Narco-analysis in Treatment of War Neuroses

Clegg, J. L.

doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4256.140-c

Cited by 2 publications

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“…A response to this appeared in the British Medical Journal four weeks later from Dr JL Clegg, Consulting Psychiatrist at another Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Hospital. He reported his experience in treating 200 cases and disagreed with Wilde, opining that "usually no further information was obtained using pentothal than from ordinary conversation, narco-analysis was not a reliable means of effecting a transference, hypno-analysis was better, narco-analysis was only rarely required" [41]. Four months later William Sargant published a paper promoting other physical methods [42] (Box 4).…”

Section: World War IImentioning

confidence: 99%

Anaesthetic and Other Treatments of Shell Shock: World War I and Beyond

McKenzie

2012

J R Army Med Corps

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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an important health risk factor for military personnel deployed in modern warfare. In World War I this condition (then known as shell shock or 'neurasthenia') was such a problem that 'forward psychiatry' was begun by French doctors in 1915. Some British doctors tried general anaesthesia as a treatment (ether and chloroform), while others preferred application of electricity. Four British 'forward psychiatric units' were set up in 1917. Hospitals for shell shocked soldiers were also established in Britain, including (for officers) Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh; patients diagnosed to have more serious psychiatric conditions were transferred to the Royal Edinburgh Asylum. Towards the end of 1918 anaesthetic and electrical treatments of shell shock were gradually displaced by modified Freudian methods psychodynamic intervention. The efficacy of 'forward psychiatry' was controversial. In 1922 the War Office produced a report on shell shock with recommendations for prevention of war neurosis. However, when World War II broke out in 1939, this seemed to have been ignored. The term 'combat fatigue' was introduced as breakdown rates became alarming, and then the value of pre-selection was recognised. At the Maudsley Hospital in London in 1940 barbiturate abreaction was advocated for quick relief from severe anxiety and hysteria, using i.v. anaesthetics: Somnifaine, paraldehyde, Sodium Amytal. 'Pentothal narcosis' and 'narco-analysis' were adopted by British and American military psychiatrists. However, by 1945 medical thinking gradually settled on the same approaches that had seemed to be effective in 1918. The term PTSD was introduced in 1980. In the UK the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for management (2005) recommend trauma-focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and consideration of antidepressants.

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Section: World War IImentioning

confidence: 99%

Anaesthetic and Other Treatments of Shell Shock: World War I and Beyond

McKenzie

2012

J R Army Med Corps

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Functional neurology after the Second World War

Wijdicks

2020

Neurology

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Treatment of functional symptoms has a long history, and interventions were often used in soldiers returning from battle. On the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, I review the portrayal of neurology in documentary film. Two documentaries were released in 1946 and 1948 (Let There Be Light and Shades of Gray, respectively), which showed a number of soldiers with functional neurology including paralysis, stuttering, muteness, and amnesia. The films showed successful treatments with hypnosis and sodium amytal by psychoanalytic psychiatrists. These documentaries link neurology with psychiatry and are remarkable examples of functional neurology and its treatment on screen.

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Narco-analysis in Treatment of War Neuroses

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Anaesthetic and Other Treatments of Shell Shock: World War I and Beyond

Anaesthetic and Other Treatments of Shell Shock: World War I and Beyond

Functional neurology after the Second World War

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