Combat involves our flight or fight responses, on a battlefield there is no real place to run, so your instinct to survive take over.

Also soldiers are trained to ignore the humanity and suffering of the enemy in the midst of combat and to focus intently on the objective at hand. A lot of training focuses on the suppression of our desire for compassion and our fear to harm others.

Not everyone can mentally take to this conditioning and often times those folks return traumatized by the experiance.

The epic game Metal Gear Solid 4 explores PTSD in great detail and what it truly means to be a soldier.

TJ