Weaving the trauma: its genealogy in the context of war and human suffering

Abstract

‘Technical objects,’ including war neuroses (shell shock, hysteria and neurasthenia) and post-traumatic stress disorder, are considered to emerge from historical and cultural practices within the field of medicine, rather than representing epistemological developments. These objects have been intertwined with disciplines such as surgery, neurology, psychoanalysis, and psychiatry, constituting a complex cobweb of trauma and warfare in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In addition, these objects emerged from clinical and experimental experiences oriented towards the understanding of human pain and social suffering derived from warfare. Researchers have often been unable to go beyond a medical stance and its limitations in terms of understanding human pain and collective suffering. Interestingly, the discovery of memory and its relationships with fear, shame, guilt, and trauma, became additional threads of the cobweb, with trauma occupying a central position. Trauma encompasses multiple meanings, connections, and disagreements, constituting a unique signifier for a plurality of types of suffering and illness. Its objective is to trace the trajectory and problematize the notion of trauma and the relationship with human suffering derived from war through historical constructions in the field of medical discipline and practice. The approach adopted in this work follows the emergence of a range of technical objects: shell shock, hysteria and neurasthenia. Secondly, a review of other notions related to the experience of human suffering is included. The third section discusses some of the effects of shell shock, hysteria and neurasthenia. Finally, the concluding paragraphs present relevant reflections for medicine and public health related to the often-unquestioned effects of current uses of PTSD.