NOISE SHOCK

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 29 October 1941, Page 2

NOISE SHOCK

CURING IT BY MORE NOISE j Here is one of the most interesting : medical discoveries made during the 1 war. It concerns an entirely new treat- | ment for "noise shock,” states a 8.8. C. | bulletin. i For most sick persons quiet is an | essential part of their treatment, but I there are at least some patients for ! whose recovery noise is necessary, i Two mental experts, working in a ! military hospital, have been studying I the treatment of mental disturbance due Ito gun-fire, shell-bursts, exploding j bombs, sirens and dive-bombing plane.-. 1 Treatment on orthodox lines, by rest, by physical training, games and occupational therapy did a good deal, but not enough. Their patients were still over-sensitive to such noises as a slamming door, or a noisy automobile exhaust. They started violently at any unusual noise. In fact, hospital was too quiet a place in which to restore to restore to normal the victims of excessive noise. The doctors then borrowed from the 8.8. C. their gramophone records of war noises, of anti-aircraft and machine guns. The sound of planes and sirens, explosions, and so on. The patients j were told in simple terms what was to |be done. They were reminded that ! human beings can get used to any noise |if they have enough of it. Those who i live by a railway know this. And so I they were subjected to the very same I noises which had caused their breakdown. \ Their reactions were immediate. They | were those of excitement—even terror, I or relieving the emotional experiences | which had terrified them. They 1 trembled, they sweated —all the signs of great anxiety. The noise brought back their anxieties, but they faced them and [they conquered them. These men rei gained their self-control and their con_ ! fidence.