The article attempts to answer the question of whether it is possible to study the mental condition of veterans of wars of the Early Modern period. From the point of view of a historian, this is fi rst of all a methodological problem, followed by a problem of a base of sources. In the 20th and 21st alone, the concept of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) has undergone numerous changes, and in the current edition of the American Society of Mental Disorders (DSM) classifi cation of mental disorders, it is a much broader term and encompasses a variety of social contexts than it was at the time of the Vietnam War. A historian using the retrogressive method can study changes in the perception of the term, which also makes it possible to grasp the different contexts in which someone was considered to have suffered mental wounds during combat. From as early as the 17th century, both military men and medics emphasized the link between experiencing confl ict and behavioral change. In Western armies of the early modern era, offi cials reviewing veterans’ applications for relief indicated cases of soldiers unable to continue serving, although in full physical strength. In the Spanish army, they were referred to as mal de corazón – literally, “decrepit at heart,” although a number of different terms appear in the sources. However, in order to read such period sources and not make a misdiagnosis, it is necessary to look at the medical textbooks and military petitions of the time with methodological caution.
