Post-Traumatic Stress Reactions before the Advent of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Potential Effects on the Lives and Legacies of Alexander the Great, Captain James Cook, Emily Dickinson, and Florence Nightingale

Abstract

Evidence is presented that Alexander the Great, Captain James Cook, Emily Dickinson, and Florence Nightingale each developed symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of repeated potentially traumatizing events of differing character. Their case histories also varied with respect to background, premorbid personality style, risk factors, clinical presentation, and course of the illness, illustrating the pleomorphic character of the disorder, as well as the special problems in diagnosing it in historical figures.