Treatment of Shell Shock at Dublin's Richmond War Hospital
1. Shell Shock and its Treatment at Dublin’s
Richmond War Hospital, 1916-19
Brendan Kelly
University College Dublin
2.
3. 1. The Richmond Asylum (1814)
2. Shell shock
3. The Richmond War Hospital (1916)
4. Cases of shell shock
5. Treating shell shock
6. Legacy of the Richmond War Hospital
4. 1. The Richmond Asylum (1814)
2. Shell shock
3. The Richmond War Hospital (1916)
4. Cases of shell shock
5. Treating shell shock
6. Legacy of the Richmond War Hospital
5. Hallaran’s 1810 textbook, along
with evidence of increasing
rates of insanity, prompted
authorities to build the
Richmond Asylum, 1814
13. Dr Richard Leper at St Patrick’s Hospital, reported that
two admissions during ‘the height of the rebellion’ were
‘produced by shock and terror caused by the insurrection’
In one case, the army ambulance ‘was fired
on whilst conveying the patient to the Hospital’
14. 1. The Richmond Asylum (1814)
2. Shell shock
3. The Richmond War Hospital (1916)
4. Cases of shell shock
5. Treating shell shock
6. Legacy of the Richmond War Hospital
15. Battle of the Somme
July – November 1916
1 million killed or seriously wounded
16. Major CS Myers
CBR, FRS
1873-1946
Popularised
the term
‘shell shock’
Lancet, 1915
17.
18.
19. 1. The Richmond Asylum (1814)
2. Shell shock
3. The Richmond War Hospital (1916)
4. Cases of shell shock
5. Treating shell shock
6. Legacy of the Richmond War Hospital
31. 1. The Richmond Asylum (1814)
2. Shell shock
3. The Richmond War Hospital (1916)
4. Cases of shell shock
5. Treating shell shock
6. Legacy of the Richmond War Hospital
32.
33. Journal of Mental Science 1925; 71: 219-24
0.5% returned to military duty
34. 1. The Richmond Asylum (1814)
2. Shell shock
3. The Richmond War Hospital (1916)
4. Cases of shell shock
5. Treating shell shock
6. Legacy of the Richmond War Hospital
35. War Neuroses: Netley Hospital (1917), part 4 of 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah2f9VabEYE
50. 1. The Richmond Asylum (1814)
2. Shell shock
3. The Richmond War Hospital (1916)
4. Cases of shell shock
5. Treating shell shock
6. Legacy of the Richmond War Hospital
51. The legacy of the Richmond War Hospital to the Irish
asylum system and efforts at reform during the 1900s
52. 1 High discharge rates
2 Better conditions
3 Patients not certified ‘insane’; RMS Donelan:
53. The legacy of the Richmond War Hospital to the Irish
asylum system and efforts at reform during the 1900s
The broader effects of the network of war hospitals
throughout Great Britain and Ireland, including the
Richmond, on the identity and practice of psychiatry
54.
55. The legacy of the Richmond War Hospital to the Irish
asylum system and efforts at reform during the 1900s
The broader effects of the network of war hospitals
throughout Great Britain and Ireland, including the
Richmond, on the identity and practice of psychiatry
The legacy of the Richmond War Hospital to Ireland’s
memory and commemoration of the First World War,
and its psychological effect on Irish soldiers
58. Byrne says his abiding
memory of growing up on
Rialto Street was his
father waking, screaming,
in the middle of the night
– terror that his son
believes was caused by the
trauma of the war
Irish Times, 5 April 2014
59.
60. Great grandfather
Sylvester Cummins
1914
Royal Dublin Fusiliers
1916
Battle of the Somme
‘Survived the war, but
not its consequences’
‘Suicide by gas
poisoning, there being
no evidence to show
state of mind’
61.
62. Shell Shock and its Treatment
at Dublin’s Richmond War Hospital,
1916-19
brendankelly35@gmail.com