Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-07T16:21:26.537Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - Shell shock

from Part IV - Bodies in Pain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2013

Jay Winter
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Get access

Summary

This chapter examines the contested medical, political, social and cultural terrain surrounding injuries which came to be known as shell shock. It examines the catalogue of some of the symptoms shell-shocked men presented to doctors, which tells part of the story of the difficulty medical men had in identifying the nature and origin of the disabilities they had to treat. It is evident that many men suffered from more than one ailment, and in addition some physicians were prone to see the problem as arising from a latent or underlying condition. The choice of treatment depended on the symptoms of the patient and the predisposition of the physicians treating him. Medical historians argue that there is a rough balance between psychiatric and physical casualties in different wars, but that that balance is hidden by medical conventions and prejudices.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Shell shock
  • Edited by Jay Winter, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: The Cambridge History of the First World War
  • Online publication: 05 December 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9780511675683.018
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Shell shock
  • Edited by Jay Winter, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: The Cambridge History of the First World War
  • Online publication: 05 December 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9780511675683.018
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Shell shock
  • Edited by Jay Winter, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: The Cambridge History of the First World War
  • Online publication: 05 December 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9780511675683.018
Available formats
×