title: Voices from the past: Mental and physical outcomes described by American Civil War amputees.
abstract: Studies of trauma commonly concentrate on the psychological and physiological effects of recent violent events. Although today connections are becoming more explicitly drawn, early studies of the aftermath of amputation serve to shed light on modern understanding of the interaction of the physical and emotional. The study of combat amputation, dissociation, and related posttraumatic stress largely began with the work of 19th-century Philadelphia physician Silas Weir Mitchell, who brought attention to the phenomenon of phantom limb pain. Less known, however, are the data he and his son, John K. Mitchell, also collected on the mental outcomes of trauma. Using an archived collection of original surveys of double-amputee patients dating largely from 1893 housed at the Historical Medical Library at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, an interdisciplinary team explored the historical, anthropological, and psychological background of the study of combat trauma. Almost 30 years following the end of hostilities, the majority of the sample of U.S. Civil War veterans indicated that their general disposition, general health, and sleeping or eating patterns had changed following limb amputation. More telling, possibly, are the written comments on the surveys and letters that indicate frustration with the continuous suffering and the knowledge of their mental and physical changes. These data illustrate the value of historical archives in documenting the development of the study of trauma and modern concepts of combat experiences.
authors.affiliation: a School of Social and Behavioral Sciences , Stockton University , Galloway , New Jersey , USA.
authors.forename: Jess
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bonnan-White
authors.affiliation: b School of Health Sciences , Stockton University , Galloway , New Jersey , USA.
authors.forename: Jewelry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yep
authors.affiliation: c School of Humanities and Social Sciences , Penn State Erie, The Behrend College , Erie , Pennsylvania , USA.
authors.forename: Melanie D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Hetzel-Riggin
mesh_terms: D047831:American Civil War; D000674:Amputees / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology*; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010591:Phantom Limb / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States
keywords: Archives; injury; phantom limb pain; veteran; war trauma