32. The Pioneer of Electric Shock as a Solution to Shellshock Changed His Mind, But by Then His Treatment Had Become Widely Accepted
The effectiveness of de facto torture as a solution for shellshock was widely accepted among both military and civilian psychiatrists during WWI, and for years after. Edgar Adrian eventually had second thoughts about the treatment he had pioneered when he discovered that it did not prevent relapses. After the war, he understood that shellshock – by then renamed “war hysteria”, was more complex than initially thought.
Adrian eventually realized that the physical shaking and tics often associated with shellshock were just some of the symptoms. Other symptoms included insomnia, depression, headaches, and irritability. Adrian figured that electric shock was at best a partial solution, that could only remove some motor or sensitive symptoms, and often only temporarily. As he put it: “Obviously there is still something wrong and the removal of bodily symptom has not been enough“. Unfortunately, it was too late. By then torturing the shellshock out of sufferers with electric shock was in wide practice, and the controversial treatment continued in use for many more years.