Recent research on the use of propranolol and other pharmacological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest the possibility that effective prophylactics and ex post facto cures for PTSD may be available relatively soon. The essay argues that such a cure, although certainly welcome, also threatens the symbiotic and representational relationship between individual and communal trauma that is fundamental to how we understand both. The effect of such a cure on the meaning and practice of war is examined in greater detail. Ultimately, the difficulty of predicting the effect of an end to PTSD arises from the fact that such a cure represents a fundamental change in what it means to be human.
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