Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
From the author of 'The Perfect Storm and War' comes a book about why
men miss war, why Londoners missed the Blitz and what we can all learn
from American Indian captives who refused to go home.
Tribe is a
look at post-traumatic stress disorder and the challenges veterans face
returning to society. Using his background in anthropology, Sebastian
Junger argues that the problem lies not with vets or with the trauma
they’ve suffered, but with the society to which they are trying to
return.
One of the most puzzling things about veterans who
experience PTSD is that the majority never even saw combat—and yet they
feel deeply alienated and out of place back home. The reason may lie in
our natural inclination, as a species, to live in groups of thirty to
fifty people who are entirely reliant on one another for safety, comfort
and a sense of meaning: in short, the life of a soldier.
It is
one of the ironies of the modern age that as affluence rises in a
society, so do rates of suicide, depression and of course PTSD. In a
wealthy society people don’t need to cooperate with one another, so they
often lead much lonelier lives that lead to psychological distress.
There is a way for modern society to reverse this trend, however and
studying how veterans react to coming home may provide a clue to how to
do it. But it won’t be easy.
Product details
- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate (30 June 2017)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0008168180
- ISBN-13: 978-0008168186
- Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.2 x 19.8 cm
