Die posttraumatischen Belastungsstörungen bei deutschen Soldaten des 1. Weltkrieges

Abstract

The concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was to be verified considering World War I soldiers suffering from psychiatric and neurologic diseases. According to hypotheses, relevant circumstances of the case history and significance of the direct military action had to be examined. In 2002, medical histories dating from 1914 to 1921 of male soldiers in Jena, Germany, were analyzed. Statistical examination carried out by means of the chi2 test revealed mental illness more frequently in soldiers with relevant family anamnesis, previous psychiatric treatment, or degree of voluntariness than in soldiers not so characterized. The accumulation of mental illnesses was lower in soldiers involved in military actions or directly with firing weapons than in soldiers never involved in battles. These results are in accord with historical but not current literature on PTSD. The author is of the opinion that psychiatric anamnesis is not given enough consideration in the concept of PTSD.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and associated factors among inpatients at Eastern Command Referral Hospital in Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia

“…Additionally, the study indicated that individuals with a family history of mental illness had 10.38 times higher odds of developing PTSD compared to those without such a history, consistent with earlier studies ( 27 , 48 ). This association may be attributed to the increased vulnerability to mental health issues in individuals with a familial predisposition, potentially leading to the onset of PTSD ( 49 ).…”

The neurological manifestations of trauma: lessons from World War I

“…Most research into British cases was based on pension files [25] and the admission records of army psychiatric units established close to the frontline [23]. On the German side, Lemke [29] reported contemporaneous diagnoses of 2,000 soldiers admitted to the Department of Psychiatry of Jena University, then headed by Otto Binswanger (1852–1929). However, no study has assessed the psychopathology and neurological symptoms of German combatants in detail and classified them according to present-day diagnostic categories.…”