Lewis Ralph Yealland (1884 – 2 March 1954) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-born therapist who moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to practise medicine during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was at the forefront of experimental shock techniques to treat

shell shock Shell shock is a term that originated during World War I to describe symptoms similar to those of combat stress reaction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which many soldiers suffered during the war. Before PTSD was officially recogni ...

Early life and education

Yealland qualified from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

in 1912. He was married to Anne "Nancy" Yealland, née Harris (1894–1984); she died 21 February 1984, and her ashes were scattered at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge.

War work

Yealland moved to London during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and worked at the National Hospital for the

paralyzed Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, r ...

and

epileptic Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that can cause a variety of symptoms, rang ...

; there, he mainly dealt with cases of

hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

. Yealland did not consider shell shock an illness, and he believed men showing such symptoms displayed a lack of discipline or sense of duty. He practised a form of therapy based on punishment. He was an exponent of

auto-suggestion Autosuggestion is a psychological technique related to the placebo effect, developed by pharmacist Émile Coué at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a form of self-induced suggestion in which individuals guide their own thoughts, feelings, ...

. He gained a reputation for curing and sending his patients back to the trenches quickly. Yealland published his wartime findings in ''Hysterical Disorders of Warfare'' in 1918. Allegedly, Yealland claimed a success rate of 100 per cent, and while his methods of treatment were regarded as particularly unethical by the academic discourse of the 1980s, more recent research suggests that his poor reputation might have come about owing to an over-representation of successful cases in Yealland's own works.

In popular culture

Lewis Yealland appears in

Pat Barker Dame Patricia Mary W. Barker ( Drake; born 8 May 1943) is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. She is known for her Regeneration Trilogy, p ...

's '' Regeneration'', where he is portrayed unsympathetically, treating a shell-shocked man suffering from hysterical

mutism In human development, muteness or mutism is defined as an absence of speech, with or without an ability to hear the speech of others. Mutism is typically understood as a person's inability to speak, and commonly observed by their family members, c ...

using

electric shock treatment Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment that causes a generalized seizure by passing electrical current through the brain. ECT is often used as an intervention for mental disorders when other treatments are inadequate. Condit ...

and showing no compassion for his patient.

References

External links

Internet Archive
"Hysterical Disorders of Warfare", Yealland, Lewis R. (Lewis Ralph), Macmillan, London 1918 {{DEFAULTSORT:Yealland, Lewis 1884 births 1954 deaths Physicians from Ontario Canadian expatriates in England Canadian psychiatrists