Section 2,Killing and Combat Trauma: The Role of Killing in Psychiatric Casualties: Chapter 3, The Weight of Exhaustion Summary and Analysis

Here another major player in the combat experience is introduced and addressed, which is exhaustion - both physical and emotional. Normally, it is used as part of the breaking in and initiation procedures during military boot camp experiences. Hallucinations are not uncommon, mainly revolving around lack of food and sleep at around the 60 day mark of continuous combat. By the end of this chapter, the author has described how lack of sleep, lack of food, conditions that make men urinate or defecate in their trousers and cold wet sleeping bags all join together to create exhaustion and combat fatigue.