500 case stats & studies from MH106

[TEW]

I found this over a month ago and made the mistake of assuming it would be there in my browsing history. It seems to me to be a fantastic insight into what eventually became part of the MH106 series at TNA after what is termed 'the great pulping' of 275 tons of MoP records by the DHSS circa 1975.

It is a thesis by John Reginald Hopkins, Dr of Philosophy, University of Leicester. 2004

Problems, politics and personalities in the treatment of mental and nervous casualties in the British Army 1914-1918. Incorporating a statistical and analytical study of 500 case histories.

It is 446 pages and almost 40Mb and only opens as a download.

The case study statistics comprise 356 from various MH106 records for Napsbury and 144 admissions of mental or nervous cases to other hospitals, about 33 other hospitals concerned.

There are some detailed case studies for individuals from the Medical Sheets alphabetical series for Napsbury and eg MH106/2102 'Medical Sheets, mental illness'. The later gives admissions to Military Gen Hosp Manchester and Royal Herbert Hosp Woolwich. Neither of these show up via Discovery in MH106.

Organisation & Locations of NYDN centres BEF. Diagnosing nervous cases as NYDN.

Not exactly a bedtime read, just thought I'd draw attention to it.

TEW

[John Gilinsky]

Thank you Tew for drawing our attention to this modern dissertation and for the direct hyperlink. I am researching (and researching and researching....!) a history of shellshock in the CEF from 1914 onwards. This dissertation with its 500 case studies reminds me of 1926 New York City USA book based on the post-war American Veterans Bureau work with mental cases from the AEF hospitalized in General Hospital No 1 Brooklyn New York. John

[TEW]

Thanks John,

Funny, I was reading through it today! I think it's a great document and hope it serves well. I've made a start on a database of the 30 odd detailed cases noted by Hopkins and already have managed to link 2 names to service/pension records. Not that they give the slightest hint of what comes across in the study.

I've also spotted an 'any information on my grandfather' forum request from 2012 for one of the men but I'm not sure I want the job of passing that information on.

I assume you've encountered Arthur Hurst and Seale-Hayne Hospital in your research?? His Neurological Studies mentions one Canadian. Unfortunately for us, Hurst tried to cover up the identity of the individuals by masking their names. I have managed to identify a handful by using their ages, or bits of their 'story' or slip ups by Hurst.

But I think you'd be lucky to ID Sgt. D-------- aged 32!

I'd be interested to hear more on any differences in diagnosis, treatment, attitude towards - home and France, balance of SS vs Neurasthenia, Officers Vs ORs etc between British and Canadian units and how the above evolved during the war.

TEW

[MaureenE]

Catalogue link with abstract

http://hdl.handle.net/2381/7975 (contains a link to the pdf download)

Abstract:

The Great War of 1914-1918 continues to attract scholarly attention, not least in the field of neuropsychiatric medicine. The term 'shell shock' is firmly cemented into the language, such that it represents for many the entire", neuropsychiatrical experience of the war. This thesis challenges that view, seeking to establish a new point of departure for the study of Great War neuropsychiatrical medicine. Based on a major study of previously unresearched medical case histories, a much less central role is assigned to shell shock and 'war neuroses' generally. Novel aspects such as the effects of mental disorder on the smallest military social unit - what is called here the 'comradely group' - are explored. By maintaining throughout a clear distinction between functional nervous disorders and the ubiquitous exhaustion syndrome of 'neurasthenia'.. a radically altered view of their relative importance emerges. At the same time, much of the confusion and conflation of previous studies is avoided. The British Army's approach to these problems depended crucially on the availability of appropriately skilled medical practitioners. This thesis maintains that the historical hiatus between the public asylum medical service and the medical profession as a whole constituted an influential and previously unrecognised factor in the evolution of these policies and practices. As war approached, the growing influence of Freudian psychology raised questions as to where the legitimate authority on mental health matters should lie. When circumstances forced the Government to seek help from the asylums in coping with the rising tide of casualties of all kinds, the weight of advantage in this controversy swung decisively in favour of the asylum doctors. This, it is suggested, constituted a major factor in the developmental pattern of, mental health services in post-war Britain, a factor which has up to now been largely overlooked.

Cheers

Maureen

[John Gilinsky]

Tx Tew and Maureen. I am focussed on researching and writing the local disabled vets hospital here in Toronto. Simple eh? Tons of scattered materials. In addition these vets were formally orthopaedic / amputee cases including totally disabled bedridden cases and not formally recognized "shellshock cases." In one Toronto Branch CRCS Annual Report of the 1940s though the WWI veterans are referred to as "burnt out." Undoubtedly these are the side effects of being in Christie Street hospital as a chronic bed ridden patient despite great efforts not least of which were the Toronto Red Cross (the local city branch of the CRCS). There were differences in diagnoses based on the sheer significant differences between the education, training and experiences of the BEF medical personnel in the field and the CEF medical personnel. These diagnostic differences are essentially a major feature of the complexity and the difficulties of researching WWI war trauma history generally.

John