Research Paper On Shell Shock

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a relatively new diagnosis that was associated with survivors of war when it was first introduced. Its diagnosis was met largely with skepticism and dismissal by the public of the validity of the illness. PTSD was only widely accepted when it was included as a diagnosis in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) of the American Psychiatric Association. PTSD is a complex mental disorder that develops in response to exposure to a severe traumatic event that stems a cluster of symptoms. Being afflicted with the disorder is debilitating, disrupting an individual’s ability to function and perform the most basic tasks.

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.

Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes considered to be a relatively new diagnosis, as the name first appeared in 1980, the concept of the disorder has a very long history. That history has often been linked to the history of war, but the disorder has also been frequently described in civilian settings involving natural disasters, mass catastrophes, and serious accidental injuries. The diagnosis first appeared in the official nomenclature when Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-I was published in 1952 under the name gross stress reaction. It was omitted, however, in the next edition in 1968, after a long

Likenesses that identify with those of this disease can be found all through the story "The Things They Carried." Men and women of prior wars moreover mirrored the shared characteristics related to PTSD. In days of old, it was named "Shell Shock" and "Battle Fatigue." Because of studies directed by medical research organizations, e.g., The National Institute of Health (NIMH) we know and

Being in war is definitely one of the most life changing events a person will ever have whether it be for the better or for the worst. Soldiers will witness events that are impossible to forget or see back at home in the states. Some soldiers may have even seen one of their best friends that they’ve known for forever get blown up into pieces right next to them, or they might even get one of their own limbs blown off of their own bodies, becoming handicapped for life. As a result of seeing something so intense like that, most soldiers are usually traumatized. In matter of fact, a great amount of soldiers are traumatized from the very beginning of being in war. It’s without a doubt difficult to deal with this but there are some ways where

The prevalence of PTSD is shown that women develop the disorder at a rate twice of that of men, despite other factors (Simmons, 2010). As stated in the National Comorbidity Survey, total lifetime prevalence of

Although PTSD is a somewhat new diagnosis that was related with military service members when it was first introduced. "During a period roughly from the end of the Second World War to the early 1990s, neither epidemiology, medical geography, nor medical sociology tended directly to study the impact of the local social or physical environment on human health," according to Perspectives in Medical Sociology (Brown 2008). PTSD was accepted everywhere when it was introduced as a diagnosis in the early 1980s in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) of the American Psychiatric Association. Although PTSD diagnosis met largely with skepticism by the public of the validity of the illness when first came out. Blair Wheaton and Shirin Montazer provided a detailed definition of Traumatic Stress in their chapter of Stressors, Stress, and Distress by stating, "some stressors are thought to be so serious and so overwhelming in their impact that we must give them a separate status to distinguish them from the usual class of events that we designate as stressful. The most applicable term for these stressors is traumas" (Wheaton & Montazer 2010). In other words, PTSD is a complex mental disorder that develops in response to exposure to a severe traumatic event that stems a cluster of symptoms. Being afflicted with the disorder is debilitating and disrupt an individual’s ability to function and perform the basic tasks. PTSD affects 3.5 percent of the U.S. adult population and approximately about 7 million Americans. Women however are more likely to develop PTSD than men, and about 37percent of those cases are classified as severe. Although PTSD can occur at any age, however the average is in the early 20s in person's

Soldiers who felt constant attack, would suffer from shell shock. Shell shock is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Shell shock was a condition many doctors did not understand it. Some symptoms include fatigue, headaches, confusion, and nightmares. Since shell shock was not an official medical problem, many high ranked officials thought they were wimps who didn't want to fight anymore.

Emotional responses such as “intense fear, hopelessness, and horror” are no longer included in the diagnostic features of PTSD in the DSM-5. In the new DSM, behavioral reaction directly related to the traumatic experience are found to be of better use for identifying the onset of PTSD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The DSM-5 requires the identified symptoms to be classified under four new diagnostic categories:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as “a development of characteristic long-term symptoms following a psychologically traumatic event that is generally outside the range of usual human experience” (Nordqvist, 1). Simply put, it is a type of anxiety that affects a patient after a traumatic

The United States has been engaged in many wars going all the way back to the war of 1812 to the war on terrorism and between these war many men were killed or wounded physically and mentally. In 1915 Charles Myers was a physician who also worked as a psychologist, he noticed that men were coming back from battle involuntarily shivering, crying, fearful, and loss of memory. Myers coined their condition as being shell-shocked, which was related to their exposure during combat. Many soldiers suffering from the condition of shell shock were deemed cowards and unfit for battle. Shell shock was treated with electric shocks and isolation. During the Vietnam war psychologist were being trained to dealing with military personnel dealing with combat related stress. These combat stress issues was identified as posttraumatic stress disorder and in 1980 it was noted in the DSM-III.

Throughout the experience of living in the trenches, many wondered, imagined, and feared the death that they believed would come soon. Shellfire from the enemy, and the lack of protection is just one example of how easy it was to get killed in the trenches. Finally, many veterans suffered psychological issues along with breakdowns while they were in the trench warfare. One example of such a issue was shell shock, now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Shell shock is a psychological disorder that came to place in World War I, and can be caused by witnessing/being part of warfare. About 19 British military hospitals were built for men suffering from shell shock during the war. In Britain, some cases were so severe that in 1928, 10 years after the war, approximately 65000 veterans were still receiving a treatment for their disorder. This example demonstrates that shell shocks not only affected soldiers life while they were on war, but it could have changed their whole life. To conclude, living in the trenches during World War I was a horrible experience due to bad health conditions, deaths, and psychological

While PTSD was not yet defined it was clear that these symptoms were caused because of the disturbing things that had been seen. With no treatments available and a stigma that the effected persons were cowards or scared soldiers were often sent home with no supervision. During World War I physicians began calling it “shell shock” or “combat fatigue”, they believed that concussions caused by the impact of shells disrupting the brain caused the symptoms. Treatments included hospitalization and electric shock therapy. By World War II medical personnel noticed that soldiers that were engaged in longer more intense fighting had much higher levels or psychiatric disturbances and started using the term battle fatigue or combat exhaustion. Soldiers were being labeled as fearful and lacking in discipline and PTSD was still not fully recognized as a disorder, at this time treatment included barbiturates.

But there were documenting the disorder as early as 1761.One physican says there are 3 stages to the disorder. First stage, hallucination. Second, period of fever and prominent gastrointestinal symptoms. Third, anger and depression. Another physician noted that soldiers had nostalgia of war. Before the disorder was an actual disorder they called it “shell shock” in 1919. It received the name “shell shock” regarding the effects of artillery shells reaction of the explosion. A doctor observed civil war veterans describe it as overstimulation of the heart's nervous system. For the war veterans to managed this so called syndrome the took drugs. After World War 1 post traumatic stress was known as Combat Stress Reaction. It was sometimes misdiagnosed as multiple disorders such as acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, Brief psychotic disorder, depression and panic

Historical records document this phenomenon as far back as the Civil War, but the awareness of its severity had not yet been researched. One uninformed concept was the belief in “shell shock.” Shell shock was thought to be an injury to the brain caused by the pressure of a shell exploding while to close. It was often referred to as cowardice and if a person showed symptoms longer than an expected period of time, those suffering could be prosecuted. It wasn’t until other soldiers who hadn't been in combat areas reported similar symptoms that it started to be perceived as a “war neurosis.” In World War II the shell-shock diagnosis was replaced with Combat Stress Reaction (CSR), also known as battle fatigue. CSR was treated by using the "PIE" (Proximity, Immediacy, Expectancy) principles. Only after passing a mental exam were soldiers allowed to return to combat. Although there were some critics and disbelievers, awareness slowly began to