Trauma,War, and Spiritual Transformation: A Mythological Perspective

The statistics are staggering: Approximately 22 veterans commit suicide every day. A previous study done just a few short years ago put the numbers at 38 a day. Why? It is in the pursuit of an answer that this article came to be written, and a mythological lens seemed to bring the most understanding and depth to the possible answer. Out of the four functions of myths, it is the metaphysical one that helps us the most with understanding the causes and conditions of PTSD and the most profound reasons for suicide. With the help of philosophers such as Schopenhauer and Kant, we pierce the veil of the temporal forms of sensibility and experience the oneness of all life, as the soldier experiences it in the moment of life and death, the moment of killing. With the help of Martin Buber, we observe these veterans coming to a metaphysical understanding of a spiritual nature that they cannot undo. This truth is both the root of their suffering and the key to their healing.