Shell Shock & World War I

This study explores the impact of World War I on shell shock and the development of modern medicine. It discusses the symptoms of PTSD and the effects of new weapons on soldiers. The study also covers the birth of modern surgery, the development of new weapons, and reports on hospital cases and poems. Desklib offers study material on this topic and more.

Running head: SHELL SHOCK & WORLD WAR I
Shell Shock & World War I
Name of the Student:
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Author Note:

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The study will be based on World War I and an account will be developed so that it can
help in the diagnosis, treatment and recognition of shell shock. The study will focus on several
factors of war like the advanced medicine, scale of the war, and the new stance on the personal
accounts from the survivors of the war and to support the study itself.
Shell shock can be defined as condition in which the soldiers experience a trauma and it
forces the person to move into a state of shock that are within the proximity of the exploding
artillery (Myers 2012). While PTSD is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and it describes a mental
condition that are triggered by the terrifying events. The symptoms of the PTSD includes the
uncontrollable thoughts of the events, severe anxiety, nightmares, and flashbacks (The
Conversation 2018).
In historical accounts PTSD has already been recorded in the early literary works like the
Epic of Gigamesh. It is the earliest existing literature that dates back to 2100 B.C. In this work, it
has been seen that the main character Gigamesh witnessed the death of his close friend Enkidu.
The death of Gigamesh’s close friend traumatized endiku and due to this, Gigamesh experienced
nightmares, intrusive and recurrent collections related to the event (Rausch et al 2014). Then in
the 440 B.C an account of the battle of Marathon presented a picture of how Epizelus (Athenian)
suddenly went blind in the middle of a battle after seeing one of his comrades getting killed in
the battle. The blindness of Epizelus was not due to any physical wound but it was rather due to
fright which persisted for several years (Browning 2018). Later in the year 1861 to 1865, US was
experiencing a civil war and a US doctor named Jacob Mendez Da Costa carried out studies on
the soldiers (veterans) of the civil war. He found that the veterans other than the wound also
suffered from the several other issues that are not related to wounds, such as cardiovascular
symptoms, constricted breathing and palpitations. Dr Da Costa saw that the symptoms arose due

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to the overstimulation of the heart’s nervous system and this condition later came to be known as
“Da Costa Syndrome” or “Soldier’s heart” (Jones 2013). In the year 1761, Joseph Leopold wrote
on “nostalgia” which used to occur within the soldiers. The experiences shared by the soldiers
signified that they the troops used to suffer from anxiety, sleep problems, sad feeling, reports of
missing from home and military trauma. The Franco-Prussian war (1970-1871) marked the
beginning of the medical attempts so that the problems of the war veterans that are exposed to
combat can be addressed (Howard 2013). In the World War I shell shock was one of the major
side effects and many soldiers suffered from it. Shell shock or war neurosis was caused by the
constant fighting and the heavy explosions during the war situations. The soldiers that were
affected by shell shock were unable to sleep and similarly they used to panic when they hear
shouting, loud noises and gunshots (Southard 1919). It has also been seen that shell shocks used
to affect the ability of the soldiers to talk and walk. The issues of shell shock are generally
related to the world war (Mott 1919).
There were instances like euphoria or war fatigue which highlighted the destructive
violence that is unleashed by the World War I (serious-science.org. 2018). The frenetic shouts by
the people when the soldiers were going to the war were spine chilling. When the First World
War broke out different sections of the people moved into a war craze of euphoria. Researches
have shown that the war euphoria was an inclusive phenomenon and it included all the sections
of the society (Ivanova, 2014). This mood was soon raptured by the horrifying pictures of the
world war. The war euphoria turned into a war fatigue when the war started to use mechanised
forces, countless mutilation and wounds and the rising conditions of the mental stress when the
soldiers used to say in the trenches. By the year of 1916, the war fatigue started to grip the
soldiers and led to war fatigue, revolts, mass strikes and hunger riots (Wagner 2017). The

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railroad disasters during the world war is manifested into a demolition of the physical machinery
of the soldiers and the passengers. The term railway spine was coined by John Eric Erichsen said
that the survivors that have experienced the train accidents used to be suffering from a form of
PTSD called “railway spine”. Passengers that experienced the railroad accidents in the 19th
century were diagnosed with the PTSD. During the 19th century the railways accidents were a
very common phenomenon and the dangers from the railway accidents because the railway cars
used to be made of wooden structures and the passengers received less amount of protection.
Studies have revealed that the passengers faced issues from the injuries of spine and the brain
(Javidi and Yadollahie 2012).
World war I and what it brought along- The great war brought along with it several
things and it had a big impact on the humanity as a whole (bbc.com 2018). Human cost: by the
end of the First World War more than 16 million people which included both the soldiers and the
civilians died in the course of the war. It is important to note that an entire generation of people
just wiped away. When the war ended there were 15 women for every men and they were
between the age group of 18 to 30 (Uwosh.edu 2018). Nature of warfare: The First World War
changed the very nature of the warfare and it brought along with it technologies and essential
elements like tanks, submarines, airplanes. The techniques of mass production came into being
and it revolutionized the industries and the building of the armaments (King 2016). Birth of
modern surgery: the first word war brought with it the modern techniques of surgery and here the
civil and the military hospital became the arenas where the experiments were carried out. It has
seen millions of the soldiers that survived the war but were disfigured, mutilated, maimed. Skin
grafting came into being that were meant to ease the broken faces. When it was figured that
blood can be prevented from clotting then the blood banks were established. Soldiers started to

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become affected from the traumatic disorders and shell shocks (Cooter 2016). Development of
new weapons- new weapons were produced during the industrial revolution during the late 1800s
and this increased the tensions between the European nations so that they can outpace their
enemies in terms of technology. Before the decade of 1914, the armament race speeded up and
the Triple Alliance came forth which included the Italy, Austria-Hungary, Germany which
squared against the Britain, Russia and France. Germany had fears with the build-up of the
Russian armaments and the British were fearing the build-up of the German navy. The armament
race led to insecurities among the neighbouring nations and this led to increase in the turmoil and
loss of stability between the relations of the nations. All these factors contributed positively to
the spread of the first world war (Hart 2014). Trenches war- Trench war came into being which
was like living in a hell with completion from the both sides to capture the trenches. The trenches
used to be sometimes 7m wide and if the soldiers came out of the trench then they had to face
enemy bullets. The soldiers had to endure the continuous shelling and bullets from the machine
guns and this increased the casualties to a great extent. The trench war was a product of World
war I and it brought the ways and means of capturing the enemy territory as well as setting up of
the defence lines (Herwig 2014).
Weapons during the world war I- During the World War I a variety of weapons came to
the front. Rifle was the main used weapon and they used by the soldiers in the trenches. In the
early part of the war, the head injuries were the most common occurrence. 12 percent of the
wound that were recorded were in the torso portion and due to this many soldiers were unable to
make it to the hospital. Leg wounds were the most common and it was the most common area of
injury and due to these amputations were often used to be necessary. However, it has been seen
that arm injuries were the most common with the high explosive artillery shells. The western

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front had mud and this increased the rates of infection. Standing in water for longer periods led
to the trench foot which caused infection of the foot and flesh eventually used to decayed. It was
estimated that shrapnel from the grenades, artillery projectile shells, bombs, mortars accounted
for the 60 percent of the deaths in the World War 1. The soldiers that used to come to the
hospital were either severely damaged or had no visible damages. Thus, it was evident that they
were suffering from the remarkable state of shock caused by the blast force (Herwig 2014).
Chemical weapons accounted for only 1 percent of the usage and led to the death of 750,000
British troops. The poisonous gases affected the soldiers psychologically and it led to panic,
feelings of sickness even if they are not, misinterpretation of the smell, sound and taking evasive
actions. The variety of weapons that were used in the war acted as a terror mechanism in the
minds of the soldiers. The weapons scarred the minds and soul of the soldiers that were present
in the frontlines and bore the testimony of the horrific scenes of war (Herwig 2014).
Reports on hospital case, poems- A study was conducted by Linden and Jones (2014),
regarding the understanding and treatment of shell shock. This study emphasized on the case
notes of the 462 servicemen that were admitted in a National Hospital for the Paralysed and
Epileptic, in Queen Square, London. The study was based on the servicemen that were facing
functional and neurological disorders between the time periods of 1914 to 1919. Different cases
of shell shock were recorded in this study and when some of them are highlighted here. It has
been said that the living conditions within the trenches were not easy as there was considerable
amount of rainfall and soldiers were not able to get outside to fetch drinking water. The diet
consisted mainly of the bread, cheese, jam and bully beef. Frequently sand used to enter into the
food substances and this used to increase the thirst of the soldiers. The conditions were very
severe and they had severe eye strain and very little chance to sleep. Managing the dying and the

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wounded patients included a great deal of problems, and this all together made a deep impact on
the minds of the soldiers. Several soldiers said that the when they were in trenches, they had to
see a long stretch or pile of corpses that had the face turned towards them and gave an
impression that they were sleeping (Linden and Jones 2014). Poetry- Wilfred Owen, who was
admitted into a hospital for shell shock, demonstrated a striking change in writing style (Poetry
Foundation 2018).
Medicine during the period 18th-20th century- In the 18th century, there were only two
types of diseases which included the asthenic and strong and there were two types of treatments,
sedative or stimulant. This included only the opium and alcohol. By the time of the 18th century,
the Scottish and the London doctors were the leaders in the obstetrics and surgery. There were
extensive researches in the comparative anatomy, surgical pathology and physiology (Andrews
2011). In the beginning of the 19th century the structure of the human body was completely
known and along with it the newer methods of injections and microscope were brought up (Ferry
2015). By the 20th century, a large number of the discoveries took place which changed the face
of the medicine. In countries like United Kingdom, the life expectancy became one of the main
indicators of mortality and healthcare. In the first half of the 20th century, emphasis was placed
on the ways of combating infection (Penesyan, Gillings and Paulsen 2015). This resulted inot the
prevented of majority of the infectious diseases. Along with all these, there were other notable
developments in the field of nutrition, endocrinology. Just after the Second World War, the
concepts of cell biology altered the basic concepts of disease. Newer discoveries in the field of
physiology and biochemistry took place which led to the effective therapies, and diagnostic tests,
advancement in the biomedical engineering. Inventions like the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
(NMR), computerized axial tomography (CAT), and ultrasound (sonar). Also, there were other

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researches on the infectious diseases which increased the number discovery of disease causing
pathogens. There were developments like the in the other vital medicines like Penicillin, anti-
tuberculous drugs, antibacterial vaccination for typhoid, tetanus, diphtheria, BCG vaccine for
tuberculosis (Masic 2014).
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that Shell shock can be defined as
condition in which the soldiers experience a trauma and it forces the person to move into a state
of shock that are within the proximity of the exploding artillery. The Great War brought along
with it several things and it had a big impact on the humanity as a whole. By the end of the First
World War more than 16 million people which included both the soldiers and the civilians died
in the course of the war. The armament race led to insecurities among the neighbouring nations
and this led to increase in the turmoil and loss of stability between the relations of the nations.
All these factors contributed positively to the spread of the first world war. The trench war was a
product of World war I and it brought the ways and means of capturing the enemy territory as
well as setting up of the defence lines.

8SHELL SHOCK & WORLD WAR I
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