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A FIRING SQUAD SHOT A MAN DIAGNOSED WITH SHELL SHOCK
A Doctor Described Shell Shock In 1915
What The Army Did With It Is Rarely What You Expect
You Might Picture An Army That Dismissed It Outright
Men Diagnosed With It Qualified For A Wound Stripe
By 1916 That Entitlement Was Gone
One Of Those Men Faced A Charge Of Cowardice And Was Shot
This Part Covers How PTSD Finally Got Its Name
THIS NEWSLETTER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOTHING IN THIS CONTENT CONSTITUTES MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. ALWAYS CONSULT A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY HEALTH RELATED DECISIONS.
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THE FIRST WORLD WAR NAMED IT SHELL SHOCK 💣
Charles Myers Served With The Royal Army Medical Corps
His Lancet Paper Appeared In February 1915
He Noted The Close Similarity Of Symptoms In Three Soldiers
Each Man Had Been Exposed To Exploding Shells
Early Medical Opinion Called The Damage Commotional
That Meant Concussive Motion Of The Brain In The Skull
Shell Shock Counted As A Physical Injury At First
A Physical Injury Entitled A Man To A Wound Stripe
Discharge And A War Pension Were Also Possible
By 1916 Many Cases Had Been Nowhere Near Exploding Shells
The Condition Was Then Judged Nervous Rather Than Physical
A Nervous Diagnosis Meant No Wound Stripe
An Unwounded Man Could Be Returned To The Front
By 1917 Medical Officers Were Told To Avoid The Term
The Same Army Also Tried Men For Cowardice
British Courts Martial Passed 3,080 Death Sentences
One Count Puts All Executions At 332 Before The Armistice
Harry Farr Had Been Treated For Shell Shock In 1915
He Faced A Charge Of Cowardice In The Face Of The Enemy
His Court Martial Lasted Less Than An Hour
A Firing Squad Shot Him At Dawn On 18 October 1916
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MILITARY PSYCHIATRY TRIED NEW NAMES 🪖
The War Office Committee Reported In 1922
It Split Shell Shock Into Two Kinds
Those Were Concussion Shock And Emotional Shock
Shell Shock Was Replaced In The Second World War
Combat Stress Reaction And Battle Fatigue Were The New Names
Lieutenant General George Patton Did Not Believe It Was Real
40 Percent Of Medical Discharges Were Psychiatric
Forward Treatment Followed Three Principles
They Were Proximity And Immediacy And Expectancy
Casualties Were Treated Without Delay Near The Front
Staff Made Sure The Men Expected Complete Recovery
Rest Was Meant To Return Them To Combat
Men Were Evacuated To Aid Stations Behind The Front Lines
There They Received A Dose Of Sodium Amytal
That Dose Kept Them Asleep For Up To 48 Hours
Afterwards They Ate A Hot Meal And Showered
A Clean Uniform And A Medical Evaluation Followed
50 To 70 Percent Of Those Cases Returned To Combat Within Three Days
Gilbert Beebe Analysed Casualty Rates In The Mediterranean
A Man Became Ineffective After 200 To 240 Days Of Combat
By 214 Days The Survivors Had All Broken Down Psychologically
The Only Remedy Was A Foreseeable End To Combat Duty
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ORGANISED VETERANS CHANGED THE MANUAL 📗
The First American Manual Appeared In 1952
It Listed Gross Stress Reaction For Combat And Disaster
A Second Edition Removed The Entry In 1968
Veterans Returning From Vietnam Had No Diagnostic Code
Robert Jay Lifton Had Served In Korea As A Military Psychiatrist
Chaim Shatan Was A Co Director At New York University
Jan Crumb Was President Of Vietnam Veterans Against The War
The Two Doctors Met Veterans In New York In December 1970
Those Meetings Became Known As Rap Groups
Shatan Published An Opinion Piece In May 1972
He Titled It Post Vietnam Syndrome
Shatan Formed The Vietnam Veterans Working Group
The Group Compiled Records On Over 700 Veterans
Robert Spitzer Chaired The Task Force Revising The Manual
He Said There Were No Plans For A Combat Stress Disorder
Spitzer Later Created A Committee On Reactive Disorders
Nancy Andreasen Chaired That Committee
She Had Found Post Traumatic Stress In Burn Patients
Three Of Its Six Members Came From The Working Group
Shatan And Lifton And Jack Smith Met Spitzer In January 1978
Spitzer Announced The New Diagnosis That Month
The Association Added The Diagnosis To The Manual In 1980
Wilbur Scott Called The Result A Concerted Effort
