Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma-Related Conditions in Korean History: Literature Review of Six Cases

Special Article

Psychiatry Investigation 2005;2(2):18-21.

Daeho Kim, MD, PhD; and Haewon Lee, MD

Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hanyang University, Seoul and Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Gyeonggi, Korea

Abstract

<p class="MsoPlainText" style="word-spacing: 1; line-height: 150%; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0" align="left"><font face="HY중고딕" size="2">Historical accounts of individuals' psychological reaction to overwhelming trauma are occasionally found in the western literature. The aim of this study was to find similar clinical cases from Korean history. The authors reexamined the 27 cases of suspected mental illness originally revealed in Hong's 1981 study for possible diagnosis of post-traumatic reaction. His brilliant work was the result of a vigorous investigation of four major Korean historical volumes, Samguk Sagi, Samguk Yusa, Goryosa, and Sinjeung Donggukyeogiseungram, which combined to cover from the second century BC to the fifteenth century AD. As a result of the present research, the authors found six suspected cases of post-traumatic conditions: 3 of post-raumatic stress disorder, 2 of acute stress disorder, and one of major depressive disorder. In conclusion, the authors add six anecdotal cases to a body of research for the historical validity of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Key words Trauma;History;Korea;Post-traumatic stress disorder.