Neuroses in war-time : memorandum for the information of the medical profession / Ministry of Pensions.

Date:
1940
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Neuroses in war-time : memorandum for the information of the medical profession / Ministry of Pensions. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    2/8 (page 2)
    NEUROSES IN WAR-TIME A Conference first convened by the Minister of Pensions in July, 1939, to advise the Government as to general principles for dealing with cases of nervous breakdown which may become manifest in war-time, has now reported to the Minister. The members of the Conference were as follows— Lord Horder (Chairman), Sir Hubert Bond, Sir Farquhar Buzzard, Dr. Bernard Hart, Dr. Gordon Holmes, Dr. J. H. MacDonald, Professor Mapother, Dr. Crichton Miller, Dr. T. A. Ross, Sir James Purves Stewart, Dr. Aldren Turner, together with the Directors General of Medical Services of the Navy, Army, Air Force, and the Ministry of Pensions. Besides making other recommendations, the Conference has suggested that the following notes be circulated to all members of the medical profession :— During the last war the occurrence of oe numbers of neuroses engendered by fear, shock, exhaustion, physical and mental strain or lack of sleep, and the rapidly increasing incidence of these from 1916 onwards, caught both the Services and the Medical Profession unprepared with any organisation by which to deal with them or with any agreed method of treatment applicable to them. The result was an accumulation of a very great number of this type of * casualty ” and a consequent lowering of the general morale. These neuroses were popularly called “shell shock,” a term which came into use in 1914, when it was believed that the great bulk of nervous disorders noted in the field of war had their origin in the physical effects of concussion by high explosives or of poisoning by gases. At that time this theory was widely prevalent and was even promulgated by neuro-psychiatrists of experience. It soon became obvious that this view could not be justified since precisely similar disabilities, and in the same proportions, occurred not only amongst men who had not been subjected to any such exceptional exposure but also amongst those who had not been overseas. Moreover, the nervous disorders arising during the war differed in no material way from those well known in civil life. Again,many men who were blown up or buried to the same extent were able to return to duty without admission to hospital and without apparently suffering any durable effects. However, the term “ shell shock” soon became a catchword among the troops and was welcomed by the man suffering from nervous symptoms as he did not realise, or could not admit to himself, or to others, that he might be suffering from the effects of fright or terror. The catchword appealed to the public 1 imagine as an excellent term by which to explainra-qor : © : E F TE Bi A Y ro WELLCOME INSTITUT LIBRA