Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities: a case report of posttraumatic stress disorder.
In posttraumatic stress disorder, a traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in the form of intrusive recollections, dreams or dissociative flashback episodes; cues to the event lead to distress and are avoided, and there are persistent symptoms of increased arousal. While this diagnostic concept has been widely discussed and its existence questioned, a novel written by Charles Dickens long before it was included in any diagnostic system can be viewed as an early case report of posttraumatic stress disorder.
Huber
Thomas J
TJ
Department of Clinical Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany. Huber.Thomas@mh-hannover.de
te Wildt
Bert T
BT
D001143:Arousal; D005602:France; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D008091:Literature; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D008568:Memory; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology*