Originally defined as a “derangement of the nervous system deriving primarily from explosion at close range,” shell shock became a medical diagnosis for war trauma during the Great War. The term originated due to the subjection of exploding shells in dug out trenches, but came to encompass a variety of war trauma due to the horrors of modern warfare. Previous wars acknowledged war trauma by the common theme of weak heartedness leading to the derogatory outlook on the soldier who could not bear up under the pressures of war. However, the wars prior to 1900 did not use the tactics seen in The Great War and emphasis on the psychological ramifications of trauma was limited. Countries like Great Britain were therefore unprepared for the war trauma that occurred between 1914 and 1918. Faced with inadequate information and old practices, the field of Psychiatry grew in prominence as the state and its society looked for answers for the syndrome. Doctors such as Charles S. Myers published their findings in The Lancet, a medical journal aimed at publishing original research as well as reviews, correspondence, news, and case reports. This paper focuses on the publications of Dr. Myers, his contemporaries, the evolution of shell shock as a psychosomatic illness, and its progressive shift in British medical practices that paved the way for further analysis and treatment on war trauma as well as mental illness going forward.