Hearts, guts and minds: somatisation in the military from 1900.
OBJECTIVE
To identify patterns of somatisation in army personnel diagnosed with postcombat syndromes from the Boer War to the Gulf conflict.


METHODS
Using random samples of UK servicemen awarded war pensions, patterns of symptoms were compared and related to contemporary accounts.


RESULTS
Somatic symptoms continued to be common during and after World War II, suggesting that their decline was not great as claimed. Although psychological presentations increased, they did not supplant conversion disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
Somatoform disorders did not disappear from the military in a smooth progression as society's understanding of psychological issues advanced. Rather there was a change in physical focus from the heart to the gut as new medical priorities arose.
Jones
Edgar
E
Department of Psychological Medicine, GKT School of Medicine, 103 Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ, UK. e.jones@hogarth7.demon.co.uk
Wessely
Simon
S
D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D011611:Psychosomatic Medicine; D013001:Somatoform Disorders; D014857:Warfare