Canadian War Veterans Memorial Project
Commemorating those that served
Commemorating those that served
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During the war this idea of "mental suggestion" to cure shell shock was practiced in England, notably at "D-Block" (the Asylum) at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, Southampton, England. Philip Hoare's book on this hospital, Spike Island (London, 2001), reviewed the process in detail. The goal was to treat the cases quickly and see results in as little as hours. A report appeared in The Lancet in August 1918, in part:
Persuasion. Here the medical officer...persuades the patient to make the effort necessary to overcome the disability. In order to do this, he uses his authority as an officer, he brings to play all the moral suasion he can, appealing to the patient's social self-esteem to make him co-operate and put forth a real effort of will. If moral suasion fails, then recourse may be had to more forcible methods, and according to certain witnesses even threats were justifiable in certain cases.
The authors of this report concluded that with these new techniques they now expected "cures" for shell-shocked men within 24 hours of admission. Netley hospital prided itself on its results and a short moving picture was made in 1917 showing these soldiers as "before" and "after" with the entire treatment lasting in some cases as little as a few hours.
This film from Netley shows before and after films of shell-shocked men. In this section of the film it is suggested that a man's "hysterical gait" was cured in one hour of treatment.
The final segment of the film shows the "re-education" policy in play, with the goal being to return the men to action with their units. Here, the formerly shell-shocked patients are made to re-enact a battle in a farmer's field near the hospital.
Still, despite the fact that the intention of these moving pictures was to show the success of mental suggestion as a treatment for shell shock, the pictures were never shown at theatres at that time, as they would have disturbed the public and perhaps dampened morale on the home front.
- M. Pirie
Dated:
Striking Cures in Canadian Hospitals
Mental Suggestion Restores Speech, Hearing and Taste to Soldier
Lieut.-Col. Charles Starr1, of Toronto, who has had charge of orthopaedic work in Canada, is now at the Canadian Special Hospital, Ramsgate, England, preparing for setting up in England several similar institutions.
Col. Robert Jones, director of the military orthopaedic work in Great Britain, is establishing hospitals similar to the Canadian Hospital at Ramsgate, all over Britain.
Canada has thus led the way in one of the most successful medical enterprises of the war.
Among recent striking cures at Ramsgate is Corp. Hogan, a former employee of the Grand Trunk [railroad], who had been twice wounded at Ypres. He was buried alive during the Somme operations, whilst following the tanks, and when rescued he had lost his speech, hearing and taste.
After ten minutes' treatment, through mental suggestion at Ramsgate, his deafness and dumbness had vanished, and he has since recovered his sense of taste.
Another man, named Villeneuve, was struck blind by a star shell, and went fourteen months from hospital to hospital fruitlessly. Eventually he reached Ramsgate, where special treatment restored his sight, and he is now on active service again in France.
1An attestation for a Lt.-Col. Clarence Starr is indexed on LAC, but the attestation is not online.
Transcribed by: M. I. Pirie