Citation

Ross R. Soc. Hist. Med. 2019; 32(3): 565-585.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Society for the Social History of Medicine, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/shm/hkx118

PMID

31384101

PMCID

PMC6664590

Abstract

This article focuses on the concept of 'accident neurosis', popularised by neurologist Henry Miller in studies published in 1961. It aims to realise two goals. First, it introduces Miller's concept of accident neurosis to the broader history of trauma-to a field, that is, more preoccupied with military traumata and clear-cut psychiatric aetiologies. Secondly, I use Miller's studies, and the considerable legacy they created, to reflect on how historians of trauma construct historical narratives, asking whether there is sufficient appreciation of the ways in which events seem to leak into or retroactively animate one another.

Language: en

Keywords

PTSD; accident neurosis; post-concussional syndrome; shell shock; trauma