ALCOHOLISM AND SHELLSHOCK.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 26, 24 December 1917, Page 5

ALCOHOLISM AND SHELLSHOCK.

(The Journal of Public Health.) j The suggestion lias been made that total abstainers do not suffer so severe! s from shell-shock, and that they make a quicker recovery from that ailment. than moderate drinkers or confirmed drinkers. Inquiries from Medical Offices in charge ov institutions in New' Zealand in which returned soldiers suffering from ••shell-shock are treated go generally to show that total abstainers are more liable to shell-shock than others, but that alcohol has a distinctly harmful effect upon those suffering from and receiving treatment for shell-shock. The Principal Medical Officer of one of the largest military hospitals writes:— “I have delayed answering your circular until I bad a few facts to go upon. I can still only answer vaguely. as until recently I have made no inquiries as to the personal habits of shell-shock cases, and consequently have limited data. My conclusions, therefore .are of no scientific value, hut I give thffm for what they are worth. fa) As far as I can ascertain, I have never seen a case of shell-shock in a drunkard. This does not mean that drunkards are immune, hut would seem to point that either they are being killed right out by the shock, or that they generally recover before they get hack to New Zealand—which latter is, to say the least of it, more probable. (b) All severe and prolonged cases of shell-shock that I have come across have been teetotalers . (c) I have had a fair number of cases of shell-shock amongst moderate drinkers: as a rule, the shock lias been mild, and. as a rule, the patients

have been almost abstainers. “To sum up, my general impression 1 is that, so far from alcohol conducing' to prolonged shell-shock, it seems to confer some degree of immunity. ThiSj is not altogether surprising, in views of the analogous case of drowning. A| drunken man can be restored after a very much longer total immersion in water than the sober man., as in the, former case the element of shock is. greatly diminished.” ; This officer has not. mentioned the | effect of alcohol upon patients, but thO| Principal Medical Officer of another, large institution writes, — “I have carefully examined the records of all shell-shock cases admitted to the. hospital since November. 1915,! hut can find no data to support the suggestion that total abstainers are less liable to shell-shock than men at- ' custpmed to a moderate use of alcohol. I I havd, however, a strong suspicion, j which the records certainly to some, extent support, that the recovery from shell-shock is retarded by even the moderate use of alcohol." j The tendency of persons who take strong partisan views on temperance questions to endeavour to drag the medical profession into their controversies aid obtain sweeping statements in support of their views is ten he deprecated, and reputable men of, high standing in the profession right-, ly hesitate to arrive at conclusions, without a proper research and a long course of experiments. The, Medical Superintendent of one of unr largest hospitals says:—- J “In regard to the suggestion that men who before the war had been total abstainers arc less liable to shell-1 shock and nervous troubles, and recover more readily therefrom than men who have been accustomed to take a moderate amount of alcohol, foot alcoholics!, 1 am unable to give you definite statistics. As tar as my impressions go, the patients who have suffered from shell-shock have always been of a neurotic diathesis, judging by the relatives who have visited them. Heredity seems much more of a, factor than any question of alcoholism,’’ It is quite possible that the. moderate drinker is oftentimes a man of stronger nerves and physique than the total abstainer, and that his stamina which’ enables him to take

alcohol without ill effects also makes him loss susceptible to shock. It is quite possible that many total abstainers arc such on account of inherent lack of robustness in every, respect, and that that is the reasonj why they consider the total abstinence, from alcohol, which they find neces-j sary for themselves, should be imperative on the rest of their fellows. (