An outcome of World War I was a new medical disorder classified as Shell Shock. Shell Shock is a medical disorder developed to describe the symptoms that soldiers developed without a probable or obvious lesion as the cause after serving time on the war front. Shell Shock is one of the most prominent injuries of World War I; the symptoms varied among each soldier, treatments were still being developed, and doctors were still trying to understand the severity of the disorder. The symptoms soldiers described are due to the stress they encountered while they served on the front line. Shell Shock is a condition that soldiers have begun to develop after serving in the war.
Soldiers that are experiencing Shell Shock report having a wide variety of symptoms. It has been discovered that the symptoms that soldiers report experiencing are more mental than physical. Symptoms that we are looking for in Shell Shock victims include, amnesia, poor concentration, headaches, hypersensitivity to noise, dizziness, tremors, fatigue, memory loss, nervousness, reduced visual field, loss of smell and taste, and trouble sleeping. These symptoms are due to the stress that soldiers experienced while fighting on the war front. Other symptoms that soldiers are experiencing with Shell Shock are more emotional symptoms such as, general excitement, anxiety, remorse, anger, depression, irritability, and fear of frightful events. Soldiers are also experiencing symptoms when they experience events that remind them of trench welfare conditions. When soldiers are put in a situation that reminds them of trench welfare they start to experience symptoms of pain, distress, disgust or nausea. The emotional symptoms create a distressed mental state, and...
... middle of paper ...
...n. 2012.
Bourke, Joanna. "Shell Shock during World War One." BBC. BBC, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2012.
Jones, Edgar, Nicola T. Fear, and Simon Wessely. "Shell Shock and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Historical Review." The American Journal of Psychiatry 164.11 (2007): 1641-5. http://0-search.proquest.com.library.francis.edu/docview/220510935/fulltextPDF/134DFDDE4904573C8F8/1?accountid=4216 (accessed January 23, 2012).
Mosse, George L. “Shell-Shock as a Social Disease.” Journal of Contemporary History 35.1 (Jan. 2000): 101-108. JSTOR. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.
Pear, Tom Hatherly and Grafton Elliot Smith. Shell Shock and its Lessons. First Edition. England: Manchester University Press, 1917. http://www.vlib.us/medical/shshock/index.htm (assessed February 10, 2012).
Ryan, E. "A Case of Shell Shock." Canadian Medical Association Journal. 6.12 (1916): 1095-9. Print.
Following the outbreak of the Pacific War in early December 1941, Darwin's defences were reinforced . In line with plans developed before the war, s...
One of the major diseases that almost permanently affected the soldiers was Shell Shock which was due to constant exposure to horrific scenes of death. Source A1 is an extract from a historian writing for the First World war aimed at students, focuses on ...
...ater, the British still held their ground, though it continued to mist and the shelling was more constant. A 5.9 shell flying over his head, Blunden and his men began exploring the trench they were in, and they managed to find an intact listening set. Perceiving from the continuous shell blast that a full-scale attack would soon be made upon them, Blunden telephoned an SOS to the artillery; a reply was sent that they could offer no help as their headquarters had recently been attacked and had thirty dead and wounded.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), originally associated with combat, has always been around in some shape or form but it was not until 1980 that it was named Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and became an accredited diagnosis (Rothschild). The fact is PTSD is one of many names for an old problem; that war has always had a severe psychological impact on people in immediate and lasting ways. PTSD has a history that is as long and significant as the world’s war history - thousands of years. Although, the diagnosis has not been around for that long, different names and symptoms of PTSD always have been. Some physical symptoms include increased blood pressure, excessive heart rate, rapid breathing, muscle tension, nausea, diarrhea, problems with vision, speech, walking disorders, convulsive vomiting, cardiac palpitations, twitching or spasms, weakness and severe muscular cramps. The individual may also suffer from psychological symptoms, such as violent nightmares, flashbacks, melancholy, disturbed sleep or insomnia, loss of appetite, and anxieties when certain things remind them such as the anniversary date of the event (Peterson, 2009).
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, previously referred to as dementia pugilistica, can be understood as a tauopathic, neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease. While there is no neurobiological or neuropathological explanation as to why CTE occurs, the majority of researchers believe the disease is strongly related to previous head injuries. An individual suffering from CTE will most likely experience changes in their mood, behavior and cognition. Because this is a relatively new area of research, there are still a vast amount of unknowns pertaining to the disease’s symptoms, pathology, and natural course.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a traumatic event (Riley). A more in depth definition of the disorder is given by Doctor’s Nancy Piotrowski and Lillian Range, “A maladaptive condition resulting from exposure to events beyond the realm of normal human experience and characterized by persistent difficulties involving emotional numbing, intense fear, helplessness, horror, re-experiencing of trauma, avoidance, and arousal.” People who suffer from this disease have been a part of or seen an upsetting event that haunts them after the event, and sometimes the rest of their lives. There are nicknames for this disorder such as “shell shock”, “combat neurosis”, and “battle fatigue” (Piotrowski and Range). “Battle fatigue” and “combat neurosis” refer to soldiers who have been overseas and seen disturbing scenes that cause them anxiety they will continue to have when they remember their time spent in war. It is common for a lot of soldiers to be diagnosed with PTSD when returning from battle. Throughout the history of wars American soldiers have been involved in, each war had a different nickname for what is now PTSD (Pitman et al. 769). At first, PTSD was recognized and diagnosed as a personality disorder until after the Vietnam Veterans brought more attention to the disorder, and in 1980 it became a recognized anxiety disorder (Piotrowski and Range). There is not one lone cause of PTSD, and symptoms can vary from hallucinations to detachment of friends and family, making a diagnosis more difficult than normal. To treat and in hopes to prevent those who have this disorder, the doctor may suggest different types of therapy and also prescribe medication to help subside the sympt...
The Impact of Bombing During World War II “Of course, the air raids caused much suffering and hardship. In the
Review by: J. T. Zimmer The Auk, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Oct., 1945), pp. 644-645
"Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Rotogravures." Newspaper Pictorials. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.
Lawrence Hill Books, c2009 Bracken, Patrick and Celia Petty (editors). Rethinking the Trauma of War. New York, NY: Save the Children Fund, Free Association Books, Ltd, 1998.
The war scarred the soldiers permanently, if not physically then mentally. After the war the soldiers usually never recovered from the war. Two of the most common side affects of the war were shell shock and stir crazy. When suffering from shell shock a soldier’s brain doesn’t function properly and the man is a “vegetable”. This means the man is alive but he can’t do anything because he is in a state of shock because of the war. Stir crazy is a mental illness caused by the firing of so many bullets that when no bullets are heard by the victim he goes insane. Everyone was scared to go to war when it started. Young recruits were first sent because the veterans knew they were going to come back dead. "When we run out again, although I am very excited, I suddenly think: “where’s Himmelstoss?” Quickly I jump back into the dug-out and find him with a small scratch lying in a corner pretending to be wounded.” (P 131) Even the big men like Himmelstoss are scared to go fight. They too go through the mental illnesses like stir crazy and shell shock. “He is in a panic; he is new to it too.
“General Description of Damage Caused by the Atomic Explosions.” The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: 11-31.
One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind. Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable. Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone. Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off. Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death. His turmoil is expressed in the lines, “Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.” The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.
Post traumatic stress-disorder is an anxiety disorder which results from exposure to an event which threatens the physical safety of an individual (1). PTSD originated as a mental illness category after the Vietnam War, when veterans exhibited sets of symptoms that did not fit into any current illness categories. However, in previous wars soldiers had complained of "shell shock" or "combat fatigue," which researchers now believe were essentially the same conditions as PTSD (2). As many as thirty percent of Vietnam veterans and eight percent of Persian Gulf War veterans exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (1).
One of the first examples of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in “Soldiers Home” is exhibited in the main character, Harold Krebs. His life is completely changed after serving in World War I. Thus, he cannot live a normal life. To make matters worse, he decided to stay two years longer tha...