Shell Shock to PTSD: Military Psychiatry from 1900 to the Gulf War

by Edgar Jones, Simon Wessely

Overview

The application of psychiatry to war and terrorism is highly topical and a source of intense media interest. Shell Shock to PTSD explores the central issues involved in maintaining the mental health of the armed forces and treating those who succumb to the intense stress of combat.

Drawing on historical records, recent findings and interviews with veterans and psychiatrists, Edgar Jones and Simon Wessely present a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of military psychiatry. The psychological disorders suffered by servicemen and women from 1900 to the present are discussed and related to contemporary medical priorities and health concerns.

This book provides a thought-provoking evaluation of the history and practice of military psychiatry, and places its findings in the context of advancing medical knowledge and the developing technology of warfare. It will be of interest to practicing military psychiatrists and those studying psychiatry, military history, war studies or medical history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781841695808
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/25/2005
Series:	Maudsley Series
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jones, Edgar; Wessely, Simon

Table of Contents

Introduction. Part 1: Pre-1914 British Military Psychiatry. Wind Contusions, Nostalgia and Other Early War Syndromes. Irritable Heart and the Crimea. Disordered Action of the Heart. The Lunatic House, Chatham. 'D Block', Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley. The Boer War: DAH and Rheumatism. Railway Spine. Traumatic Neurastenia. The Russo-Japanese War. Balkan Wars (1912-13). Discussion. Part 2: Shell Shock and War Neuroses. Organisation of British Military Psychiatry. The Problem of Shell Shock. French Neurological Centres. British Forward Psychiatry. Psychiatry in the American Expeditionary Force. Base Hospitals. Psychical Treatments. DAH: The Continuing Problem. Gas Hysteria. Chemical Warfare: US Experience. Discussion. Part 3: Military Psychiatry in the Interwar Period. Psychiatrists in the Aftermath of World War One. Southborough Report. The Impact of the Military on Civilian Psychiatry. The Doldrums: Military Psychiatry in the 1920s and 1930s. Shell Shock in the Twenties and Thirties. Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society. Preparing for War. Discussion. Part 4: Recruitment of Psychiatrists. Dunkirk. No. 41 General (Neuropathic) Hospital. Belmont Hospital, Sutton: Slater and Sargant. Mill Hill EMS Hospital: Lewis and Jones. Directorate of Army Psychiatry: Management and Organisation. The Western Desert: The Rediscovery of PIE. No. 78 Neuropathic Hospital. Italy. D-Day and Northwest Europe. US Forward Psychiatry. Post-War Evaluation. Treatment in the UK: Hollymoor Military (P) Hospital, Northfield. Innovation in Treatment. 'Lack of Moral Fibre'. Discussion. Part 5: Screening and Selection. Experimental Phase. Screening World War Two. United Kingdom. Outcomes Screening: United States. Outcomes Screening: United Kingdom. Why Did Screening Fail in World War Two? Korean War. Post-1953. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Discussion. Part 6: Post-1945: Korea, Vietnam and the Falklands. Restructuring for Peace. Post-War Re-evaluation: US Forces. Korean War. Medical Organisation. Psychiatric Casulties. Combat Exhaustion. Somatisation and Cold Injury. Vietnam: The Early Years. The Veterans Come Home. The Epidemiological Evidence. Vietnam: Conclusions. Falklands. Discussion. Part 7: War Pensions and Veterans' Pressure Groups. The Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The Boer War (1899-1902). World War One: Ministry of Pensions and Shell Shock. Veterans' Pressure Groups. The British Legion. Curtailment of Pensions. The Horder Conference. Impact of War. Comrades Associations. US Veterans Groups and the Vietnam War. Glossary of Technical Terms.

Editorial Reviews

'This book is a comprehensive analysis of the history and development of military psychiatry... it provides a fascinating insight to the attempts made to manage and treat war personnel and veterans. It will be of interest to those interested in the classification and development of psychological disorders. The book would be a useful addition to any psychiatric library.' - Joseph Curran, Mental Health Practice, July 2005

'The topic is of course a specialist one, but, as in everything Simon Wessely writes, the larger role of social factors, views and opinions plays an important role[sic]. ... It is this wider view that could make this book interesting to professionals in general, not just to specialists in military medicine' - Peter Hayward, Institute of Psychiatry, London, in Journal of Mental Health V. 14 No. 5 October 2005

'The thematic chapters ... are presented with Wessely's usual intellectual energy and command of the literature. ... These chapters offer efficient surveys of the literature by a master epidemiologist, and clinicians will find them enormously useful. Wessely and Jones' work has done much to bring order and rigour to a field which a decade a go was awash with romantic mythology, conspiracy theories and (in the military) blinkered suspicion. Some of their articles are classics;' - Ben Shephard, in Medical History, July 2006

'This book is a comprehensive analysis of the history and development of military psychiatry... it provides a fascinating insight to the attempts made to manage and treat war personnel and veterans. It will be of interest to those interested in the classification and development of psychological disorders. The book would be a useful addition to any psychiatric library.' - Joseph Curran, Mental Health Practice, July 2005

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