a wider look at the psychological impact of war, drawing on research and writings across a range of disciplines including literature, history and sociology.

The aim is to create a more detailed understanding of what war does to an individual’s mental state: “There is an association between what we mean by memory — looking back at the past from an individual perspective or looking back at the past from a societal perspective — and what we mean by history.

“If you look at what happens over a period of two to three generations; what happens to people’s memory of events turns into some sort of cultural memory, then turns into some kind of history.”

It’s this transition from personal memory to collective history that forms a keystone in Dr Hunt’s research.

In coming to terms with the trauma experienced by people in war zones, Dr Hunt’s research developed into the idea of narrative and how we make sense of our lives: “We have a natural storytelling ability,” he said. “We all make stories about what happens to us, we can’t help it; it’s like walking — you have to do it.”

The ability to construct narratives about our experiences is crucial not only to the affected soldiers, but also to society’s understanding of that experience.

Dr Hunt argues that PTSD isn’t enough to properly account for the full experience of trauma, not least because the trauma experienced by the soldier can manifest itself in ways that will affect those close to them, whether it be violence, depression or dependency on alcohol or drugs.

“An example of this lies in work being done by colleagues from Iraq who are asking whether we can talk about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder applied to the people of Iraq, where the trauma is not ‘post’.”

Here, environment is everything. Dr Hunt argues that someone suffering PTSD in Britain, for example, will have a high perception of risk; that they may be attacked if they go out again, even though statistically they are unlikely to be attacked again. This, he argues, is an incorrect perception of risk.

In Iraq, where family members are killed in bomb blasts there is a similar perception of risk, but it’s entirely correct, as kidnappings and attacks are ongoing.

“The environment matters, it really matters.”