After the war, Yale University psychologist Irving Janis led a wide-ranging investigation of the psychological effects of urban bombing and reached the same conclusion as American Air Force doctors who had treated distressed bomber boys at clinics in England: people on the front lines do not “adapt” or become habituated to life-threatening conditions. There is no such thing as “getting used to it.” Chronic tension and anxiety only increase with further exposure to anxiety-inducing situations.
