It is to be noted that there was no specific war effect underlying the phenomena, unless we regard the fact of its being war time as contributory to the shock produced by an incident in every day engine room duties.
Gradual onset of mutism and amnesia without special occasion. Faradism. Dream.
Case 520. (Smyly, April, 1917.)
A soldier was slightly wounded in the arm and returned to the trenches. Later he found himself in hospital at Boulogne, unable to speak and unable to remember what had happened to him from the time he was in the trenches. It appears that his voice and memory had gradually disappeared, according to what was told him by his comrades.
A month afterward, in a London hospital, the patient was roused suddenly from sleep, and then proved able to speak, although there was great difficulty in getting each word out. Two months later, he went to bed, feeling indisposed, in the night had a kind of fit, and remained unconscious until the following night; the next morning, his voice was again lost. The aphonia persisted for a fortnight, and the patient could hear only loud shouting when close to his ear. He was anxious to get well and requested electricity from the physician, Dr. Smyly, having heard probably of another case cured thereby. Dr. Smyly applied faradic current to the larynx externally, instructing the patient to blow at the same time. At first the patient spoke so low that he could not hear himself speak, but on suggestion succeeded in speaking up loudly enough. He was shortly able to speak and hearing improved. The climax arrived with a bad dream one night, from which the patient awoke in a fright and found himself able to hear and speak perfectly.
Re nocturnal spontaneous cures, see observations by Mott under [Case 473]. Note also in this case the presence of what Mott has termed “the atmosphere of cure.”
Re relapses, see [Case 476] as well as remarks under [Case 474]. Re special cases of mutism, Goldstein has insisted upon a greater individualization of treatment for functional mutes than even for other neurotics, and advocates the establishment of schools within the hospitals and aftercare institutions. He thinks the problem very serious.
Shell-shock blindness: Cure by a course of injections in the temple.