Wars that Shaped a Diagnosis
It took one hundred years, from the time it was first recognized as a syndrome among hysterical women in the late 1800s to its inclusion in 1980 as a diagnosis in the manual of the American Psychiatric Association, for posttraumatic stress disorder to be recognized as a legitimate illness. (Herman 12, 28) Victims were psychologically inclined to mask and forget their awful experiences, and society at large preferred not to contemplate the subject of atrocity if it could be helped. Three times, however, in one century, the victims were so numerous and their trauma so documentable that society could not ignore their suffering - World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. (Herman 9) Many military and civilian doctors blundered horribly in their attempts to treat the illness. Their failures allowed the illness to be forgotten each time epidemic cases following war faded, but several brilliant minds over the century continued to tussle with the problem and contribute, little by little, to the shaping of a scientific diagnosis. The first doctors to recognize the problems caused by psychological trauma were Pierre Janet and Sigmund Freud in their psychoanalysis of hysterical woman. However, their work became hopelessly bogged
In 1922, in one of those periods when the world chose amnesia instead of investigation, the British War Office declared that shell shock did not and had never existed. (Adams 31) Dr. River's insights, however, would be utilized during World War II when, once again, men began to break down in frightening numbers. By encouraging strong bonds of loyalty and removing soldiers for brief respites from the fighting while keeping them close to their units, the military was able to prevent men from breaking down completely and keep them functional. (Herman 25) During the alarm stage, one's body tries to escape the stress by employing many different tactics like: secretion of epinephrine, a hormone, a rise in pulse rate and in blood pressure, rapid breathing, tense muscles, trembling, feeling butterflies in the stomach, slowed digestive processes, reduced blood supply in skin, release of sugar fuel into the blood, an increase in the clotting power of the blood. Most people have experienced some of these symptoms at least once in their lives. But do not fear for, although one may have experienced these symptoms, these symptoms do not mean one is hurting his body. However, if the stressor is not removed by these bodies efforts, the alarm stage can go for long periods of time, even months. Eventually, if the stressors continue, one's body will go into the resistance or adaption phase, where it tries to repair the damage that the elongated alarm phase has caused. If the stressor persists for any longer after the adaption phase, your body enters the exhaustion phase in which you body become extremely vulnerable to bodily harm.("Stress" Family Health 1868) One modern theory that can be applied to shell-shock is that of Hans Selye whose first report on what he called "stress-adaption syndrome"was produced in the early 1950s. Selye claimed that all stressors (stress producing events) caused much the same effect. His "adaption syndrome" was divided into three parts: the alarm stage, the resistance or adaption phase, and the exhaustion phase.("Stess" Family Health 1868) Originally, young British soldiers had enlisted for the war with enthusiasm. Edward Francis, a British WWI veteran recalled, "Everyone - EVERYONE - thought the war would be over at Christmas. And they really badly wanted to get to France to get in the fighting." Another British vet, Donald Hodge, remembered, "We thought it was going to be a tremendous lark to knock the Kaiser off his throne, you see." (The Century) But as the war dragged on, the subject of going home became a ghastly joke. Writer Robert Graves wrote, "We held two irreconcilable beliefs: that the war would never end and that we would win it."(Fussell 73)
Some topics in this essay:
Family Health,
World War,
British WWI,
Distrustful VA,
Impossible Hansen,
Holmes' Rahe's,
Dalloway Septimus,
Mental Owen,
Holmes Rahe,
War II,
shell shock,
world war,
stress disorder,
family health,
posttraumatic stress,
posttraumatic stress disorder,
disorder family health,
disorder family,
stress disorder family,
alarm stage,
adaption phase,
health 1469,
world war ii,
return battle,
victims shell shock,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 3502
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
Example Essays Home
