Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-11-19
THE PSYCHIC AFTERMATH OF WAR;. THE PROBLEM ns afs
By Frederic
j. HRskin.

eral secretary of relief organizations at Mon
treal, recently said
81 feel there has been a great lack in our
treatment of returned soldiers, owing to the
fact that there have not been enough case
workers, trained in psychology, at hand. We
have had some psychologists attached to the
hospital and medical end of the work; but
we have had none to devote their time to the
problems of re-education and the problem of
getting the man settled in his right job and
to the study of psychological reactions to
home environment of the men who return
The United States must profit by Canada's
mistake.
The soldier is subjected to nervous strain
from the day he is sent away to camp. &c
camp he is confronted with a life different
from any he has ever known, and he must
make radical adjustments to it. In most
cases military life is distasteful to him and he
wishes he were out of it; yet he cannot leave
honOrably until the war is finished, and his
mission performed. Whence a struggle be-
tween duty and desire ensues. frequently,
the struggle does not become acute at camp
or even in the first few months in the
trenches, but one day of drudgery or bat.
tie follows another. the struggle and the
strain become more and more acute.
Whatever reserves of mental and nervous
strength the soldier may have, come into play,
almost from the first. The instability of a
few is shown in the first few weeks at camp
Though physically able to ''stand the pace
they manifest a nervous weakness which
makes them useless as fighting material, and
they are weeded out and discharged. Others
hold out until the time of embarkation, when
their weakness manifests itself in one way or
another. Some do not go under until they
first taste artillery fire. Yet, in the aggre-
gate, these cases are not numerous. Out of
any army of more than 100000, less than
two per cent have been discharged on account
of nervous or mental weakness. ..4
prYf he Il
down, also suffer from the strain. 1t is near
ly impossible for the soldier to go through a
long spell of fighting without being nervous
ly affected by it. unsupported and undetected
weaknesses develop. He becomes "sick of it,
actually rather than fguratively. Some
times the sense Of duty is totally lost in the
frenzied desire to get away from war, and
soldiers deliberately wound themselves to
make sure of being sent back to hospital.
Evidences of overwrought nerves in sol
diers are found not only in the trenches but
in rest camps and among men home on leave.
war worker who returned from the front
short time ago is credited with having said;
do you know the only time l have heard
American soldiers sing was at religious serv-
ices, and then those hymns had many of them
weepingS
"Whysin England, IS every encouragement
given to the feting of officers and men during
leave periods? 1t is because they realize that
unless they do something to break the serious
ness that naturally possesses mems minds in
time of war, they will have a nation of luna
tics on their hands,
What is known as Shell shock" is only
one phase of the disorders described. Broad
ly, shell shock is classified as being of two
sorts. First there is a functional disorder OF
the victims nervous system as the result of
conclusion caused by an exploding shell.
Second there is a nerve shock caused by a,
parOXysm of fear or other emotion. Actual
insanity seldom accompanies "shell shock
but the patient is often beset with obsessions.
He cannot speak, or he cannot move his
limbs, when there is nothing of physical ma
ture to prevent him from doing either.
War peurosis victims now in hospitals in
France England and this country will be an ,
important factor in the problem of psychic re-
construction. So will the unscathed soldiers
whose nervous mechanism has been keyed to
a high pitch by life of excitement, and who
will find it hard to readjust to the simple
routines of peace. So will those soldiers
whose eyes have been opened to undreamt OF
things by travel and by associations, and in
whom discomfort with their former life is
bred. So will the civilian pOpulace which
has been so rudely shaken from its fatuOus
placidity. The problem is fraught with many
grave dangers. Both Germany and the Allies
have made mistakes which will not wear out
for generations America, however, has had
the advantage of prOfiting by these mistakes.
and she is making preparations for the
mental rehabilitation of her soldiers for
which every bit of available scientific aid has
been requisitiOned. These preparations VIII
be described in following article.