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
Upon the night of May 26-27, 1915, this soldier found himself in the
position of a sentry, opposite the enemy. He told his comrade that he
had to go away for a time, leaned his gun against a tree, disappeared,
and did not return. It was then one o’clock in the morning. At six
o’clock, he was found two kilometres away from the lines, in a village.
He was in front of a barn where his company had been quartered before
taking possession of the advanced posts.
He was brought up before the military authorities; but upon stating
that in civil life he had wandered off several times without knowing
where he was going, he was submitted to neurological examination.
There was available a letter from his family physician relative to his
antebellum military service. It appeared that he had committed a number
of breaches of discipline, and that he was regarded by the physicians
as a _déséquilibré_. He had lived with his mother a very quiet and good
life; there was no history of sexual irregularity, and no history of
illness except a slight catarrhal jaundice. He had frequently suffered
from headaches; there had been slight attacks of vertigo of very brief
duration. He had never fallen in these fits. From his story it was
elicited that he had had absences; his comrades had noticed that he
sometimes stopped stock-still with vague eyes, then shortly regained
his wits and continued upon his task. Sometimes he would not work
without being able to explain why he went away. He would go off for a
period and, upon coming to, discover that he had not eaten his meals.
There were never, however, any convulsive crises by day or night. He
sometimes felt sick, and although there was no medical treatment, from
time to time he took bromides upon his own authority, saying he had
been ordered to do so by his father. Although habitually of a gentle
demeanor, nevertheless he was subject to excessive anger upon slight
occasion.
During the mobilizing and first months of the war, both in quarters and
at the front, however, his conduct had been that of a good soldier.
Suddenly, about March or April, 1915, the nocturnal enuresis began
to be frequent again, occurring twice or three times a week; but the
patient hid this misfortune as far as possible from his comrades. The
captain thought he looked tired and depressed sometimes. Upon the
days following the nights with enuresis, there was intense headache
and marked moral and physical depression. There was no proof of
nocturnal convulsions, and it is very problematical whether there was
tongue-biting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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