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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2017; 75(05): 317-319
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20170046
HISTORICAL NOTE

The relationship between the First World War and neurology: 100 years of “Shell Shock”

A relação entre a Primeira Guerra Mundial e a neurologia: 100 anos do “Shell Shock”
José Luiz Pedroso
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departamento de Neurologia, Divisão de Neurologia Geral e Unidade de Ataxia, São Paulo SP, Brasil;
,
Stefanie C. Linden
2   Cardiff University, School of Medicine, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff, UK;
,
Orlando G. Barsottini
1   Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departamento de Neurologia, Divisão de Neurologia Geral e Unidade de Ataxia, São Paulo SP, Brasil;
,
Péricles Maranhão Filho
3   Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Departamento de Neurologia, Rio de Janeiro RJ, Brasil;
,
Andrew J. Lees
4   University College London, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, UK;
5   Reta Lila Weston Institute for Neurological Studies, London, UK.
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ABSTRACT

The First World War was a global war, beginning on 28 July 1914, until 11 November 1918. Soon after the beginning of the war, there was an “epidemic” of neurological conversion symptoms. Soldiers on both sides started to present in large numbers with neurological symptoms, such as dizziness, tremor, paraplegia, tinnitus, amnesia, weakness, headache and mutism of psychosomatic origin. This condition was known as shell shock, or “war neurosis”. Because medically unexplained symptoms remain a major challenge, and considering the close relationship of symptoms described in shell shock with clinical neurology, we should study their history in order to improve future care.

RESUMO

A Primeira Guerra Mundial foi uma guerra global, iniciada em 28 de julho de 1914, até 11 de novembro de 1918. Logo após o início da guerra, exatamente há 100 anos, houve uma “epidemia” de sintomas neurológicos conversivos. Soldados de ambos os lados começaram a apresentar com frequência sintomas neurológicos, tais como: tontura, tremor, paraplegia, zumbido, amnésia, fraqueza, cefaleia e mutismo de origem psicossomática. Esta condição ficou conhecida como shell shock, ou “neurose de guerra”. Como muitos sintomas e doenças inexplicadas continuam sendo um grande desafio, e considerando a estreita relação dos sintomas descritos no shell shock com a neurologia clínica, torna-se importante estudar essa parte da história com o objetivo de entendermos e melhorarmos os cuidados aos pacientes.

First World War - shell shock - combat disorders
Primeira Guerra Mundial - shell shock - distúrbios de guerra


Publication History

Received: 19 January 2017

Accepted: 03 February 2017

Article published online:
05 September 2023

© 2023. Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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