The Emergence and Recognition of Symptoms of “Shell Shock” or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

This article explores the origins of the understanding of trauma and post- traumatic stress disorder through analyzing the written work of Charles S. Myers who studied and treated soldiers suffering from “shell shock” in World War I. As a result of Charles S. Myers’s research, recognition of causations and symptoms, and treatment of soldiers with “shell shock” during the Great War he unknowingly provided the world with a basic understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder and how stress effects humans. I argue without Charles S. Myers’s research and various publications regarding “shell shock” it is hard to say if the modern criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder would have been developed