Thesis Format
Monograph
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Program
History
Supervisor
Vance, Jonathan
Abstract
This dissertation examines the lives of shell shocked First World War veterans and their families. During the Great War approximately 9,000 soldiers were diagnosed with some form of mental illness. By 1928, Dr. J.P.S. Cathcart, chief neuropsychiatrist for the Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-Establishment, estimated that medical officers diagnosed approximately 15,000 soldiers and officers with mental illness during their service. Thousands more experienced mental illness during the interwar period. The Canadian government created training programs, pensions, and hospitals for the disabled soldier. This included special neuropsychiatric hospitals and wards for men diagnosed with nervous and mental illnesses. This dissertation considers how the construction of such medical spaces influenced veterans’ experiences within such hospitals. Canadian historians have yet to explore these medical spaces. Although the Canadian government built special hospitals and wards for veterans, they believed that shell-shocked veterans would not benefit from permanent or substantial pensions. Throughout the interwar period, shell shocked veterans received low pensions or were denied pensions because of the pension regulations regarding their disability. Despite their small pension numbers, veterans with neuropsychiatric disabilities continued to seek government assistance in the form of training, pensions, and treatment.
Training, pensions, and medical treatment were not the only supports used by veterans. They also relied on the support of family and community members. Parents, wives, and even children provided veterans with not only medical care, but emotional and economic supports. How this affected Canadian families has yet to be studied in Canadian scholarship. This dissertation’s core objective is to understand the subjective experiences of shell-shocked veterans and their families during the first half of the twentieth century. Pension decisions and access to medical treatment impacted the amount of care required by families to support returned men. Using pension files, hospital records, and government sources, this dissertation examines how veterans and their families reacted to these measures and the impact that mental illness had on their lives.
Summary for Lay Audience
During the First World War, approximately 9,000 Canadian men were diagnosed with some form of nervous illness. In the 1920s, J.P.S. Cathcart estimated that this number was closer to 15,000. What happened to these returned men and their families? How did the Canadian government understand mental illness and how did this impact this specific disability group? This dissertation focuses on the lived experiences of veterans and their families in inter-war Canada.
Through examining these lived experiences, this dissertation seeks to explore a more personal history of postwar reintegration for veterans diagnosed with mental illness. It uses documents such as the Veterans’ Affairs pension files to analyze how veterans explained the impact of their disability on their employment, the chronic nature of mental illness, and how these disabilities impacted their families. Understanding how Canadian families interacted with the pension board, veterans’ hospitals, and other government assistance programs demonstrates the complex lived experience of veterans and their families. This dissertation demonstrates that veterans were reliant on the care and advocacy of family members throughout their lives. By moving away from soldier-centred narratives, this dissertation demonstrates that war disability was a family affair, one that changed expectations through different moments of veterans’ lives.
Recommended Citation
Ellis, Heather, "Aftershocks: The Psychological Cost of the Great War" (2025). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 10715.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/10715
Included in
Canadian History Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Social History Commons
