Before shell shock was called “war neurosis” or “post-traumatic stress disorder” and before experts actually began to understand the psychological trauma that war could cause, veterans of World War I were largely left to fight their own mental health battles.
The creepy historical image of the shell-shocked soldier seen here starkly highlights the horror of war—and what being stuck in a trench during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette could do to a man. Captured in September 1916, this photo was taken years before World War I even ended. By the time the end came, countless other men would suffer a similar fate.
