Trescothick and Stress

[PhilB]

Marcus has come home due to a stress related condition which prevents him from playing as he would wish. I know nothing about his condition, little about mental illness and wouldn`t dream of commenting. It did, however, make me wonder about the "stress related conditions" which might, indeed did, assail the men in the trenches, presumably a more stressful place than an Ashes tour. Can anyone tell me:-

1/ How would it affect the man in the trenches?

2/ What would he say to his sergeant, platoon officer or MO?

3/ What would their reaction be? Would he be taken seriously?

4/ If he wasn`t taken seriously, how would the condition develop? Phil B

[tintin1689]

I would strongly suggest reading a series of books called "folllow me"

They are written by an ex US General who fought in the Pacific and had many years of service

He often covers stress and the soldier, particularly the officer and NCO with decision making responsibility

I believe they are based on articles in the US Infantry Journal

Basically it would start to manifest itself in poor judgement and decision making and uncharacteristic or abnormal behaviour (chatty soldier becomes sullen, willing worker grudging etc). The junior leader should know his men and be alert to this. Proper feeding and rest are usually the answer if caught early

If not dealt with the soldier will make increasingly poor decisions and get himself or someone else killed or injured. The routines of the army (inspections, pay parade, musketry training, checking the meals) are designed to try to ensure that the junior leaders have to see the troops. Routine and heavy training are also designed to embed instinctive behaviour that will survive a stressed mind.

This is all very easy to say (and sounds trite), but is very hard to do if the leaders are themselves stressed and you are in a demanding wartime situation. The books deal with it at length, in real life situations and in a practical way from an experienced man.

[6th Shropshires]

I am not 100% sure but I think he as a stress injury and not suffering from stress. I have several injurys from stress ie too much running on a hard surface, I could be wrong.

Annette

[PhilB]

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6150130.stm

[Sgt_Hazell_Great_Grandson]

Phil is right , with Marcus it is a mental problem.

Roland.

[6th Shropshires]

Thanks guys I stand corrected.

Annette

[PhilB]

What struck me was that the man in the trenches with a stress disorder is in a Catch 22 situation. Or should that be a no win situation? If he tries to go sick, he`ll be assumed to be either weak, leadswinging or letting his mates down but if he carries on he gets worse and becomes a danger to all. What chance for a private in 1917 going to the MO and saying "I`m suffering from stress, I`m jumpy, can`t sleep etc"? Phil B

[tintin1689]

In a good unit officers, NCOs and MO will be proactive. Reading the book "Doctors in the Great War" many RMOs appear to have had a very limited view of their duties considering mental welfare and preventative medicine a little beneath them. I also get the feeling that those who served in Field Ambulances and General Hospitals were more exalted within the RAMC than the Regimental MOs. I do not think RAMC provision for the overly stressed soldier really got into its stride until 3rd Ypres where whole units were set aside to deal with the nervously exhausted.

Even today it is a complex issue and in those days they had less knowledge. The position would I suspect be worse in some of the war raised units where everyone was , in effect, learning together. Another thing is if the Platoon commnder is himself stressed with degraded decision making skills he may deal with stressed soldiers badly venting his own feelings at his situation.

[Pete1052]

At times I've wondered whether the armed forces' reputation for insensitivity to peoples' emotions may in part come from the experience of combat. A battalion commander I worked for who was a Vietnam veteran was a temper tantrum about to happen. Sometimes I wondered whether it was seeing tracers coming at him while he flew helicopters in Vietnam that made him so foul-tempered. He later retired as a two-star.