Soldier's Hollowness
Causes
Soldier's Hollowness is caused by traumatic experiences endured by the sufferer. As the name suggests, it often manifests as a form of hollowness and general apathy to the moment, and is generally experienced by retired soldiers. In addition, similar situations to the trauma they endured will generally cause the symptoms to become pronounced, or produce an entirely different, more emotional response to the stimuli.
Symptoms
Most with Soldier's Hollowness will express a detachment to the world around them, their loved ones, and most enjoyable activities. Those with the Hollowness will usually treasure the moments they do have where they're actually able to enjoy themselves, but with the caveat that they generally anticipate losing this enjoyment at any moment. Internally, reliving their traumatic experiences is common, and hypervigilence to anticipate and prevent future trauma, real or imagined, is common. In private, weeping and screaming is not unheard of.
Treatment
The only treatment that will consistently work is patiently reincorporating the sufferer's sense of self. Generally, supportive friends are a good means of giving a person suffering from Soldier's Hollowness to rediscover their soul within themselves. It is not recommended to take on the role of a therapist, forcing them to process their trauma, unless you know what you're doing.
Prognosis
Soldier's Hollowness can occur the moments following the trauma that formed it or happen after a while of pushing it back. It's entirely variable to the individual who has suffered.
Affected Groups
As the name suggests, soldiers are the most commonly affected groups of people to carry this affliction with them, but it can happen to anyone who has endured trauma. Abuse survivors, reformed criminals, religious apostates, all it takes is a trauma that lingers.
Cultural Reception
While many cultures, such as the Madaki and Soltelle empires, glorify war to the point of ignoring that this illness could occur, Arkheran, Elarondian, and Jaranese cultures all acknowledge this mental illness in some capacity. In Jaranar, former soldiers are given generous retirement funds, and the particularly accomplished are given maid-servants as compensation for the horrors they've endured. In Elarond, people are generally sympathetic to traumatised soldiers, while in Arkhera, it's... accepted as a thing, with no real institutional response to account for it.
Type
Mental
Cycle
Chronic, Acquired
Rarity
Uncommon
Affected Species
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