What caused world war 1 shell shock’? I’m aware that PTSD and stress reaction injuries are still common in modern warfare, but I’m curious what caused the specific convulsing/shaking phenomena seen in soldiers exposed to heavy shelling in ww1? Were the causes due to physical brain damage from concussion, or was it a psychological reaction? You don’t seem to see people coming back from Iraq/Afghanistan with shaking like that.
[Video containing example of shaking and tremors](https://youtu.be/SS1dO0JC2EE)
In: Biology
As they generally did back in the day with medicine, they would lump all symptoms together when associated with something.
They’d see the PTSD symptoms of returning soldiers and they called it shell shock. They’d see other symptoms that may have simply been simple dehydration and since it was commonly seen amongst these returning soldiers, they lumped it together and called also this shell shock. The truth is that they were exposed to heat from gunfire and explosions, and they dehydrated. It also probably didn’t help that the last thing on their minds in those moments was where to get some water.
WW1 was extreme. More so then even WW2 in places.
Imagine artillery barrages *for days*. Hell when the germans attacked verdun it lasted *for a week*
Psychology didn’t yet exist as we know it now so there was no help for those with ptsd.
People with ptsd were just send back to fight when they were healed.
Im relatively sure if this were to happen today people would, and excuse the term, go crazy.
WW1 was a lot worse than modern wars. Soldiers were aware that they are there to be spent like ammunition, and would charge into almost certain death through barbed wire and mud while being shot at by artillery, rifles, machine guns and grenades. Even during rest times artillery could strike any time and take out a dozen people right next to you.
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