The French for shell-shock is obusite. According to an article in the journal 'Histoire' from October 1998:
The first cases of obusite were diagnosed in early 1915, and at first doctors were inclined to dismiss it as malingering or attempts to get out of combat. In March 1915, however, the French government set up psychiatric facilities near the front line to diagnose and treat mental disorders. Soldiers who failed to recover within two years of diagnosis were considered "incurable" and sent to an insane asylum near their home.
To quote the article: "This internment constituted a veritable 'social death', to which was added, for the family, the shame of the blemish which madness represented. For the insane soldiers there were no rewards for their military deeds, no reserved jobs; for families, isolation and scorn. In the current state of our research we estimate that about 62,500 soldiers were afflicted by psychological problems, either temporary or permanent, which represents almost 1% of those mobilised."
From the sound of it, it seems to me more like madness (or 'nervous disorders' or whatever) was the big stigma; the fact that it might have been caused by shell-shock specifically was not so much of an issue. Obusite might serve to justify the diagnosis of insanity, but of course the doctor would have to claim it was "untreated" or "hidden" or something if the story is set in the late 20s and the soldier brother completed his military service in the normal way!
Thank you, that helps a lot! I should be able to find the journal somewhere, so I can take a look at the whole of it. I suppose I'll have to go with the doctor claiming the condition having been untreated or something of the kind, as I really don't want to put the brother to an asylum, just to have the threat. It should work out, though, as the doctor character is quite a cunning fellow. :)
The first cases of obusite were diagnosed in early 1915, and at first doctors were inclined to dismiss it as malingering or attempts to get out of combat. In March 1915, however, the French government set up psychiatric facilities near the front line to diagnose and treat mental disorders. Soldiers who failed to recover within two years of diagnosis were considered "incurable" and sent to an insane asylum near their home.
To quote the article: "This internment constituted a veritable 'social death', to which was added, for the family, the shame of the blemish which madness represented. For the insane soldiers there were no rewards for their military deeds, no reserved jobs; for families, isolation and scorn. In the current state of our research we estimate that about 62,500 soldiers were afflicted by psychological problems, either temporary or permanent, which represents almost 1% of those mobilised."
From the sound of it, it seems to me more like madness (or 'nervous disorders' or whatever) was the big stigma; the fact that it might have been caused by shell-shock specifically was not so much of an issue. Obusite might serve to justify the diagnosis of insanity, but of course the doctor would have to claim it was "untreated" or "hidden" or something if the story is set in the late 20s and the soldier brother completed his military service in the normal way!
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