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
Despite this history, he had behaved well in the army at first, though
insolent to superiors. On July 5 he had a heavy drinking bout, and
wrote next day to his mother that he was going to commit suicide.
At this time he had been put for safe keeping in a cell, where he
saw foxes making as if to bite him. He also said that he was a rich
nobleman, a cavalry captain with a servant (asked to be given his
pressed clothes and his cigarettes), and was being pursued. He rode
his pillow as if it were his horse, and hid it in the horse’s stable,
namely, the bed. He ate nothing, as he thought everything was poisoned;
smeared himself with faeces and drank urine as “strawberry punch.”
We are evidently here dealing with a psychopath of schizophrenic
tendencies, strongly colored, however, by alcoholism. The patient’s
father was a drunkard, and a brother and sister were insane.
_Re_ schizophrenia in the German army, Saenger remarks that like
paresis, so also latent dementia praecox becomes acute under war
conditions. E. Meyer states that amongst 1126 officers admitted to his
hospital, August 1, 1915, there were 352 that had either psychoses or
neuroses, amongst which were 148 psychogenic cases (either psychopathic
or hysterical), 128 with what he terms a congenital psychopathic
diathesis, and 76 with traumatic neuroses. The cases of congenital
diathesis were somewhat difficult to diagnose, since but 44 of these
were clearly psychopathic and in the remainder the question of dementia
praecox or of cyclothymic conditions arose.
Stier gives statistics for 1905 and 1906 in the German army, namely 35
per cent of dementia praecox cases. Under war conditions the army has
developed far fewer cases: Bonhoeffer, 7 per cent; Meyer, 7.5 per cent;
Hahn, 13 per cent. But although dementia praecox figures so much less
frequently in the mobilized army than in the army of peace times (manic
depressive psychosis is also less in evidence under war conditions),
the psychopathic constitutions, hysterias, traumatic neuroses, and
the like, run from 17.5 per cent (Stier, 1905-1906) to 54 per cent
(Bonhoeffer), 37.5 (Meyer), 43 per cent (Hahn).
Schizophrenic symptoms. Aggravation by service.
=Case 152.= (DE LA MOTTE, August, 1915.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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