In the 19th century, with the development of railway transportation, train accidents became a frequent source of death and serious injury.

Some of the victims claimed injury following an accident without a visible pathology. Jon Eric Erichsen, a British surgeon, in 1867 published a book called On Railway and Other Injuries of the Nervous System in it he argued that an unseen physical injury to the spine and brain caused the condition `railway spine.'

Railway spine was a concept that rooted the illness to the body and not the mind thus making it more legitimate and avoided stigma of mental illness.

Later, work by Jean-Martin Charcot, Piere Janet and Freud established the idea that overwhelming events can cause mental disorders.

Before WWI the terms “soldiers’heart,” “war neuroses” and “general nervous shock” were used to refer to the psychological casualties of combat. During WWI the term “shell shock” became widely accepted as it avoided the term hysteria. During World War II the U.S. military used the term “operational fatigue” or more often “combat fatigue.”

These are concise formulations of 8 different cases I have seen. All are in 140 characters or less. All people mentioned are refugees.

This is just an experiment with this format.

• Her dad vanished when she was young. They detained & tortured her twice to know his whereabouts. 5th year in Egypt. No contact with family.
• Tortured in 3 incidents. Electricity & walking on spiky plant. 2 broken bones. Doing OK as a delivery boy. 3rd year with no family contact.
• 27 years old engineer transported goods across border. Was detained and tortured for 10 days. Ill brother back home. Can't find a job here.
• Took part in student protests against his government. Arrested 4 times. Tortured and saw sister raped. No contact with family for 3 years.
• Husband a POW in Iran for 10 years. She was about to be kidnapped twice. Went to Egypt after the death of her husband. Severely Depressed.
• Raped & tortured for 5 days. Psychiatric condition is now in remission & is taking care of 2 daughters. But can't finance their schooling.
• An architect. Kidnapped for 17 days endured beatings, Falaka and prolonged standing. Family payed ransom. Can't find work in Egypt.
• He was kidnapped for 14 days. Tortured. Dad killed a month later. Developed schizophrenia. Mother taking care of him & his younger sister.