THE "SHELL-SHOCKED."

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 290, 8 December 1931, Page 9

THE "SHELL-SHOCKED."

WAR-WOUNDED MINDS. FREEDOM FOR SLAVES OF SOCIETY. J LIVING ON FRONTIER OF FEAR. The persistence of neurasthenia and so-called' "shell-shock" attributable to Avar service and the work of relief done by the Ex-Services Welfare Society are described , in "The Lancet"'by Dr. Eric Coplans, medical referee, Ministry of Pensions, Battersea and WandsAvorth areas, and consulting physician, Joint Civil Services Health Committee. BetAveen 1926 and 1930, Dr. Coplans states, he was in medical charge of the London patients of the Ex-Services Welfare Society, which receives only neurasthenic cases. During that time 527 of these men passed through his hands, a number which from the dates, eight to tAvelve years after the armistice, showed the lasting effects of the Avar upon the nerves. "It Avas impossible," he says, "not to be impressed by the fact that fully 80 per cent were unskilled men of the labourer type, with no trade on their hands. It was rare indeed to have to deal Avith an artisan or craftsman.

Suffering in Secret. "Many of these men had no pension whatever. There was no wound to show, i no loss of eye or limb, and to the ordinary observer they presented in some cases a f picture of health. It was the mind thai; had boen wounded, and only their families and intimate associates have the least idea of their sufferings. They live on the frontiers of fear, their days are. a torture, and often through the night they endure again the horrors of .war. It is not unusual to be called to such a man sitting trembling with ashen face on the aide of his bed, refusing, to sleep, since sleep brings no peace but lifts a curtain on the fearful drama of the past. "But chiefly it was the 'anxiety type' that one encountered; fear of mankind, fear of traffic, and fear of himself. And it was this type that proved most amenable to treatment.

Wholesale Adoption. "The men that came to the society were .in every sense broken, mentally bankrupt, and often without means of support. Usually there was a wife and family and some raging creditors in the background. The society realised from tite start that it was idle to attempt to oure a man while his wife and family were starving; so they adopted the whole bunch —man, family, and very often the creditors. "Under sympathetic but firm tutelage he was taught to become self-supporting. He had nothing to worry about. His wife and family received an allowance arid Ms creditors were pacified." The work of the society also resulted in.the granting of pensions running , into many thousands of pounds. "By such means these war derelicts, their self-confidence restored, were enabled onco again to face the battle of life as useful citizens."