The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-18
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
IN NATION
Blu RE U
FREDERIC J.'HAsKIN. Director
Wa~hfnDfou n n
PSYCHIC AFTERMATH OF WAR
Washington. d. C.
1.-The Problem.

PSYCHIC AFTERMATH Ot WAX.
i 1.-The Problem.
| Washington, D. c., Nov. 15.-War
has left the civilized world a sinister
/ heritage of nervous TN mental dis
order, which affects not only the
fighters but the civilian population as
well.
| one of the great scientific prob
| lens of reconstruction is to UNDER
stand and cure these disturbances,
which have in some degree affected
the minds and nerves of millions, ana
| the office of the surgeon general Is
now engaged in a study of the prob
lem.
| The nervous and mental damage
done by war ranges all the way from
the specific shock of noise and suf-
| fering in the soldier, to the subtle ef-
fects which an atmosphere filled with
hatred, fear and change have upon
| the minds Of whole nations. The shell
| shock" of which one reads SO much
| is a small phase of the matter. Some
| of the larger and more important
psychic effects of war are seen in Ger
many, where the German populace.
| famous as the most peaceful and doclle
in the world, has engaged in a carnival
of loot and murder. as a result of the
strain to which it has been subjected.
The point is that war generates
| great discontents, stirs emotions that
| have lain unused thru the years OF
| civilized peace. Many OF these as
| contents and emotions are healthy,
they are the yeast of progress. But they
are too strong for all but the strong
est. Unbalanced minds give way un-
der them; weak and diseased nervous
systems collapse. All sorts OF criminal
tendencies, most of which are caused
by nervous and mental troubles. break
loose from the bonds of habit and cir
|
check.
This problem has a special s1gnlfi-
canoe for America. Some ccientists
have claimed that this country has a
psychopathic heredity by reason OF the
great number of criminals and defec-
tives sent here in colonial times
Furthermore, it is far behind the lead
ing countries of Europe in the han
ding of it's criminal insane (Which in
cludes nearly all criminals.) Whereas
other nations have learned to identity
and isolate pSychopathic cases, Amer
lean cities and states have allowed
them to go at large and multiply.
After our Civil war we had period
of crime and brigandage that lasted q
quarter of century-the heyday OF
the James and Younger brothers-and
the psychic effects of that war are
still apparent in parts of the south.
The problem faced by American physi-
clans and psychologists, then, is to
prevent, as far as possible, the recur-
renee of such an era of crime and
insanity by intelligent handling OF
psychic cases, in the army and out OF
it, And this study should form the
basis of more intelligent handling OF
all crime and insanity in America
The war neuroses and the war
psychoses are not new. or peculiar to
this war. Accounts of the interludes
between the Punic wars give evidence
70 wholesale insanity. 1t is said that
| at the close of the Thirty Years war
more than a fifth of the population
left in Germany was temporarily OF
permanently deranged.
, Scientists believe, however, that the
, nervous shock of war need have no
lasting effect on the population pro-
vided the readjustment from the men
tai life OF war to the mental life OF
peace can be made quietly and scien-
, tifically. On the other hand, a slip
she'd readjustment may cause no END
Of trouble.
An example of this is furnished in
Canada. The dominion was not pre-
pared for the sudden influx of disabled
soldiers which, was forced on her by
, the overcrowding of English hospitals
E 1t is stated that more than 80 per
cent of Canada's returned soldiers SUI
. fer from some form or other of mep-
tai disorder. Fortunately. most of the
cases are durable. but all are serious
vi if not taken Immediately in hand
Hundreds of disabled Canadians are
drifting over the country. not only In
Canada but in the United States. some
times causing disorder and violence
n In Toronto and other large cities they
have broken up political meetings fol
Il and against the government, seeming
S ly without discrimination. They have
v stormed restaurants, the proprietor
of which they accused of having
cheated them. and have got into row.
r with civilians These disturbance:
n are subdued sby the police in q man
, ner not warranted to help the soldier.
regain a nervous and mental equili
brium.
Many of the soldiers. convinced o.
d having done their Bit" refuse t.
= work and expect the state to supper
Il them. Idleness. bad enough for nor
: NAL personS, breeds the very wors
/. sort of mischief in neurotics. Relic
work in Canada has been volunteer
and therefore. largely amateur. O
= the failure of this system to cope will
: the problem of psychic readjustmen mt
!. Robert c. Dexter. general secretary o
:, relief organizations at Montreal, re
. Gently said:
t Il feel there has been a great lacl
in our treatment of returned soldiers
f owing to the fact that there have no
been enough case workers, trained IL
s. psychology. at hand. We have ha,
e some psychologists attached to tn,
IS hospital and medical end of the work
but We have had none to devote thei
y time to the problems of re-educatiol
o and the problem of getting the ma,
e settled in his right job and to tn
r tstudy Of psychological reactions t
home environment of the men who re
turn"
is The United States must profit b
n Canada's mistake
=. The soldier is subjected to nervou
strain from the day he is sent away t
W camp. At camp he is confronted wit
l. a life different from any he has eve
- known, and he must make radical ad
- justments to it. In most cases mill
l. tary life is distaseful to him and h
wishes he were out OF it; yet he can
10 not leave honorably until the war
finished, and his mission performed
II Whence a struggle between duty an
.e desire ensues. Frequently the struR