War and the soul: An intelligent and poignant exploration of veteran post-traumatic stress disorder

A little bit of background📃

War and the soul is another of the books I found at the 2025 Brisbane Lifeline bookfest. The book sale is a goldmine of works on all manner of subjects. I made a beeline for the history, politics and culture section and was immediately drawn to Edward Tick's book about veteran post-traumatic stress disorder. As a social historian, I have long been fascinated by the human impact of war.

War and the soul: Healing our nation's veterans from post-traumatic stress disorder | Published November 2025 | Read September 2025

The author✏️

Dr Edward Tick (born in 1951) is a clinical psychotherapist and the author of several books on war and mental health. He has been treating Vietnam war veterans since 1979, before the term post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) came into use. Dr Tick has been a pioneer in reframing PTSD through an identity model lens, conceptualising it as a soul wound - an injury to one's morals and personality - rather than a medical or psychological condition.

The subject matterℹ️

Dr Tick's central thesis is that the key to healing veterans can be found in how we understand PTSD. He redefines PTSD as an identity disorder, caused by exposure to war’s overwhelming violence, where the soul flees and can become lost for life. In War and the soul, Dr Tick explores the context for this idea in the presence of war in mythology and religion. Then he frames PTSD around identity, presenting ways to nurture a positive identity based in compassion and forgiveness.

My thoughts on the book💭

I found War and the soul deeply moving. Dr Tick's experiences treating veterans who have suffered from PTSD shines through. The individual stories are handled with compassion and sensitivity. The stories make for a harrowing read, but they give weight to Dr Tick's central claim that PTSD is a "moral defeat" of nations that is "internalised in its veterans". Dr Tick explores the idea that the ferocity and destructiveness of modern warfare leads to deep and prolonged psychological wounds that cannot be easily healed. Moreover, as we know from the experience of many Vietnam veterans, a lack of understanding of PTSD and of healing from these wounds has compounded the trauma.

I thought that Dr Tick took an intelligent approach to presenting his ideas through his exploration of the history of war and early warrior culture with its associated rituals and rites of passage. These earlier warrior cultures conducted war as a rite of passage within a mythical, moral and spiritual framework that helped soldiers to heal from their psychological wounds. Tick argues that modern defence forces focus on recruiting the warrior archetype without recognising warrior rituals, the warrior's place within society, and the warrior journey. This, and the destruction, wholesale death and fruitlessness of modern warfare, creates a moral and spiritual vacuum that leaves veterans with damaged souls. This thesis categorises PTSD as soul and identity disorder, not a stress one. Dr Tick argues that communal responsibility for veterans' experiences and the human cost of war is needed to help mitigate the corrosive effect on veterans' souls.

In sum📝

War and the soul sounds like a depressing book. Yes, it is heartbreaking, but I applaud Dr Tick for his insightful (and controversial) theories and the care with which he shares the veterans' stories. The heart and soul wounds that Dr Tick explores and the heavy burdens veterans must shoulder long after the war is over make for a compelling case for better understanding trauma. If history tells us anything, it is that war will continue to plague our planet. It is incumbent on all of us to take on board Dr Tick's ideas, I think, and do so much better by veterans in the future.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐