Emotions Paul and soldiers today face

"I imagined leave would be different from this. Indeed, it was different a year ago. It is I of course that gave changed in the interval.... I find I do not belong here anymore, it is a foreign world. Some of these people ask questions, some ask no questions, but one can see that the latter are proud of themselves for their silence.... I prefer to be alone, so that no one troubles me. For they all come back to the same thing, how badly it goes and how well it goes.... Formerly I lived in just the same way myself, but now I feel no contact here." (pg. 168)

When Paul first finds out that he gets to go on temporary leave he is quite excited and ready to leave the war scene for a little while. This is of course how any solider would feel in this scenario. Once he returns home he actually realizes how much the war has affected his thoughts, his personal emotions and even the emotions he feels towards others. This is where the above text comes into play. Before coming home Paul imagined it so much differently and then when he got home he was disappointed. He came to the realization that the war has played a huge part in his life. He’s seen things no back home has ever seen and he is forever changed. He doesn’t know how to talk about what the war is like, so he decides not to even try. Bottling up your emotions is one the the worst things that anyone could ever do. You will never get any sort of relief unless you vent to someone about your problems. Its extremely hard to do, especially if the person your talking to has never experienced the things you have. But it is still so important and crucial.

This is what many soldiers that are coming home from war today are facing. Its called post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. This is basically a type of anxiety disorder that is brought upon someone when they experience a traumatic event. This article does a good job of explaining it and how it is affecting our soldiers. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/141375/20110504/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-on-soldiers.htm. I feel that this is exactly what Paul is going through. One of the symptoms of PTSD is avoidance of discussing the event. This is exactly what Paul was doing when he was coming home. So I truly think this is what Paul had and its so great that we have finally figured out why and what makes a soldier feel the way they do after they come home from war. They have served our country greatly so we need to appreciate them and help them get back to as much of a normal life after they return home from war as possible.