Unlike the physical effects of war, the psychological impacts have never really been examined until the last decade or so. On an individual level, these psychological impacts have lead to development of a variety of mental disorders whether that be PTSD, depression (and suicide), or TBI. These mental disorders are brought on my anxiety, grief, guilt, and changed social patterns when individuals come home from war "a changed man." While it is important to notice the correlation between war stress and psychopathologies, it is even more important to take this correlation and apply it to a larger population. Following World War II, American society opened up new doors to understanding war stress which lead to the establishment of the National Institute of Mental Health. By reaching this frontier, American psychiatrists were able to take the mental health disorders prevalent in war and be able to apply to the American population. For example, in result of World War II, it has been proven that 10% of people who experience a traumatic event will develop mental health problems and another 10% will behavior that will cause an inability to function in daily life.
While psychological effects play a major role in the functioning of individuals who return from war, there are other social effects to war as well. For example, like in the Napoleonic Wars, social factors like social class and order can be completely destroyed or refined following war. Other more indirect social consequences of war include new societal values, or changed roles across different groups of people (for example, during World War II, women were expected to leave their typical housekeeping roles and do male-typical jobs to support the war).
