The Civil War killed and injured over a million Americans, roughly a third of all those who served. That, however, doesn't include its psychic wounds. Military and medical officials in the 1860s had little grasp of how war could scar minds as well as bodies.
However, that is changing as conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder are becoming more well known. medical officials are looking back for it in the Civil War. Corporal John Hildt would certainly qualify as a sufferer.
Men back then who suffered psychic problems were thought to have character flaws or underlying physical problems.
An example would be of a soldier suffering from constricted breath and palpitations, a condition referred to as "soldier's heart" or "irritable heart" back then, was blamed on exertion or knapsack straps being drawn too tightly across the chest. Asylum records frequently listed soldier problems as being the result of "masturbation."
--Old Secesh
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
Showing posts with label asylums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asylums. Show all posts
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Friday, November 27, 2015
PTSD in the Civil War? You Betcha-- Part 1: "Acute Mania"
From the January 2015, Smithsonian Magazine "PTSD: The Cuvil War's Hidden Legacy" by Tony Horwitz.
IN THE SUMMER OF 1862, JOHN HILDT LOST A LIMB. THEN HE LOST HIS MIND.
John Hildt was a 25-year-old corporal from Michigan who saw the elephant (action) for the first time at the seven Days battles in Virginia where he was shot in the right arm. It had to be amputated close to the shoulder which caused a severe hemorrhage.
He survived, but was transferred to the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C., suffering from what was termed "acute mania."
Before the war, he had been a laborer with no prior history of mental illness. In the Army, he had risen quickly through the ranks as an able soldier. His family wrote to the hospital expressing surprise that "his mind could not be restored to its original state.
Hildt remained in the hospital for years without improvement. He was described as withdrawn, apathetic and at times so "excited and disturbed" that he hit other patients at the asylum. He finally died there in 1911.
--Old Secesh
IN THE SUMMER OF 1862, JOHN HILDT LOST A LIMB. THEN HE LOST HIS MIND.
John Hildt was a 25-year-old corporal from Michigan who saw the elephant (action) for the first time at the seven Days battles in Virginia where he was shot in the right arm. It had to be amputated close to the shoulder which caused a severe hemorrhage.
He survived, but was transferred to the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C., suffering from what was termed "acute mania."
Before the war, he had been a laborer with no prior history of mental illness. In the Army, he had risen quickly through the ranks as an able soldier. His family wrote to the hospital expressing surprise that "his mind could not be restored to its original state.
Hildt remained in the hospital for years without improvement. He was described as withdrawn, apathetic and at times so "excited and disturbed" that he hit other patients at the asylum. He finally died there in 1911.
--Old Secesh
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