After the American Civil War, they called it Soldier's Heart. Veterans of World War I suffered shell shock. In World War II it was battle fatigue. After the Vietnam war, which produced so many sufferers of the condition, it came to be known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. It has recently been realized that traumatic situations having nothing to do with war can precipitate what is essentially the same condition in civilians. Thus, the term post-traumatic stress disorder may be the most appropriate name for this psychiatric disorder.