Shell Shock

Springfield

Active member
Ok, this is probably a stupid question that I should know the answer to if I'm a World War 2 freak. But could someone define shell shock for me? Like I've seen it happen in movies, in games, everywhere, but I have never actually known exactly what it is.
 
These days it's called CSR or battle fatigue.

This according to wikipedia.
The military term combat stress reaction (CSR) comprises the range of adverse behaviours in reaction to the stress of combat and combat related activities. In the military setting it generally does not include the range of adaptive reactions and behaviours in reaction to such stresses. Combat stress behaviours can also include misconduct stress behaviours which are not dealt with in this article. Some US military publications still refer to battle fatigue as the main focus of management. Combat stress reaction is heavily linked to post-traumatic stress disorder.
 
Combat Stress Reaction

An acute reaction of anxiety that may feature numbing, fainting, restlessness, psychomotor retardation, stuttering, withdrawal, vomiting, disorientation, paranoid thoughts and guilt.

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/wordbank.cfm?wordid=881&wbletter=C

www.campbell.army.mil/eo/EVEPpdf/5c_KeyArea8_HealthSafetyDrugAlcoholAbuse.pdf

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/144/4/448

This is a quick primer on the subject and the background info for the Wikipedia claims.
 
bulldogg said:
Combat Stress Reaction

An acute reaction of anxiety that may feature numbing, fainting, restlessness, psychomotor retardation, stuttering, withdrawal, vomiting, disorientation, paranoid thoughts and guilt.

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/wordbank.cfm?wordid=881&wbletter=C

www.campbell.army.mil/eo/EVEPpdf/5c_KeyArea8_HealthSafetyDrugAlcoholAbuse.pdf

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/144/4/448

This is a quick primer on the subject and the background info for the Wikipedia claims.

Sweet. Nice links. Thanks :p
 
Bazooka, the people I've dealt with who have suffered shell shock / battle fatigue, are not really that different from others in civilian life who have suffered horrifying experiences like a death, near-death, car accident, explosion, etc, except that in the case of the soldier/sailor the condition was triggered by military action or in a war zone - the symptoms are the same and are basically depression, shock, fear, paranoia, night-mares, flash-backs, sadness, immobility, loss of sociability, stuff like that. many overcome the worst symptoms over time and with good help from friends, family and professionals.
 
I can't say for sure but a lot of depression and anxiety disorders in the non-combat world is more physiological, or chemical imbalance, than psychological so it would stand to reason that some are more prone to be affected than others. They would be the first to suffer and have a worse case than others.

My Mother suffered from depression and myself and one Brother have the same disorder. The Psychiatrist (yeah, that's right, a shrink) that I see every three months said that I will be on drugs for the rest of my life.
Presently, I am taking 400mg of Wellbutrin, 3mg of Klonopin, and a new one that is the generic of Paxil, I think 5mg. This is all spread out over a day and works but makes me have a few annoying side effects which is worth it. At one time, I was taking 800mg of Wellbutrin, 500mg is on the verge of causing seizures but it's all a balancing game of chemicals because anxiety disorder causes depression which aggravates the anxiety attacks.

Anyone else have this crap or something like it? Anyhow I suspect that the symptoms are similar to battle fatigue. Poor guys. Someone (brave) needed to kick Patton in the nuts when he slapped that kid.
 
Padre said:
Bazooka, the people I've dealt with who have suffered shell shock / battle fatigue, are not really that different from others in civilian life who have suffered horrifying experiences like a death, near-death, car accident, explosion, etc, except that in the case of the soldier/sailor the condition was triggered by military action or in a war zone - the symptoms are the same and are basically depression, shock, fear, paranoia, night-mares, flash-backs, sadness, immobility, loss of sociability, stuff like that. many overcome the worst symptoms over time and with good help from friends, family and professionals.

I never said that they were different than other people. I was just asking what shell shock/battle fatigue/CSR was.
 
Missileer, I was on wellbutrin about 10 years ago. It made my willy stop working so we switched meds. I'm sensitive to side affects of those psych meds and all so I have just learned to deal with the depression and it passes. I have it a bit better than most folks, like say my mum or my grandpa did.

Bazooka, everything I have ever read backs up what Missileer said about different people have different tolerance levels but everyone has a limit to what they can take.
 
bulldogg said:
Missileer, I was on wellbutrin about 10 years ago. It made my willy stop working so we switched meds. I'm sensitive to side affects of those psych meds and all so I have just learned to deal with the depression and it passes. I have it a bit better than most folks, like say my mum or my grandpa did.

Bazooka, everything I have ever read backs up what Missileer said about different people have different tolerance levels but everyone has a limit to what they can take.

Can you even imagine being on 800mg per day of Wellbutrin? I have a higher than normal tolerance than most people. I take 1mg tablets of Klonopin 3 times/day and am normal. My wife broke one in half and took it and was so dizzy, she went to bed and slept for half a day. On 800mg of Wellbutrin, I was dizzy from about 10am until about noon. By the way, I have to take twice the dosage of the "blue pill' too.
 
BaZoOkAzNgReNaDeZ said:
I never said that they were different than other people. I was just asking what shell shock/battle fatigue/CSR was.

Duly noted Brother-in-arms :salute:
 
Missileer, I was on 300 and can only imagine 800. I can't remember which one but I think it was Wellbutrin that gave me freaky dreams and hallucinations when I was really tired... entirely too freaky for this dude. Hey, at least you have the "blue" pill right mate? ;) Imagine without it, ts a tough choice to make then eh. Its gonna sound like some real hocus pocus shite and I may take flak for this but the one thing that really helped me turn a corner was doing meditation and learning something very important that changed my life. This one simple truism...

When something is in the past, it is finished, over, done with, there is NOTHING you can do about it. If you're still upset about it, its just because you weren't happy with the way it ended. Get over it. Do not waste any energy on it, concentrate on the future. Learn from it and move on. No grudges, no baggage.

Life has been a lot sweeter since that sank in and had its effect.
 
bulldogg said:
When something is in the past, it is finished, over, done with, there is NOTHING you can do about it. If you're still upset about it, its just because you weren't happy with the way it ended. Get over it. Do not waste any energy on it, concentrate on the future. Learn from it and move on. No grudges, no baggage.

Very true...
 
I'm glad you found a handle on your problem, I wish I could quit some of the medication. My problem is more anxiety attacks moving into psychotic episodes so it's "hello chemistry."
 
I actually thought "shell shock" was PTSD...but this thread has been an eye-opener.

So, is Combat Fatigue an earlier form of PTSD? For instance:

Event > Combat Fatigue > PTSD?

I can't say for sure but a lot of depression and anxiety disorders in the non-combat world is more physiological, or chemical imbalance, than psychological

I think saying "a lot" is overstating it...to my understanding, depression caused by physiological reasons is still relatively uncommon compared to situational depression for civvies.

However, I do believe that environment and genetics can play a part in whether someone suffers depression, anxiety and the whatnot. We all react differently to events, for instance, and it is also interesting to note there is increasing evidence of the genetic link for mental illnesses and mood disorders.
 
Ramjet said:
I actually thought "shell shock" was PTSD...but this thread has been an eye-opener.

So, is Combat Fatigue an earlier form of PTSD? For instance:

Event > Combat Fatigue > PTSD?

I can't say for sure but a lot of depression and anxiety disorders in the non-combat world is more physiological, or chemical imbalance, than psychological

I think saying "a lot" is overstating it...to my understanding, depression caused by physiological reasons is still relatively uncommon compared to situational depression for civvies.

However, I do believe that environment and genetics can play a part in whether someone suffers depression, anxiety and the whatnot. We all react differently to events, for instance, and it is also interesting to note there is increasing evidence of the genetic link for mental illnesses and mood disorders.

Well, anxiety attacks can happen without warning with no outside stimulus and end quickly but can last for days without medication. Almost no one can tell you what happened to them to trigger the attack. Another strange thing is that in times when all others are falling apart, a person with the anxiety disorder will be calm and cool. If a symptom is corrected with medication, then the problem is more often physiological.

Also, since my Mother's side of the family has a history of it, I believe it to be hereditary.
 
The problem with PTSD is it may affect you while you are in the Forces and at times it can emerge from the place that you had hidden it many, many years later. The problem is that not every can recognise it, so some people try drown out these memories by hitting the bottle.
 
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