Department of Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943;
Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Apr 13;118(15). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2020430118.
Military personnel in industrialized societies often develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during combat. It is unclear whether combat-related PTSD is a universal evolutionary response to danger or a culture-specific syndrome of industrialized societies. We interviewed 218 Turkana pastoralist warriors in Kenya, who engage in lethal cattle raids, about their combat experiences and PTSD symptoms. Turkana in our sample had a high prevalence of PTSD symptoms, but Turkana with high symptom severity had lower prevalence of depression-like symptoms than American service members with high symptom severity. Symptoms that facilitate responding to danger were better predicted by combat exposure, whereas depressive symptoms were better predicted by exposure to combat-related moral violations. The findings suggest that some PTSD symptoms stem from an evolved response to danger, while depressive PTSD symptoms may be caused by culturally specific moral norm violations.
工业化社会中的军人在战斗中经常会患上创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。目前尚不清楚与战斗相关的 PTSD 是对危险的普遍进化反应，还是工业化社会特有的综合征。我们采访了肯尼亚的 218 名从事致命牛群袭击的图尔卡纳牧民战士，询问了他们的战斗经历和 PTSD 症状。我们的样本中，图尔卡纳人 PTSD 症状的患病率很高，但症状严重的图尔卡纳人出现类似抑郁症状的患病率却低于症状严重的美国军人。有助于应对危险的症状更多地由战斗经历所预测，而抑郁症状则更多地由与战斗相关的道德违规行为所预测。研究结果表明，一些 PTSD 症状源于对危险的进化反应，而抑郁性 PTSD 症状可能是由特定于文化的道德规范违规行为引起的。
