Would a WW2 surgeon recognize "shell shock"? And then what?
searches: "shell shock" ("world war 2" OR ww2 OR "world war ii") (I read up a bit on it, but didn't see much that'd answer my questions), ptsd treatment history (apparently it was "battle fatigue" by WW2), and the first search with "battle fatigue"
The time is WW2. My roleplaying character is a British-trained American surgeon who's been working in field hospitals for the British army (that is, she's American born and raised, but went to medical school at Oxford, then went to work for the British military). She's fairly newly trained (she's only 25), but has been doing surgery in field hospitals for about a year.
For complicated reasons, she's now dealing with a woman who would probably be diagnosed with PTSD, if she were seen by a modern pshrink, due to spending a number of years in a truly horrifying mental institution (she probably wasn't really crazy to begin with--but she kind of is now).
1. How likely is it that she'd recognize the other woman's symptoms as possibly PTSD/"something like battle fatigue"? She has some... magical assists (the game is Scion, and she's got the health purview), but I need to know how difficult the GM should make it for me to figure this out. I know she wouldn't know the term PTSD, but I don't think it's too much of a leap for her to think "something like battle fatigue" if/when she recognizes the symptoms.
2. Other than what she's picked up from personal observation, how much would she probably know about the condition? What information would likely be available in (readily available) relevant medical journals or similar sources?
3. Were there any *treatments* for "battle fatigue" at the time, other than "remove the person from the source of the trauma and talk to them"?... I'm seeing mention of rest, "talk therapy"/counseling, and possibly sedatives, but given the nature of the patient, sedatives are *not* an option...
The time is WW2. My roleplaying character is a British-trained American surgeon who's been working in field hospitals for the British army (that is, she's American born and raised, but went to medical school at Oxford, then went to work for the British military). She's fairly newly trained (she's only 25), but has been doing surgery in field hospitals for about a year.
For complicated reasons, she's now dealing with a woman who would probably be diagnosed with PTSD, if she were seen by a modern pshrink, due to spending a number of years in a truly horrifying mental institution (she probably wasn't really crazy to begin with--but she kind of is now).
1. How likely is it that she'd recognize the other woman's symptoms as possibly PTSD/"something like battle fatigue"? She has some... magical assists (the game is Scion, and she's got the health purview), but I need to know how difficult the GM should make it for me to figure this out. I know she wouldn't know the term PTSD, but I don't think it's too much of a leap for her to think "something like battle fatigue" if/when she recognizes the symptoms.
2. Other than what she's picked up from personal observation, how much would she probably know about the condition? What information would likely be available in (readily available) relevant medical journals or similar sources?
3. Were there any *treatments* for "battle fatigue" at the time, other than "remove the person from the source of the trauma and talk to them"?... I'm seeing mention of rest, "talk therapy"/counseling, and possibly sedatives, but given the nature of the patient, sedatives are *not* an option...