Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-28
A Cure For Commotion
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

you orc unable To pick up your life ans
cnrry 1t on again, you are tho victim q
| a new disease with new name. You hays
| been commotioned
The term "commotioned' in one which
scientists have coined 10 take the placs
Of the term ''shell-shock," of which w
heard 30 much during the war. Every
| man who had been ncrvo,isiy or mentally
rather than physically, injured, by the
| stress OF wu came TO be described as 9
case Of shell shock. The French, English
and American doctors found toward the
end OF the struggle that they could nearly
always cure case OF shell-shock, provided
the patient WAS reasonably willing To be
cured. They did not use medicine. They
simply talked to the man, and placed hun
in favorable environment TO counferact
the effects Of the unfavorable one which
had injured him.
Civil life, as well as military life, furnish
es many cases of sheii-shock. Since the
shocks arc not in any way connected with
shells, the new term has been coined 70
describe the resultant condition. And
these commotioned individuals Of busi-
ness and industry can be cured Just as
surely as the shell-shockcd soldier and by
the same means.
WEIRD COMPLAINT.
Shrll-shock WAS weird and mysterious
sort of complaint, one that appealed to the
imagination, a new thing under the sun,
and consequently Of much popular inter
est As complaints in civil life are largely
matters Of fashion, so "sheH-shock" be-
came quite the mode in the army. There
were many cases of it, and the surgeons
had much opportunity TO study it.
The industries produce daily examples
of people who have been cofnrnotioned.
The engineer whose train plunges through
bridge may find himself nervous and
unable Tn work. The telephone operator
who stuck TO her switchboard heroically
while the building burned, may have siif-
fered a nervous collapse. She was com
motioned. The fireman who received an
injury in line of duty may fail OF recovery
because Of other elements than physical
injury. He is suffering from the newly
named complaint.
Even before the United States came m
10 the war the Red Gross had selected q
well-known netmologist, DIR. Tom y.
Williams, and had sent him 10 France TO
study shell-shock. He worked for year
with the French, studied the methods of
the British in the field and in England, OBJ
served everything that the American
Army did in developing it's cure for those
men who were broken by the stress OF war
DIR. Williams says that so-called shell
shock, and therefore the suffering OF the
commotioned, may be ctyed. Those pa
tients who linger distressIkgiy for months
and years need not so linger. The French
cured almost a hundred per cent Of their
shell-shock patients. The British learned
the lesson less thoroughly. The Americans
were we'll on the way toward mastering
the problem, and would soon have been
putting all their broken men back INTO
the trenches.
The industries have but 10 take up the
work where the army left off, IN the opin-
ion OF DIR. Williams, 10 remove from their
rolls many Of those thousands OF injured
men and women to whom they are paying
allotments. These men may be restored
TO normal and productive lives instead oil
remaining burdens upon their fellows and
drags upon production
MENTAL STATE
The shell-shock patients IN France,
says Dr. Williams, were largely such be
cause of the psychological conditions INTO
which they were thrown They could be
cured and in the end were cured by put
ting them in the right frame of mind The
extensive advertisement that shell-shock
received, he said, was largely responsible
for MANY of the men who suffered from 10.
A Big Bertha might burst in the midst
Of a company The explosion would De SO
terrific that many of the men would be
dazed. They would be found wandering
aimlesslv about and would be sent 10 the
rear. They might find themselves COM
fortablv tucked away in hospitals or sent
TO rest camps. There they might come 70
dwell upon all they had heard OF shell
shock. of the lingering incapacity Of ITS
victims. Consciously or unconsclously
their minds would compare the ease Of the
rest camp with the horror of the front llne.
If they recovered they would go back 70
the trenches. If they did not, they would
remain In ease and security. The meen-
tive was TO exaggerate their broken con-
dition, TO fail to recover.
When the French made their tragic
1912 drive into Lorraine, whole com
panv of Alpine Chasseurs struggled back
to a hospital Suffering from shell-shock.
They were met by the surgeon IN charge,
a man of commanding personality and
force. This officer halted the company,
called it to attention, reprimanded 1t,
appealed to its pride In its fighting repu-
tation, aroused its esprit de corps and
sent it back into the fight. He cured q
hundred men Of shell-shock In two
minutes.
The British had scheme which worked
In less serious cases. They
maintained certain rehabilitation camps
into which men who were recovering from
any sort OF disability were put. In these
camps the British love of sport was given
iull rein. There were games OF all sorts
and the spirit of competition was highly
developed. All about were men who had
from shell shock and other such
complaints. They were examples of the
of recovery. The atmosphere
was that of optimism and enthusiasm. 1t
was contagious. 1t usually cured the
nerve-shattered soldier.
The French method was that of jolting
the soldier out of his undesirable mental
state. The American method was more
Ii was but necessary to show
The man that his ailment was not real and
that recovery offered for him
! more pleasant prospect than remaining
III. that his attitude of mind was wrong
md might be mended to lead him to re-
,overy.
CURE FOUND POSSIBLE.
There had been neurologIsts and
before the war who under
stood leading such patients to recovery,
,ut their number was small. Each pa
lent had to be studied and carefully
handled. Many men must be trained to
he work. Formulas had TO be worked /
,ut for the guidance of men who had not |