Marilyne Posted 26 December , 2011 Share Posted 26 December , 2011 26th DEC is supposed to NOT be a vacation in France - except in this part of it ... so instead of running the errands I had to, I just burried myself under a blanket on the sofa with a big pot of tea and Jean-Yves Le Naour latest book "Les soldats de la honte". NOT FOR THE FEEBLE-MINDED !! this book shows a part of French medical history that they are not proud of. Everyone knows about shell-shock. soldiers having their nerves giving away, being victim to contractions due to stress, trembling, paralysis of limbs and worst, those entirely bend in two due to what they saw in the trenches. For the medical staff of the French army, one who has no visible injury was for sure a simulator, and was to be "cured" as fast as possible and sent back to the front. This was the patriotic duty of all doctor! The treatment that quickly established itself in neurological centres, and especially in Tours was known as "torpillage" - torpedoing. It was a treatment with electricity most simply to describe as pure torture to those that had to endure it. Pain as a counter-suggestive. the patient is simulating. He CAN use his hand. He does not want to, then he is to be forced with pain, enduced through an alternative electrical current. That's the short version of the treatment of neurotic cases. The book describes how the French medical services during the war came to think of torpedoing as being the best possible treatment for neurotic cases and how these patients were seen and handled. Le Naour then tells the story of a soldier who refused the treatment and was therefore brought to court martial, a case that rattled the public opinion due to the influence of the attorney of the soldier. I don't know if the book is foreseen to be translated in English ... I hope it will be. But for those of you who understand French, I really recommend it. It's written in an easy to understand French - although in a very mocking tone and with no respect for the concept of axiologic neutrality (understandable) - and it takes the reader to places you won't even dream of. It's hard to believe that this was actually the view of a "civilised" country. Regards, Marilyne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 26 December , 2011 Share Posted 26 December , 2011 merci Marilyne for the tip. I will look out for the book This treatment featured in a movie released a few years ago called 'Les Fragments d'Antonin'. I don't know whether it made it to the UK and it didn't seem to make much of an impact here in France but I made a point of seeing it and thought it was quite good. It is no doubt available on DVD cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gilinsky Posted 29 January , 2012 Share Posted 29 January , 2012 Marilyne: PM sent etc... In the early Soviet Union circa 1925 the single specifically Yalta, Crimean "shellshock" hospital was disbanded with the attitude of some of the commissars of "health" that the only way to cure such cases was to compell such patients to work and make sure they worked by standing if necessary over them with a loaded Mauser pistol! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 3 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 3 February , 2012 @John: ACK !! Mail sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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