SHELL-SHOCK PROBLEMS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4485, 30 October 1922, Page 4

SHELL-SHOCK PROBLEMS

EFFECT OF GRIEF.

UNHAPPY HUSBANDS GOOD SOLDIERS. The work of the War Office Committee on '‘Shell-shock,” which sat under the chairmanship of Lord Southborough, is detailed in a report published recently. The first task of the committee was to limit the use of the term. It was found that nervous disorders arose from numerous causes other than shock from high explosives. There were nb reliable statistics covering cases of shell-shock.

Among the fifty-nine witnesses heard. Lieutenant-General Sir John Goodwin said that troops who had been rushed through a short period of training were more liable to break down. Well-trained and disciplined troops suffered less. Another contributory factor was the confining of troops to one sector for too long a time—particularly the Ypres salientMiners and agricultural labourers and men who lived open-air*' lives were less 1 liable to nervous disorders than clerks or artisans, was the judgment of General Lord Horne. Major W. J. Adie instanced two battalions stationed side by side ih a certain salient. The one with good “morale” sent practically none down; the other, in which the morale was weak, had heavy shellshock casualties. Lack of Food and Alcohol. Professor C. Roussy, date consultant in neurology to the French Army, instanced fatigue, shortness pf food, and alcohol as contributory factors. Cowardice he defined as lack of self-control. It was difficult to distinguish between cowardice and emotional “shell-shock,” but in the one case the man was suffering from a genuine illness, ajid in the other case simply from lack of self-control.

An enormous proportion of those who broke down, said Dr, F. B. Fanning, had been neurotics previously, and resented military service. Many ascribed their breakdown to ihorses, which they had never had to deal with in civil life. Dr. E. Mappthier made allowance for tlhe fact that in certain cases the condition was caused by remorse, horror, and grief at the experiences of war, rather than fear. Isolated duties had also affected men’s nerves. Fatalist C,arries On. An emotion like fear, which had to be repressed, Squadron-Leader WTyrell pointed out, demanded an enormous squandering bf nervpus energyThe most likely type of man for

“shell-shock” is the brooding, introspective, self-analysing man. .• • Men of high intelligence . . . who adopted the fatalist attitude . . - fortified themselves, and for the most part “carried on.” An M. 0., he said, found these signs Pif approaching breakdown: The wild, fighting type becomes quiet and moody. jhe sullen type becomes excitable and talkative. The careful man beebines suddenly reckless.

The previously well-behaved 'man perpetrates petty crimes, etc.

The happily married man took one thought for himself and two for his wife and children. The unhappily married man was' generally a good soldier, and usually got killed. Most witnesses were bf oipplon that the stress of war rarely produced insanity in the stable man, but that it acted as a factor upon those with a predisposition. The committee came to the conclusion that there .was no ju stification for the belief that shellshock was a direct cause pf insanity, or that service patients still ip asylums were originally cases of shell-shock who have since became insane. Many of the higher grades of mental defectives had been enlisted, and some trained into efficient soldiers. Preventivest Among the preventives mentioned are : The promotion pf morale, the detection of nervous abnormalities by officers’, the provision of adequate rest, short spells of front-line duty, sanitation, Separate treatment of shell-shock cases is recommended., as well as persuasion and suggestion, baths, and massage. Hypnotic sleep may be beneflcial in certain cases, but hot in the majority. Freudian psychoanalysis is not favoured. The best possible expert advice should be sought with a view to differentiating cowardice from neurosis, before or at trials for serious military offences.