Shell Shock: A Brief History

First of all, what is shell shock? A bit of an outdated and inaccurate term, we now commonly use PTSD, which is defined as “a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.” by the Mayo Clinic. The term shell-shock was coined in 1915, and the condition was at first believed to be caused by nearby exploding shells. Although the term was coined in the 20th century, accounts of soldiers being affected internally by war have been around for a while (with references in Shakespeare, Homer, and Dickens). The first attempts to diagnose it happened during the American Civil War in the mid-1800’s.

During Septimus’ time, post WWI, hardly anything was known or understood about PTSD. All people could see was soldiers coming home, with no visible injury, presenting all the symptoms of illness. We have discussed in class some of the strict gender roles restraining men at the time – things such as the need to show very little emotion, not to cry, not to be sad, and to only show strength and toughness. PTSD is basically the opposite of these – the afflicted person loses control of their emotion, and often they can’t hold it together. Because of this, PTSD’s symptoms were taken for weakness. In the heat of battle, showing a bit of emotion was alright, but men were required to get over it quickly, so when some men didn’t, they were often accused of cowardice. Cowardice and desertion were offenses punishable by death on the spot during battle, or a death sentence by a jury. This gave men even more reasons to hide their feelings and this repression made PTSD more and more common. Officers and high-ranking soldiers (like Septimus) were often the hardest hit with PTSD – after having witnessed so much suffering, and especially repressing their emotions to seem strong in front of their subordinates and comrades, their PTSD tended to be extremely severe.

Even after PTSD began to be recognized as a real disease and diagnosed, treatments were often harsh and only furthered the condition. Common treatments were solitary confinement, disciplinary treatment, electric shock treatment, shaming, physical re-education, and emotional deprivation. Some of the gentler ones included hypnosis, rest, and dietary restrictions.

The rest cure was another medical belief of the time. A little older, developed in the early 1800’s, it was exactly what it sounds like: rest. Used to cure a variety of “nervous” diseases (from anorexia to PTSD), patients were confined to their beds for 6-8 weeks at a time, barred from social activities, reading, and writing. This cure was often caused very negative psychological effects (as seen in Charlotte P. Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper).

In Septimus’ case, we can see a lot of these societal forces and pressures acting on him. For example, when Dr. Holmes talks to Septimus, he tells him to stop scaring his wife with his hallucinations. This shows that Dr. Holmes might not even believe there is anything wrong with Septimus, because to him, men can’t/shouldn't have true emotional reactions to things. We can also see an example of the rest cure, proposed by Dr. Bradshaw, when he wants to send Septimus away to the countryside. We don’t know what “going away to one of Dr. Bradshaw’s homes” means – in the best case: rest, and good diet, in the worst: solitary confinement and some sort of shock treatment (be it electric shock or shaming) – but based off of Rezia's and Septimus' extremely negative reactions, nothing good.

Sources:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-shock-of-war-55376701/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/home/ovc-20308548

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/extra/series-1/shell_shocked.shtml

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/techniques/restcure

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/ptsd-overview/basics/history-of-ptsd-vets.asp

The first ever film about PTSD (then called War Neuroses), made in 1917:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWHbF5jGJY0