Shell Shocked Britain – The First World War & inter-generational trauma

As we approach the first Remembrance or Armistice Day commemorations of the First World War centenary  it is appropriate to be mindful of what exactly we are marking on Sunday, and on the 11^th of November 2014. Yes, we are offering up our thanks to those who gave their lives in the Great War and subsequent conflicts, but we must also remember those who survived, lived, and are living with the aftermath of the war.

In Shell Shocked Britain: The First World War’s legacy for Britain’s mental health, Suzie Grogan looks at the impact of the First World War on the men, women and children who survived it. How did those four years of conflict affect the way we view the mental health of those traumatised by their experience of war, whether directly or indirectly?

Dr Peter Heinl, in Splintered Innocence and others have long studied how ‘neuroses’ can be transmitted from parent to child, replicating traits down the generations.  It has not been easy, as data is limited and follow-on studies of those diagnosed with shell shock or what we would now refer to as ‘combat stress’  is very limited, or non-existent.  Work with Holocaust survivors, however, has offered greater consistency in the results of studies into the intergenerational effects of parents’ traumas. Published work has suggested greater vulnerabilities to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in second and third generation survivors. Responses to a traumatic event – whether in conflict situations or a personal trauma such as bereavement or serious illness can be more marked in the children of traumatised parents.

Arthur Addison, shell shocked soldier

Suzie Grogan was inspired to write this book when she discovered that her shell shocked great-uncle Alfred Hardiman had killed his ex-girlfriend and himself in 1922. His act sent shock waves through his community and through the generations of his own family, but it was not an isolated case. She discovered that her grandfather had also suffered from shell shock, along with tens of thousands of other men who fought in the First World War. Identifying other members of her family who had subsequently experienced mental health issues, and acknowledging her own periods of depression and acute anxiety,  Grogan was keen to examine how the events of 1914-18 continue to resonate with us 100 years on and in doing so she uncovered new material to chart the many tragedies with their roots in the conflict.

Shell Shocked Britain looks at:

• the direct effects of shell shock on the troops and their families,
• the different medical approaches to ‘cure’ shell shock, including electric shock treatment, hypnotism and the talking therapies, as well as ‘miracle’ cures.
• The impact of the1922 Committee Report on Shell Shock that was supposed to change the way men were treated in future conflicts.
• the devastating air raids that brought the war, literally, into the domestic lives of the Home Front, killing civilians as they stood in the streets and wrecking the Upper North St school in Poplar, East London, killing 18 children.
• The lingering after –effects of the Spanish influenza virus and the horrors of an outbreak that killed 200,000 in Britain alone as war continued to rage.
• why thousands turned to séances and spiritualist church and how the rise of the Eugenics Society had direct links to the conflict, with leading thinkers supporting unthinkable responses.
• how tragedies such as that perpetrated by Alfred Hardiman and suicides in general increased even into the 1930s.
• the legacy of shell shock and lessons for future conflicts – 1914 to 2014

In the book Suzie Grogan asks tough questions of her 21^st Century audience. We are told not to attribute modern views on historical events, but, she maintains, these are our close kin – parents, grandparents and great grandparents. For hundreds of thousands of people the trauma of the Great War never left them, and in the modern army highly trained men and women still break down, coming back to a civilian life for which they are ill-prepared.

To ensure children are protected from the higher levels of family breakdown, substance misuse, domestic violence and homelessness  that affect troops now as they did 100 years ago, it is important, as this book highlights, to use the next four years of commemorative events to remember those who continue to struggle with the fallout of war, and support them.

Suzie Grogan is talking at the Taunton Literary Festival on 11th November 2014 and for Taunton Association for Psychotherapy on the 14th November . See suziegrogan.co.uk for more details

Philotimo – ‘let’s talk!’ about a Greek word for our times…

Last week we watched a video that really spoke to us here at The Terrace. Released by the Washington OxiDay Foundation it takes just 15 minutes to explain the Greek concept of Philotimo – something considered to be the highest of all Greek virtues and which determines and regulates how someone should behave in their family and social groups. It is a word that Greek children are still brought up to understand and an idea that they are taught to respect and use as a guide when making choices in their lives.

It is difficult to translate literally, but the very famous faces in the video describe how for the Greek people it means, broadly, ‘friend and honour’. It means duty, compassion, sacrifice. Doing what is right, even if it not in your own best interests. It means something larger than yourself and is about opening your heart and doing things for the good of your community. It has been credited with some of the greatest advances in culture, but with no direct English word to encapsulate its meaning the sens of the word has been lost to all but Greek speakers.

Here at The Terrace we would like to find a way to support what the Foundation seeks to achieve with this video. At a time when we seem to see nothing but horror and injustice in the world, this is a message to take forward to show how humanity can come together for the greater good. Do take a look and let us know how you feel when you have heard what everyone on this film has to say about ‘philotimo’. Since ancient times the Greeks have always been a very special people and despite recent economic struggles this concept remains a strength as the country rebuilds. Is this the time to learn from Greek philosophy once more?

Exam results: some quick tips to deal with the stress of results day & beyond

Well today was the day for thousands of young people waiting for GCSE results, last week it was A and AS level results. Both can make or break ambitions for further education or training places. It can be a time of euphoria or despair and whatever the outcome it is important to take care of yourself, your friends and in a parent’s case, your children’s health and well-being.

Firstly, make sure you talk about your feelings, to friends, parents, carers. We have heard the tragic story of Robin Williams this week, an incredibly and naturally funny man who many never realised suffered terribly from the depression that caused him to take his own life. Lots of young people will not like to show their disappointment; will put on a brave face. If you know someone like this, encourage them to open up. It isn’t easy, but neither is it easy to admit you are struggling when those around you are celebrating your success. Just try to notice who may be missing….

If your results do not enable you to take your first choice place, consider your response carefully and know that this is a setback, not the end of the world. There are so many options available now and schools have counsellors available to help you through the maze of possibilities – one of which may not have previously occurred to you. Just because all your mates have gone to Uni it doesn’t mean you have to, but if you want to go through clearing don’t assume you won’t get onto a ‘good’ course. Many of the top universities still have places available, but don’t rush onto a course that may not be right for you. Perhaps an unplanned gap year will help you make a decision?

If you have done well and are planning a celebration, watch your alcohol intake. It may seem boring but at times like this people can make the wrong choices, placing themselves in danger just as their future seems so bright.

There are many other ways to help yourselves and those you care about and if you or anyone you know needs support go to www.youngminds.org.uk, www.mind.org.uk or  www.time-to-change.org.uk for example.

Take care of yourself. You have a long life ahead of you in which to achieve all manner of wonderful things. Whatever today has brought, it is just the beginning….

Dealing with anger in angry times (1)

Do you sometimes open a newspaper, or turn on the television and almost immediately feel your blood boil? Does the language used by politicians and presenters seem designed to raise your blood pressure? Does the shouting, drama and fear expressed in TV soaps or reality shows make you feel ‘on edge’?

Sometimes it seems we have become an angry nation. Some papers seem deliberately divisive; they blame immigrants, benefit claimants, bankers. At the weekend one paper used the headline  ‘NHS to fund sperm bank for lesbians: New generation of fatherless families… paid for by YOU’ above a piece that when read closely described a sperm bank that was also for heterosexual single women and couples. In fact it was a sperm bank for everyone to use, managed carefully to ensure those approaching it had thought carefully about starting a family, but the headline was deliberately inflammatory and designed to induce anger against a particular group. It is not a one off. Footballers get angry and bite other players; Jeremy Clarkson makes remarks about shooting striking nurses or uses racist language and claims his right of free speech; politicians continue to blame one another for the country’s problems and shout across the House at Prime Minister’s Question Time. Isn’t this all very unhealthy? What does it achieve and how does it spill over into our own lives?

We cannot necessarily influence what is said on the wider national stage, but we can ensure we deal with any feelings we have as individuals in a healthy way. We all have to deal with faceless call centre staff who seem to have gone on every ‘dealing with difficult people’ course available and are impervious to our frustration. Our friends and family don’t always agree with us, can hurt us:  bottling anger up can lead to explosive outbursts that can cause rifts in relationships, stress and feelings of guilt as we turn it in on ourselves.  So what should we do?

Psychotherapist Harriet Lerner has examined the impact of anger closely and has developed some key ‘do’s and don’ts’, and we particularly like the following coping strategies:

Speak up when an issue is important to you

People often say, when seeing someone in distress, to ‘let it go’. If someone says something hurtful, it is sometimes seen to be more mature to just let it be. But this is often the way bitterness and resentment sets in. In the long term it is better to make a stand when something is important to us.

Appreciate the fact that people are different

Different perspectives on an issue suggest there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the matter. People react in different ways, and to recognise that can be very liberating.

Don’t speak through a third party

‘So and so was upset when you didn’t turn up at her party’ could, if it has made you angry be phrased as ‘I was really unhappy that you didn’t find the time to come along, you were missed’. To use someone else’s assumed response is dishonest and avoids the real issues.

Next time we will look at who is actually responsible for the way we respond to an incident. Think about it – in the examples we started this piece with what should we do with our anger at casual rascism, the discrimination inherent in the sperm bank story or the behaviour of politicians? We can change our newspaper and turn off the television but avoiding the issues doesn’t make them disappear. If we are not dealing with our anger appropriately something else will inevitably take their place. …

The Terrace is hosting a ‘Shaping Anger’ workshop on 25th and 26th October. For more details go to What’s On.

The language of life: how simple words can change relationships…

As we read press reports of conflict across the world, or of disputes on home soil about who is responsible for the current state of the country’s finances, or apparent breakdown of society; it is easy to get caught up in that language of blame. This week on our Facebook page we have posted a few short status updates about how certain words, apparently simple and used all the time in general conversation, can have the power to change our perception of the world around us. We are also preparing to talk a little more about anger, and how we manage it, and the words we choose to use in our relationships with others can have a significant impact on the level of frustration we feel when we just can’t seem to get our point across.

Think about these simple words:

I

You

They

It

But

Yes

No

Always

Never

Should

We use these all the time, but they can be the cause of regular misunderstandings.  If we think about it – how often do we use ‘they say’. Who is your ‘they’? World renowned therapist Virginia Satir says:

The use of they is often an indirect way of talking about ‘you’……..How many times do we hear ‘They won’t let me’. ‘They will be upset’. ‘They don’t like what I am doing’. ‘They say’. ….

As she says, ‘they’ are nebulous and can seem threatening. Newspapers talk of a ‘they’ who come here and take ‘our’ jobs or a ‘they’ who will use technology to hack into our computers. And if we are honest, we also use this undefined ‘they’ as an excuse – ‘I am sorry I couldn’t make it for that drink after work, they wouldn’t let me leave before 6pm’.

On the world stage these ‘others,’ the ‘they’ of major conflicts, offer governments the opportunity to scapegoat whole communities. The language of blame and the refusal to take responsibility for our own part in any decision is essentially dishonest and can lead to unwanted repercussions as inaccurate information is passed on.

So identify your ‘they’ next time you are tempted to use the word in conversation. It can be difficult, but honesty is valued, and leads to greater security in all our relationships.

 

 

The Gentle Power of Homeopathic Medicine

Homeopathy  appears to some a mysterious ‘art’, but others swear by it as the only way to treat those symptoms that beset us every spring and summer and which are bracketed together as ‘hayfever’, or who suffer year-round from  allergic reactions to animals, dust mites or certain foodstuffs for example.

Here The Terrace homeopath Ruth Hermolle talks of her experiences using homeopathic medicines to treat patients with allergic reactions that were literally preventing them from achieving ambitions or enjoying pastimes they love. 

You have an unexplained rash – you get a cream over the counter or from the doctor, rash goes away – “works like magic”. But you have to keep on using the cream or it comes back.

Ask yourself – where does the rash go? What is going on? We all know that in magic tricks the egg is up the sleeve, the rabbit is under the table etc. I think the human body is a lot more sophisticated and complex than magic. You only have to think about how the food (good or bad!) we eat is broken down by the digestive system, separated into miniscule components so that all our organs have all the right vitamins, minerals, enzymes etc when and where they are needed.

Image: Darren Robertson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If the sophisticated systems of the body throw up a symptom such as a rash, maybe there is a good reason? If you have a car that starts to make strange noises, you would not just turn up the radio to drown it out, would you? After all, a car is an expensive item. You would find out what is going on and get it put right.

I am a homeopath. Science tells me that homeopathic medicines cannot work because they are too minute to be effective. But what about the clients who have used homeopathic medicines and found them effective?

Let me introduce you to 3 people and their particular stories. First a little girl of about 8 – loves, loves, loves animals and wants to have pony riding lessons. But contact with any animal gives her a rash, sore eyes, etc. With a few treatments her sensitivity reduces and she is able to do what she loves most.

Image: Matt Banks / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Next a young man training to be a gardener, lucky to get a placement in a famous country estate, but suffers badly with hayfever: what can he do? His Mum gets him to try homeopathic treatment. With the help of an oldherb called Eyebright (Euphrasia) and other homeopathic medicines he is able to resume his work without any problems, even when he is strimming acres of grass.

Finally, a woman who had a lovely flowering tree in her garden. But every summer she got hayfever so badly she had to have oral steroids and inhalers; she said her eyes ‘turn to jelly’. With the help of homeopathic treatment she was able to resume sitting under her tree in spring, and was free of those frightening symptoms.

This is not magic. By carefully choosing homeopathic medicines to match the individual and their health experience, by helping the body do what it is already trying to do, a healthy balance is restored and the symptoms are no longer needed.

Look at your own experience – are you helping your body to get back into a healthy balance, or are you just masking the symptoms?

Find out more about homoeopathy:

 www.ruthhermolle.co.uk

http://www.homeopathyworkedforme.org

http://www.youtube.com/user/FindaHomeopath

www.a-r-h.org (Alliance of Registered Homeopaths)

Post-exam stress: Be mindful with poet William Stafford..

Over the past two weeks we have been offering exam tips over on our Facebook page, and here on the blog. At last the exam season is drawing to a close and those who have been under immense pressure over the past few months can begin to unwind and resume their routine. Of course the results may not yet be in and until then it is hard to completely relax, but we thought today we should just offer some suggestions to support you over the next few weeks and help you to enjoy the summer.

Firstly, don’t keep dwelling on the result, or what might have been. You can’t go back and take the exam again and if you feel you chose the wrong questions focus instead on the fact that you completed the questions you did answer to the best of your ability. If you have checked and found you gave an incorrect answer, again, don’t beat yourself up about it. You can literally do nothing to change it.

So secondly, try to relax. You may say this is easier said than done, but remember finishing  a time-consuming piece of work takes us into a period of transition when  we do not really know what to do with ourselves. This is a time people are vulnerable to getting drunk or other potentially dangerous behaviours. So give yourself some time to unwind and take good care of yourself.

And finally, try to visualise something totally unrelated to the exams. Visualisation is a very powerful tool for relaxation, but if you are constantly imagining the grades that may or may not appear when you log in to the school or college website, or pick the letter up off the mat, it can only continue the stress response. It is tough, we can’t pretend it isn’t, but if you can practice some mindfulness meditation and focus on the present rather than on what might happen in the future you will enjoy the summer and ensure you meet the results head on, healthy and able to deal with whatever happens next.

To help you take yourself into a more relaxed frame of mind, we offer another poem for mindfulness and wish you all the very best for the future, which for the present is exam free!

“You Reading This, Be Ready”

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life.

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

William Stafford

On positive news – and why scaremongering can seriously damage your health…

Today we are lucky to have a guest post on ‘let’s talk’, written by Rin Hamburgh,  a Bristol-based journalist specialising in psychology and well-being, green living and other lifestyle subjects. You can visit her website and blog at www.rin-hamburgh.co.uk. She writes here of the positive news movement, which is gaining in popularity as an alternative to the sensationalist news reports we are frequently faced with on a daily basis. It offers a new way of problem solving; one that supports our well-being instead of undermining it….

I hate reading newspapers. That probably sounds a little strange, coming from a journalist, but it’s true. It’s not that I don’t want to find out what’s happening in the world, it’s just that it’s all so relentlessly depressing. People are killing each other. The economy is in tatters. Your favourite food is going to kill you.

Often it is not the facts of the stories themselves that are so terrifying, but the way they are reported. Driven by sales figures, editors choose attention-grabbing drama over less colourful but more worthy stories, so that our papers are filled with terrorism and political scandal and celebrity sex, and we don’t hear about the rise of the sharing economy or how volunteers are making a difference in flood-ravaged Somerset.

Scaremongering headlines convince us that the end is nigh, even if it’s just a remote possibility, and since most of us don’t get past the first few paragraphs of any story (if that) we tend to miss the balanced argument (if indeed there is one). And so our view of the world is shaped by negative soundbites, and we either become discouraged and apathetic, changing the channel or flicking through to the lifestyle pages to avoid the bleak ‘realities’ of the news, or we become addicted to the endless stream of hype.

Neither option is ideal. The apathy that comes with a diet of stories about terrible things we can’t change makes us passive; we no longer believe we can make a difference, and so we don’t even try. On the other hand, if we keep feeding our obsession with the Oscar Pistorius trial or the ever fluctuating (but always doomed) economic situation, we can actually do ourselves psychological and physical harm – a story in The Guardian last year stated that “news is toxic to your body”, triggering the limbic system and releasing cortisol, the so-called “stress hormone”.

Thankfully, there is an alternative. The positive news movement is gaining ground – albeit slowly – as people begin to search for a way to stay informed without the need for antidepressants. Rooted in positively psychology, this new style of media calls for a solutions-focused approach that doesn’t skirt the issues but does avoid sensationalising them. It also seeks out stories that highlight the people and initiatives making a difference to the world.

One of the leading publications in this campaign for a more balanced viewpoint is Positive News, which was founded in 1993 and aims to “inform, inspire and empower our readers, while helping create a more balanced and constructive media”. Despite not being able to pay as well as the nationals (there’s a reason why the big boys print the stories they do), I write for this dedicated and passionate team, and recently took part in a short promotional video about them, because I believe that we need more headlines like Brazil takes steps to save threatened tribe and New reforms for children in care ‘most significant in a generation’.

Next time you pick up a newspaper, or flick over to the evening news, be aware of the effect it is having on your well-being… and then make a change. Challenge the views you are being presented with, dig deeper into a story and find out what the truth of the matter is, get hold of a positive news publication in print or online, and remember that no matter what the media tells you, you can make a difference. Oh, and rest assured – the odd teaspoon of sugar probably won’t kill you.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): It is, simply, child abuse.

On the 14^th March The Guardian reported that for the first time a doctor will stand trial in Egypt on charges of female genital mutilation (FGM).  13-year-old Sohair al-Bata’a died following an alleged operation in his clinic last year. FGM has been banned in Egypt since 2008 but may doctors still carry out the operation on a private basis, as parents see it as an acceptable ‘rite of passage’ for their daughters.

How much do you know about FGM?  The work of charities and the government is raising awareness, but it is still a practice that remains safely hidden in many local communities. Female genital mutilation  is actually  a form of child abuse which damages girls and women, both physically and mentally by using a procedure  which The World Health Organization (WHO) describes as one that involves ‘ partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons’ (WHO, 2013). Communities practising FGM cite  reasons for its use such as social acceptance, family honour, marriageability or even the mistaken belief that it makes childbirth easier.  However, even a brief reading of the research undertaken on the subject tells of the short term  risk of shock, bleeding, infections and damage to nearby organs; as well as the possibility of death. Longer term effects  include very painful sex, abscesses, complications in pregnancy and, contrary to cultural belief, a greater risk of childbirth dangerous to mother and child. Psychological damage is common; in one study 80% of women  who had undergone and FGM procedure suffered from depression or anxiety disorders.

In Britain it is a criminal offence under the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act to ‘perform FGM or to assist a girl to perform FGM on herself’. It can incur a maximum prison term of fourteen years, but prosecution seems low in comparison to the potential numbers of girls and women involved.  Most families do not see FGM as abuse and might accuse anyone intervening of being discriminatory. We must not shirk our responsibilities towards these girls.

We support the charity NSPCC both locally in the South West and nationally, in its campaign to stop this barbaric practice. The technique is  ‘traditionally carried out by a female with no medical training, without anaesthetics or antiseptic treatments, using knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor blades’ (NHS Choices 2013). The girl is sometimes forcibly restrained, held down even by a parent. FGM is usually carried out on girls between infancy and age 15, but the majority of cases occur between the ages of 5 and 8 years. Can you imagine the distress that must cause? Research has identified that tens of thousands of women in Britain live with the debilitating consequences of FGM and more than 20,000 young girls may be at risk. The crime is hidden, so figures are hard to establish, but these numbers may very well be much higher.

Communities in more than 28 African countries practise FGM, along with countries in the Middle East and Asia. The NHS has found that particular cities in the UK have more incidences of FGM, including London, Cardiff, Manchester, Sheffield, Northampton, Birmingham, and Oxford. But nowhere is immune.

The NSPCC has established a free 24-hour FGM helpline on 0800 028 3550 or its email at  fgmhelp@nspcc.org.uk should you or someone you know be concerned that a child be at risk of FGM. After seven months the helpline had already received more than 150 calls.

If you would like to know more about FGM, go to the World Health Organisation website for full details,  or take a look at the wonderful Forward ( Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development) site. It makes horrifying reading. It is too late for Sohair al-Bata’a, but not for the thousands of girls at risk in this country. Whether we are parents or not we owe it to them to ensure this abuse is ended.

Inspiration on your bookshelf: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared…..

Allan Karlsson is sitting quietly in his room in an old people’s home on his 100th birthday as preparations are made for a party he hates the thought of, to be attended by a mayor he does not want to meet and reporters he doesn’t want to talk to. So he decides to take control, and climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his getaway. …

The One Hundred Year-Old Man is written by Jonas Jonasson, originally in Swedish and now translated by Rod Bradbury and what a wonderful book this is; heart-warming and fun and full of joy. Allan Karlsson is the perfect hero/anti-hero as his getaway becomes increasingly surreal, involving as it does criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and endlessly incompetent detectives.

But even as we enjoy the adventures of the present day, and as Allan enjoys his new-found freedom, we learn that he is not any ordinary man. His earlier life, told in flashback, is a parade of encounters with famous people during famous times as he helps to make the atom bomb, befriends presidents and dictators and quietly influences important twentieth century events.

This isn’t just a funny novel, it is a tribute to the joy of growing old disgracefully and living every moment to the full. It is a prompt to us all to take life by the scruff of the neck and ride it, rather than allowing it to trample us underfoot; to fly, and to make the most of every opportunity presented to us, turning negatives into positives.

Have you read this book? What did you think? Is it simply a black comedy, funny escapism? Or can we learn something from Allan Karlsson and his determination not to let what is left of his life be ruled by the demands of others?

We would love to hear your views…