Relevant History welcomes Regina Jeffers, an award-winning author of cozy mysteries, Austenesque sequels and retellings, and Regency era romances. A teacher for thirty-nine years, she often serves as a consultant for Language Arts and Media Literacy programs. With multiple degrees, Regina has been a Time Warner Star Teacher, Columbus (OH) Teacher of the Year, and a Martha Holden Jennings Scholar. With five new releases coming out in 2015, she is considered one of publishing’s most prolific authors. Her novels include Darcy’s Passions, Captain Frederick Wentworth’s Persuasion, The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy, and The First Wives’ Club. To learn more about Regina’s books, check out her web site and blog, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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One of my upcoming releases (The Prosecution of Mr. Darcy’s Cousin) uses Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as part of the plot line, but as my book is set in the Regency period (1811-1820) in England, when no such distinction was made for the disease, it was important to treat the disorder’s presence in the main character’s life with a large dose of research. There are references to what we now term “PTSD” in the Bible (story of Job comes to mind), the writings of the Greek historian Herotodus (i.e., his description of the Spartan leader Leonidas—the guy from “300”), the Mahabharata, Homer’s description of Ajax’s madness, and Shakespeare’s descriptions (via Lady Percy) of Harry Percy’s nightmares and delusions, as well as the accounts of Macbeth. Samuel Pepys’s diary holds references to the trauma many experienced after the Great Fire of London. Charles Dickens wrote of the “weakness” he experienced after a train wreck that killed ten people and injured nearly fifty.
Over the years, PTSD was known as nostalgia, homesickness, ester root, neurasthenia, hysteria, compensation sickness, railway spine, shell shock, combat exhaustion, soldier’s heart, irritable heart, stress response syndrome, etc. In my story, I use the word “melancholia” for research into the disorder did not occur until well after the Regency period. Needless to say, the many wars of the late 1700s and early 1800s (American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Napoleonic Wars) in England brought this issue to a head. (For more on the many terms used for PTSD, see “From Irritable Heart to ‘Shellshock’: How Post-Traumatic Stress Became a Disease,” by Charlie Jane Anders, 4 April 2012.)
During the American Civil War, the study of “soldier’s heart” fell into the lap of Jacob Mendez Da Costa, who took up the study of the condition and advanced what we now know of the disease. Da Costa was a well-trained and observant clinician. He held the reputation of an excellent clinical teacher and served as Chairman of Medicine at the Jefferson Medical College (now Thomas Jefferson University) for nineteen years, as well as president of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1884 and again in 1895; Da Costa was one of the original members of the Association of American Physicians and its president in 1897.
In the years of the Civil War, Da Costa served as assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army and at Turner’s Lane Hospital, Philadelphia. As such, he studied a type of cardiac malady (neurocirculatory asthenia) plaguing soldiers. He described the disorder in his 1871 paper “On Irritable Heart: A Clinical Study of a Form of Functional Cardiac Disorder and Its Consequences,” a landmark study in clinical medicine. The malady was soon to be known as Da Costa’s syndrome—an anxiety disorder combining effort fatigue, left-sided chest pains, breathlessness, dyspnea, a sighing respiration, palpitations, and sweating.
In the mid-20th Century, the syndrome was thought to be a form of neurosis. It is now classified as a “somatoform autonomic dysfunction.” Earl de Grey presented four reports on British soldiers with these symptoms between 1864 and 1868. He attributed the symptoms to the heavy equipment being carried by the soldiers in knapsacks strapped to their chests. Earl de Grey asserted that the constriction of the knapsack affected the heart’s ability to function. Henry Harthorme described the Civil War soldiers who suffered with similar symptoms as being exhausted and poorly nourished. The soldier’s heart complaints were assigned as lack of sleep and bad food. In 1870, Arthur Bowen Myers of the Coldstream Guards (the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army) regarded the accouterments as the source of neurocirculatory asthenia and cardiovascular neurosis.
“J. M. Da Costa’s study of 300 soldiers reported similar findings in 1871 and added that the condition often developed and persisted after a bout of fever or diarrhea. He also noted that the pulse was always greatly and rapidly influenced by position, such as stooping or reclining. A typical case involved a man who was on active duty for several months or more and contracted an annoying bout of diarrhea or fever, and then, after a short stay in the hospital, returned to active service. The soldier soon found that he could not keep up with his comrades in the exertions of a soldier’s life as he would become out of breath, and would get dizzy, and have palpitations and pains in his chest, yet upon examination some time later he appeared generally healthy. In 1876 surgeon Arthur Davy attributed the symptoms to military drill where ‘over-expanding the chest, caused dilatation of the heart, and so induced irritability.’”
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A big thanks to Regina Jeffers. She’ll give away one of the four ebooks pictured above to four people: Darcy’s Passions: Pride and Prejudice Retold Through His Eyes, Captain Frederick Wentworth’s Persuasion: Austen’s Classic Retold Through His Eyes, Elizabeth Bennet’s Deception: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary, and Mr. Darcy’s Fault: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary Novella. I’ll choose the winners from among those who contribute a comment on my blog this week by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available worldwide.
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Thanks for hosting me today, Suzanne.
You’re welcome, Regina. Thank you for the excellent topic.
Wow I didn’t know this about PTSD. Thanks for the information. Also thanks for the opportunity to win one of Ms. Jeffers books.
Thanks for checking us out, Tina.
I am glad you enjoyed the piece, Tina. It was difficult to work the PTSD plot into the book for in the Regency period, people would think the man had gone mad, which was how the character is charged with a series of murders he did not commit.
Thanks Regina for this article and Suzanne for hosting her. I hadn’t seen the Anders article, so was glad of this reference.
In Bloody Lessons, my third book in my Victorian San Francisco mystery series, I wanted a minor character who had been a cowboy in the 1870s to have PTSD. I knew that many former soldiers of American Civil War became cowboys in the post war period because they were never able to settle down to regular life after the war–and it always seemed to me that many of them were probably suffering from PTSD–but I also assumed–wrongly it turned out–that no one had tried to diagnose this disorder before WWI and shell shock.
However, when I did research on Civil War soldiers (particularly those who survived the notorious Confederate Andersonville Prison) I discovered references to Da Costa and the term “soldiers heart”–which seemed such an apt and evocative description that my minor character turned into a major one, who went on to be one of my point of view characters in my most recent book, Deadly Proof.
I couldn’t have been more pleased when one of my readers who is a counselor works with patients with PTSD said I’d gotten the symptoms right in this character. I look forward to seeing how Regina handles it in her upcoming work.
Thanks for commenting, Mary Lou. It makes an interesting challenge to show PTSD without using 21st-c terms to define it, yes?
My redcoat criminal investigator, Michael Stoddard, has PTSD. He had a bad time at the Battle of Brandywine. The sergeant standing right beside him, a fellow Yorkshireman with a wife and kids back home, had his head blown off by a cannonball. And Michael’s ribs got grazed by a musket ball. War really is hell.
I relate as similar tale of a cannonball in my story. If a man has been in war for a decade, he cannot help but have it stay with him. One of my fellow teachers would come into the classrooms of our school and tell the students of his years in Vietnam. Some were humorous, which is how he would suck the kids into his tale, but he also spoke of the trauma and how even a strand of music would bring a flashback.
Re: music and war, I think the Vietnam sequences in the movie “Forest Gump” did a good job of pairing military action with the popular music of the day — which was often a commentary about the pointlessness of war. My guess is that many Vietnam vets return to their platoons (in their heads) whenever they hear certain of those tunes.
I must check out your book, Mary Lou. The Civil War period is one of my passions. Like you, I did not know what to expect when I first started writing the book. I assumed that many would recognize the disorder and found it a bit disconcerting that many thought the problems were physical ramifications of carrying heavy equipment. I am a military brat and a military wife. I have seen my fair share of those who suffered from America’s various wars.
What an amazing storyline this new book will be. I can’t imagine all the research that went into writing it. I can’t wait to read it!!!
Welcome to my blog, Mayme. I’m also looking forward to reading Regina’s book.
Thank you, Mayme. The book will be available in about three weeks in all markets worldwide and in eBook form about a week afterwards. This is a Pegasus Books release.
In addition to the research on PTSD, I spent LOTS of time in the legal process of the time. There is a trial scene which speaks to the differences in a court proceeding then and now. For example, the defendant was responsible for his own defense…no attorney, just a barrister to speak to points of law. Witnesses for the prosecution were expected to appear, but there was no such “duty” for those for the defense. A murder trial might take less than an hour to complete and the punishment came quick (customarily within a week). A murderer could be hanged, transported, have his lands/wealth taken over by the Crown, be branded with an “M” on his cheek in cases of accidental murders, etc.
Interesting information about PTSD. I’m so glad more is understood about it today, and happy that treatments are available to those who suffer from it.
Thanks for the generous giveaway!
Thanks for stopping by, Pam. Although there’s likely a whole lot more that we don’t understand about PTSD, it’s fortunate that we know what we do so we can treat sufferers appropriately. People used to treat them as cowards — even execute them.
Hello, Pam. It is nice to discover you here. Yes, the disorder we sometimes call PTSD is quite devastating.
I am so glad that I came across this article. This information is very important and gave me more insight on PTSD. I think we came a long way from what we knew, but I think we still have a ways to go when it comes to Ptsd and helping others understand it. I can’t wait for Ms. Jeffers’ new work I have enjoyed the books that I have read by her. Again ladies thanks for sharing such valuable information.
Thanks for reading the piece, TaNeshia. I believe you will like this new novel. It is a tight mystery with lots of twists and turns.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, TaNeshia.
I love Regina’s books. She gets her facts and research right. I try not to miss anything she writes. I am looking forward to this one. The article has such a wealth of information it. Also thanks for the chance at the giveaway.
Hello, Lou Ann. I am anxious for this book to come out…been waiting since November for its release. I hope you enjoy it.
Welcome, Lou Ann. I’m really glad to read your enthusiasm about Regina’s books. I have one in my TBR pile.
Regina Jeffers writes a great entertaining book…there is always a great story with lots of angst, the right amount of tension, sweetness combined with great characters. I have read three of the books here and loved them. Its going to a be a pleasure to read more…fingers crossed it’ll be soon! :p
Thank you for the kind words. I like the word “angst.” It is one I use often in describing my work. As I said above, Ruth, the book should be out no later than June 15. I expect it earlier, but I do not have an exact day from the publisher of yet.
Thanks for commenting, Ruth. And it sounds like I’m in for a good read with my first book by Regina.
Unfortunately, it has been around for as long as humans have existed. My uncle was a motorcycle dispatch rider during WWII.He served in the liberation of Holland.As far as I know he was not involved in battle. He, too, suffered from horrible nightmares and was covered in sores, when he came back home after the war. Seeing pictures of the devastation there, and what he must have seen, I would be surprised if it did not affect anyone mentally.
Welcome back to my blog, Denise. Thanks for sharing the story of your uncle. Even if he wasn’t involved in battle, he might have been witness to the suffering of liberated prisoners. That’s enough to give anyone nightmares.
Hello, Denise. I am pleased you joined me today. My late father-in-law was one of the liberators of Dachau, as well as being at the Battle of the Bulge with Patton. His stories would often send shivers down my spine. My father and other older relatives knew both WWII and the Korean front. My generation saw the horrors of Vietnam. We see more of the effects of PTSD in the current generation of soldiers, but history proves this is not simply a modern disorder.
Thanks for sharing the history of PTSD, Regina. I didn’t know a lot of research has been conducted as far back as the American Civil War. I cannot wait for the release of The Persecution of Mr. Darcy’s Cousin which I’m sure will be a fabulous read judging by the amount of research Regina pours into her story.
Thank you, Sylvia. I think the new book is one of my stronger ones. Hopefully, you will help me share the news on your side of the world.