Shell-shock and other neuropsychiatric problems : $b Presented in five hundred and eighty-nine case histories from the war literature, 1914-1918Southard, Elmer Ernest
History
Shell-shock and other neuropsychiatric problems : $b Presented in five hundred and eighty-nine case histories from the war literature, 1914-1918
Southard, Elmer Ernest
War neuroses; World War, 1914-1918 -- Medical care; World War, 1914-1918 -- Psychological aspects
It transpired that the man had not been intoxicated enough to lose all
control of himself. He did not remember anything about what he had
done; he had drunk a half-bottle of rum during the evening. There was a
demonstrable lack of memory. He did not know the German provinces, and
thought that Bismarck had once been war minister. There was a tremor,
hypalgesia of the left leg and analgesia of the left arm and left
shoulder.
It was found that he came from a strongly tainted family, with
two insane sisters and three insane cousins. He had been a good
soldier during his service, but had accused his father of alcoholism
baselessly. He had always been difficult to manage when drunk and had
been convicted nine times: five for dangerous assault and battery. He
drank up to 1⅓ litres of whiskey a day if he got time, and also took
ether. For some ten years he had been amnestic for what he did while
drunk; nor, according to his wife, had he been able recently to stand
so much alcohol. He said that he had had a fall from a wagon in 1911 or
’12, after which he had been unconscious.
Antebellum, run over by an automobile; intolerance of alcohol; episodes
of amnesia after moderate alcohol.
=Case 97.= (KASTAN, January, 1916.)
A German soldier was advanced in rank February 26, 1915, and in honor
thereof drank six or seven glasses of beer. On his way home, he met a
captain and failed to salute him. When called to account, he said he
could not see, and made remarks about regrettable behavior. He refused
to go along with the officer. Afterwards he remembered that he had been
stopped by an officer but had forgotten subsequent happenings.
March 24, he was riding in an electric car with a lieutenant. He said
to the lieutenant who had unbuckled his sabre, “It is a piece of
insolence and improper to unbuckle the sabre.” He repeated the phrase
on questioning. He was then asked to give his name, and replied, “I
know my name but what is your name, Mr. Lieutenant?” He looked drunk at
the time but afterwards remembered nothing.
Physically he was tremulous and showed blepharospasm. His face grew red
on bending over.
This man had been run over by an automobile in 1910, after which he had
become excitable, slow-thinking and forgetful. The spinous processes
were painful on pressure, as was also the hip joint. The history
showed that he had been convicted six times of various crimes, such as
disturbing the peace, embezzlement, and the like. Since this accident
he had not been able to work effectively. He had gone into the army in
a spirit of enthusiasm.
Adventure with a stranger in Paris.
=Case 98.= (BRIAND and HAURY, 1916.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Shell-shock and other neuropsychiatric problems : $b Presented in five hundred and eighty-nine case histories from the war literature, 1914-1918 — John Shaqi
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