Wounded Shell Shock

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World War I began in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 and ended with the Allies defeat of the Central Powers in 1918, which included Germany and the Ottoman Empire. This was the first time nurses and doctors were tasked with diagnosing and treating soldiers suffering from shell shock. Although cause was unknown, they realized that it was an illness soldiers were suffering from after engaging in war. Since it presented no physical symptoms, treatment was challenging and they resorted to treating it as an infectious disease, whereby those with shell shock were separated from others. The perceptions of individuals with shell shock in Wounded correlates to the theory that such individuals had a social disease, needing …show more content…
One treatment method that was proven to work for a number of diseases was isolation. Hippocratic healers used this type of treatment during the 14th century with the outbreak of the plague. In 1665, an Anonymous author wrote The plagues approved physitian Shewing the naturall causes of the infection of the ayre, and of the plague and described isolation as a treatment for those suffering from the plague. “Then afterward let the sicke rise from his bed, if he either will or can: But let him not come into the open ayre, but eschew it as much as may bee: Also let the Ayre of the Chamber in the which the sicke doth lie, be corrected and amended and purified with odoriferous things, and with sweete smelling perfumes, such as are before declared” (Anonymous, 8-9, 1665). Health was believed to be governed by the balance of the four humors, which could be achieved to limited interaction with the sick and through breathing clean and pure air. However, with so many people falling ill to the disease, they focused on preventing interaction between the sick and the healthy. Even once and individual was recovered, they remained secluded in that room in order to purify the air so as to not infect others. Similar treatment was also used during the Yellow Fever Epidemic in 1793. Jim Murphy wrote in An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 in 2003 where he reflected on the outbreak of the disease and treatment for the infected. During this time, one of the top physicians Benjamin Rush wrote “‘I know of but one certain preventative of the disorder, & that is to keep at a distance from infected persons and places’” (Murphy, 36, 2003). This meant that there was no known cure, and the best way to preserve one’s health was to “Stay away from anyone with the fever” (Murphy, 27, 2003). If one fell ill
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