WW1 Shellshock

just a little insite on the horrors of war , warning the video is a bit disturbing

also ,now i have a better understanding of PTSD


many thanks


Nephi


WW1 Shellshock www.youtube.com...

reply to post by Nephi1337


I want to thank you for that- now I have a better understanding.

And I am so sorry for the men who went through that and their families who suffered.

Originally posted by catwhoknows
reply to post by Nephi1337

 

I want to thank you for that- now I have a better understanding.

And I am so sorry for the men who went through that and their families who suffered.

i am glad you see what i see ,and thank you for understanding


Nephi

reply to post by Nephi1337


I had a man in my family who went through that - and no-one could understand why he was always angry.

So sad.

reply to post by catwhoknows


ya my brother has PTSD and he is just a hermit ever since he got out its sad


Nephi

That war wrecked a generation of men.

As do all wars.

Stop war now!

Absolutely horrible....

I have never seen war...do not want to. If you find this videoshocking, you should read a few history books or talk to some vets that have seen war.

My uncle was in the Battle of the Bulge... my aunt said that for years after he came home, some nights she would awake and he would be wrestling with her and yelling in German...then awaken and feel great remorse for attacking her.

Sometimes, he would jump when he heard a tin can rattle... I later found that when in France and Germany, many nights they would attach tin cans to the barbed wire along the perimeter...if and when it rattled, they blew the hell out of whatever was there.

I had a friend, his father was in Korea. He said one day they were sitting down to dinner...his mother brought in the food and there was a bowl of rice. His father didn't say anything, got up...picked up the bowl of rice and threw it against the wall..."Don't ever serve me rice, ever again.".... later found that that was all his dad ate for almost 5 months.

War IS hell.... you should read the diaries and first hand accounts of soldiers..

Last one, then I'll go..... a Union soldier in the US Civil War at fredricksburg had just unloaded from a barge crossing a river, as his unit is marching through town to get ready to charge Mary's Heights...he notices a fine looking young rebel, leaning against a tree....his eyes shut, almost as if he is taking a nap....except that his stomach had been blown open, and the pigs which had escaped a pen had pulled his entrails out allover a garden and were eating them.

I can't honestly say that wouldn't mess me up too.

Originally posted by AlreadyGone
Absolutely horrible....

I have never seen war...do not want to. If you find this videoshocking, you should read a few history books or talk to some vets that have seen war.

My uncle was in the Battle of the Bulge... my aunt said that for years after he came home, some nights she would awake and he would be wrestling with her and yelling in German...then awaken and feel great remorse for attacking her.

Sometimes, he would jump when he heard a tin can rattle... I later found that when in France and Germany, many nights they would attach tin cans to the barbed wire along the perimeter...if and when it rattled, they blew the hell out of whatever was there.

I had a friend, his father was in Korea. He said one day they were sitting down to dinner...his mother brought in the food and there was a bowl of rice. His father didn't say anything, got up...picked up the bowl of rice and threw it against the wall..."Don't ever serve me rice, ever again.".... later found that that was all his dad ate for almost 5 months.

War IS hell.... you should read the diaries and first hand accounts of soldiers..

Last one, then I'll go..... a Union soldier in the US Civil War at fredricksburg had just unloaded from a barge crossing a river, as his unit is marching through town to get ready to charge Mary's Heights...he notices a fine looking young rebel, leaning against a tree....his eyes shut, almost as if he is taking a nap....except that his stomach had been blown open, and the pigs which had escaped a pen had pulled his entrails out allover a garden and were eating them.

I can't honestly say that wouldn't mess me up too.

thank you so much for sharing this , war is hell, at this point i am at a loss for words

simply

thank you

Nephi

On occasion, this is what happened to people who suffered shellshock...

Victor Silvester was a member of one firing-squad in 1916: "The tears were rolling down my cheeks as he went on attempting to free himself from the ropes attaching him to the chair. I aimed blindly and when the gunsmoke had cleared away we were further horrified to see that, although wounded, the intended victim was still alive. Still blindfolded, he was attempting to make a run for it still strapped to the chair. The blood was running freely from a chest wound. An officer in charge stepped forward to put the finishing touch with a revolver held to the poor man's temple. He had only once cried out and that was when he shouted the one word mother. He could not have been much older than me. We were told later that he had in fact been suffering from shell-shock, a condition not recognised by the army at the time. Later I took part in four more such executions."

Source: Executions in the First World War

I spent a fair bit of time in a hospital in London after my service, we had lads there from most of the conflicts you can think of coming in with ptsd symptoms for treatment.

Saddest thing i ever saw was a couple of pensioners coming in as out-patients, they'd been suffereing since the war and only just found out that they could in fact get help, and that they weren't cowards.

Although not funny at the time, it was comical that they had located this ward for ptsd sufferers, just a few hundred yards from a local artillery barracks where they shot a artillery gun off every day. Needless to say many of the patients spent a lot of time under their beds.

Unfortunately though, there are still many people who do not believe that ptsd exists. I have heard newspaper columnists say this, i have seen friends and family say it too.

Little story for you. A friend of mine, ex para, very messed up from N. Ireland, came back to our village after he left the forces. At a fireworks party one night, he couldn't stand it and found shelter, cowering under a neighbours hedge. Unfortunately the elderly guy who owned the garden came out, saw my friend and got a shock. Had a heart attack and died.

Many locals just classed my mate as a "nutter", without giving a thought to the reason why.

The same people who gave him a hard time over that, and who still speak bad of him because of that night, stand at the war memorial every year and do their thing.

It is because of this hypocrytical behaviour, i stand alone up at the war graves in a nearby cemetary. I pay my respects there, and then later go to the village memorial and do it again there, alone.

It's not ideal, but i can't abide people who write ptsd off as a new condition that probably doesn't even exist, except in cowards and nutters.

Just remember that the pictures you see on that video, are as much alive today as they were back then. You don't have to go through the same as they did, the effects can be the same.

Thanks for posting this OP, any awareness of what soldiers can go through is food for thought.

CX.

reply to post by CX


Here is what I think - governments send boys to war - the boys suffer and die, the rulers do not.

I am sick and tired of people who send boys to war.

END WAR NOW!!!

reply to post by catwhoknows


Agreed.

I've always said, if it was law that every politician had to have a son or daughter serving on the front line, maybe we wouldn't rush into wars so quickly.

Maybe.

CX.

I have a friend who has PTSD pretty bad. His job was one where he technically didn't exist. He came into my work one day because he had to talk. I didn't expect him to tell me the things he did. I had a grown man in his 50's crying infront of me because of things he did and things he saw. He told me things he never told his wife. He said he felt comfortable telling me because he knew I would understand and not tell a soul what he had told me. I can't begin to imagine what he went through and has what he has gone through as a result all these years. He has a really hard time dealing with it even now. I talk to him every week and he is a good friend of mine. He can't go to a doctor for treatment because of his current job, he would lose his clearance he said. So he comes to me to talk and he says it has really helped him because he finally got some of it off his chest so to speak. He is a great person with a big heart and it saddens me that he had to go through all this and that he is still in many ways going through it.

My heart goes out to all these STRONG courageous soldiers. I was recently diagnosed with PTSD (from other severe trauma, it doesn't just happen from war) and it is a sheer hell.

It's so lonely....i am now a hermit...I grieve constantly and have flashbacks, nightmares, vivid hallucinations, and extreme dissociation. PTSD is REAL- it's like you've fallen into a deep dark black hole pit of despair. Walking around my house and getting out of bed feels like an adventure to me. I feel sad all the time, and no matter what I do (i have tried EVERYTHING) I still constantly suffer and it is exhausting to always be scanning the rooms, looking for signs of danger while your body thinks your still in a traumatic event. I don't even have full memories anymore and when I talk about it with people every now and then it really wears me out and is SO hard to do, but then I feel a little better once my mind is able to process it and find resolution.
PTSD is "a normal response to an abnormal situation." Basically the body remembers, but the mind doesn't and cant comprehend the trauma's not happening now. It's like if you accidentally cut yourself while chopping vegetables- it's not your fault, but depending on the size and sharpness and type of knife, you could have a small cut, or lose a whole finger. It doesnt matter how tough your skin is.

Hope I could offer a little bit of insight, I know I'm not a war hero like these AMAZINGLY BRAVE MEN (my family is very military and i love my soldiers!), however, I have suffered through extensive trauma all the same, and thought I would share a little bit of how PTSD has affected my life.


Here's a link to a very helpful site which explains PTSD in full, how it physically affects the brain and alters brain chemistry.
www.ptsdforum.org...

Best Wishes


MP

Originally posted by matrixportal
My heart goes out to all these STRONG courageous soldiers. I was recently diagnosed with PTSD (from other severe trauma, it doesn't just happen from war) and it is a sheer hell.

It's so lonely....i am now a hermit...I grieve constantly and have flashbacks, nightmares, vivid hallucinations, and extreme dissociation. PTSD is REAL- it's like you've fallen into a deep dark black hole pit of despair. Walking around my house and getting out of bed feels like an adventure to me. I feel sad all the time, and no matter what I do (i have tried EVERYTHING) I still constantly suffer and it is exhausting to always be scanning the rooms, looking for signs of danger while your body thinks your still in a traumatic event. I don't even have full memories anymore and when I talk about it with people every now and then it really wears me out and is SO hard to do, but then I feel a little better once my mind is able to process it and find resolution.
PTSD is "a normal response to an abnormal situation." Basically the body remembers, but the mind doesn't and cant comprehend the trauma's not happening now. It's like if you accidentally cut yourself while chopping vegetables- it's not your fault, but depending on the size and sharpness and type of knife, you could have a small cut, or lose a whole finger. It doesnt matter how tough your skin is.

Hope I could offer a little bit of insight, I know I'm not a war hero like these AMAZINGLY BRAVE MEN (my family is very military and i love my soldiers!), however, I have suffered through extensive trauma all the same, and thought I would share a little bit of how PTSD has affected my life.


Here's a link to a very helpful site which explains PTSD in full, how it physically affects the brain and alters brain chemistry.
www.ptsdforum.org...

Best Wishes


MP

oh wow,i am so sorry so so sorry,i think i can relate i suffer from anxiety and their are many many times i rember walking around my house at night trying to rid my mind of the impending dooom feeling ..... thank you for your instite

many thank

Nephi

Originally posted by matrixportal
My heart goes out to all these STRONG courageous soldiers. I was recently diagnosed with PTSD (from other severe trauma, it doesn't just happen from war) and it is a sheer hell.

When i first left the forces, i wouldn't talk to anyone unless they'd been through what i had, i figured that unless they had served like me and seen what i'd seen, they wouldn't have a clue.

Later i trained as a personal trainer and sports therapist, and we had to do a talk on a health related subject. Suddenly all these other people came out of the woodwork describing the same symptoms as i had been having.

These were not soldiers though. One was a mother who had lost two babies. Another was a miner who had lost many friends down the pit.

So it makes no odds what the cause what, people can share the same outcome.

CX.

[edit on 1/9/10 by CX]