Hump Day History
W.H.R. Rivers, an English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist.
On this day in 1917, he released his report on the treatment of World War I soldiers, The Repression of War Experience.
Earlier in the year, medical officer Charles Meyer coined the term "shell shock," to describe physical damage done to soldiers on the front lines during exposure to heavy bombardment. Symptoms included debilitating anxiety, persistent nightmares, and afflictions such as diarrhea and loss of sight.
It became clear to Rivers that these symptoms were appearing in soldiers who had never been directly under bombardment, and that these were the psychological effects produced by the experience of combat.
He worked at the Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh, and the Royal School of Medicine. His duty, per the British Army, was to get the men fit and ready to return to battle, but only 1/5 would ever resume military duty. Wilfred Owen was among his patients, and I have a poem of his:
The final phrase is from Roman poet, Horace.
It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.
"The old Lie"
Comments
Post a Comment