Mental Health in the Military During WWI: In Pictures

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Bayli Ragsdale

ENG 525

Fall 2014

http://www.ww1propaganda.com/world-war-1-posters/british-ww1-propaganda-posters?page=90

The Great War was an event that many wanted to be a part of early on. There was a

sense of pride, of being a part of something important, and the fulfillment of the need for

excitement. Britain needed soldiers, giving each one a sense of value and a place of honor.

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Participation in the war would make one feel whole, complete, valued, and respected. It

would bring endless glory and pride to a soldier.

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However, no one ever mentioned living in a trench, on your feet for days at a time.

Covered in mud. No shower. No clean clothes. A small, confined space.

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No one mentioned the gases that would burn and blister, penetrating every pore and

crevice of the body. Reaching down your throat and squeezing your lungs with unbearable

force.

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You can always be rehabilitated here, or another place just like it. If you’re broken, you

can be fixed and placed back on the “shelf” that is a trench somewhere. You will be regenerated

like a nerve, one small piece of something greater.

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It’s a small sacrifice, and of course you’re honored to make it. You obviously are here

because you want to return and fulfill your commitment, and you wouldn’t want to miss a minute

of the glorious action. That would be a shame, to miss out on greatness.

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They can always take out the broken parts, the pieces that are jamming up the machine

that have to be pulled out and discarded. Once that’s done, all the gears and presses can operate

at full capacity and this part of the machine can be powered on again.

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Every piece and part is replaceable. It’s simple, really, just ordering new parts to replace

those that are lost or broken. It shouldn’t matter if the machine has all original parts, so long as

it’s complete and new parts can replace the old.

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Once your parts are replaced, you wouldn’t dare run away. No one wants to be the one

left out, because you’re needed and valued. You’re important. They need all hands on deck, and

you don’t want to be found hiding in the hold.

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No, it wouldn’t do to run away. They don’t have time for that. Machines that don’t want

to work are quickly discarded and replaced with newer and younger models. There is no room

for a machine that won’t do the job it’s assigned, and besides, you wouldn’t want to miss out on

being a part of something Great.

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Honestly, who is really fooled? It’s not great at all, and if they were there themselves

they would know. They don’t feel your pain, they don’t see what you have seen, or lose what

you have lost. How can they judge you for running away?

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What a concept, that this pain you feel may actually have a warranted cause. Your

ailments aren’t all physical. Some are mental, and that doesn’t make you “sick.” It makes you

human, and there’s only so much a human can take and not feel.

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How can they understand your fear if they haven’t seen its cause? You’re the one who

was forced to hide, take cover, fear for your life. And they want you to just, forget about it? It’s

not that simple, and you’ll never forget.

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They seem to think it’s that simple. All they have to do it shock your brain back to

normal, snap you out of it so they can send you back to the front where you’re needed. Just

shock you until you forget, it can’t be any easier. Remember, it’s all in your head.

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You know you’re not crazy. In fact, you’re sane enough to wish you could make it

through a day with looking crazy. Try telling them that, because this is all they see. You’re a

bucket of symptoms that needs to be fixed or hidden, because they don’t want to scare the rest.

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What may really help is just talking about it. Find a way to explain what you’ve seen and

felt, then maybe they will understand and be able to help you piece your life back together. They

need to walk in your shoes, get inside your head, and make an effort to comprehend.

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Oh sure, they always do their best to be compassionate and show that they care. They do

the best they can to get you physically fit and ready to take on the world, but maybe this isn’t

where the help is needed. Maybe they need to find out why you don’t want to go back, instead

of making it possible that you can.

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The real treatment is needed after the physical wounds have been dressed. Those will heal, they

almost always do. It’s the psychological scars that will be forever open and oozing, making you

a shadow of your former self. They think they’re done fixing you, but they haven’t even begun

to touch the deepest cuts and most broken pieces.

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Are they really to blame, though? Surely no one knew it was going to be this horrific. It

was supposed to be great, an adventure, the experience of a lifetime. You were needed and

valued, remember? You had a job to do, and if you completed your task the world would be a

better place. What could possibly be wrong with that?

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Well, what’s wrong is that no one imagined or realized that it was going to be like this,

that soldiers would witness atrocities that no human should ever have to endure. No one

mentioned that they would see their friends die, be subject to grotesque conditions, and suffer

losses that no civilian could imagine. These were the sharpest knives, the fastest bullets, the

deadliest gas…the experiences that changed men in places that weren’t visible, and often could

not be helped.