Flashbacks and post-traumatic stress disorder: the genesis of a 20th-century diagnosis.
BACKGROUND
It has been argued that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a timeless condition, which existed before it was codified in modern diagnostic classifications but was described by different names such as 'railway spine' and 'shellshock'. Others have suggested that PTSD is a novel presentation that has resulted from a modern interaction between trauma and culture.


OBJECTIVE
To test whether one core symptom of PTSD, the flashback, has altered in prevalence over time in soldiers subjected to the intense stress of combat.


METHODS
Random selections were made of UK servicemen who had fought in wars from 1854 onwards and who had been awarded war pensions for post-combat disorders. These were studied to evaluate the incidence of flashbacks in defined, at-risk populations.


RESULTS
The incidence of flashbacks was significantly greater in the most recent cohort, veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War; flashbacks were conspicuous by their absence in ex-servicemen from the Boer War and the First and Second World Wars.


CONCLUSIONS
Although this study raises questions about changing interpretations of post-traumatic illness, it supports the hypothesis that some of the characteristics of PTSD are culture-bound. Earlier conflicts showed a greater emphasis on somatic symptoms.
Jones
Edgar
E
Department of Psychological Medicine, GKT School of Medicine, London, UK. E.Jones@hogarth7.demon.co.uk
Vermaas
Robert Hodgins
RH
McCartney
Helen
H
Beech
Charlotte
C
Palmer
Ian
I
Hyams
Kenneth
K
Wessely
Simon
S
D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014857:Warfare