SOCI 136F Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Industrial Warfare, Mental Health, Neurasthenia
Document Summary
Shell shock had a considerable effect on psych medicine and provides a key to understanding reforms and innovations that occurred between wwi and wwii, even though it is largely ignored in historical accounts of psychiatry. Before wwi, few doctors used psychotherapy in britain and there was little focus on nervous disorders: after war, shellshock cases caused more emphasis to be put on psychotherapy. British doctors got training on psychotherapy from army hospitals (where most shellshock patients were) and brought back their expertise by publishing works about the topic in 1920"s. Included a push to change lunacy laws, but was met with opposition. Mental hygiene movement in us: change mostly because shellshock didn"t disappear after war- there were still patients who required expensive treatments. Shellshock set apart from other disabilities in eyes of military: officers were especially prone, had serious effect on moral (mass panics) High moral is key to winning war.
