I have, of late, been spending a good amount of time coping with the worldwide panini by working on Dungeon and Dragons plots, reviewing history notes, and listening to Sabaton (power/heavy metal band that only produces pieces about historical events and traumas), which has all conspired to lead me to thinking about the role of PTSD in lived experience prior to its identification (which was about twenty years after Lewis passed away). As many have noted, World War I clearly had echoes and reverberations in Tolkien's writing (the most popular example being the Dead Marshes, despite his insistence that none of his writing was influenced by lived experience), and Lewis very clearIy acknowledges the presence of World War II in LWW. 

Given that topics of writing often spring from concern or reflection on both past and present events, I'm wondering what other world events might have served as pivotal influences on Lewis, and where those might show up. This is in part inspired by the Sehnsucht discussion started by @rose which reflected on the attempts to regain feelings or experiences that were lost (I am greatly oversimplifying here). Were there spaces where Lewis' writing was cathartic or healing to him, in that, instead of attempting to regain something that was lost, he perhaps was able to let go of something that had stayed with him too long?