Symonds on fear and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Prominent English neurologist Sir Charles Symonds, during World War II service with the Royal Air Force, published a series of articles emphasizing the role of fear initiating psychological breakdown in combat airmen (termed Lack of Moral Fibre). Having served in a medical capacity in the previous w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:History of psychiatry 2022-03, Vol.33 (1), p.95-106
Main Author: Sandy Macleod, A D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Combat Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Fear
Humans
Phylogeny
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
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Summary:Prominent English neurologist Sir Charles Symonds, during World War II service with the Royal Air Force, published a series of articles emphasizing the role of fear initiating psychological breakdown in combat airmen (termed Lack of Moral Fibre). Having served in a medical capacity in the previous war, Symonds re-presented the phylogenetic conceptualizations formed by his colleagues addressing ‘shell shock’. In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5) re-classified Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), removing the diagnosis from the category of Anxiety Disorders. This was the view introduced a century ago by the trench doctors of World War I and affirmed by Symonds’ clinical experience and studies in World War II.
ISSN:0957-154X
1740-2360
DOI:10.1177/0957154X211051972