Evening star., 1927-05-21
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

malingerers or scared soldiers, To
evade service, have sometimes feigned
shell shock on the verge Of going
over the top" they are comparative
~ few. The American EXpedittonary
Forces were not made up of scared
men. After the drafting had gotten
organized, the medical men made a
systematic examination of all soldiers
taken in the draft. and weeded out
the psychopathic weaklings. An eX-
pert Canadian officer estimated that
by that process our Army avoided
40, 900 cases of potential shell-shoclS
victims
Nevertheless. the great and very
grave problem now confronting the
Veterans Bureau, nine years after
the end of the war, is the increase of
neuropsychiatrys lie. mentally un-
balanced patients. On May ], each
year, for the last four years the
patients in all bureau hospitals were
as follows:
All diseases. 3067 2S.57l 26.S26 26.063
mental diseases 9614 ? $50 10. .o6s 1854
Percentage OF
neuropsyChl-
A few days ago. Gen. Hines, director
of the bureau. addressing the Medical
Council, composed of the most eminent
specialists of America, said that from
analyses which have been made by
the bureau of the trend of hospitaliza-
tiOn "the peak load of neuropsychi-
atric cases will not be reached until
about 1947.''
1t matters nothing whether it IS
called shell shock" or deferred
shock" or merely shock" the fact
is that today half the cases in the
bureau hospitals are mental, and the
proportion is growing. In addition,
more than half the general cases are
also mentally affected. Hence the
emphasis put upon treatment from
the angle of mental readjustment, and
the encouraging thing is that by
scientific, systematic study, great
progress is noted in results There
are no more straitjackets, manac!es
nor padded cells, but there is intelli-
gent cooperation with the patients.
''shell-shocked patient" manifests
an eXcitable and irritable tempefa-
ment. He is given to paroxysms ot
rage and violence. He cannot control
his nerves. The task of the doctor
and nurse is to aid him in regainlng
the lost control. He must be inter
ested in some Occupation-no matter
what-which will take his mind off
his troubles, his worries and his sick
ness. What he produces may or may
not have q commercial value--at first
preferably not. But if it soothes his
nerves-that is medicine" So he is
prescribed so many hours a day mo
more) of carpet weaving or basketTy
or some other simple work. Results
at first are very rough; often he HieS
into a rage and breaks the machine
No matter, he gets another and n
smile or a gentle word of help. In a
year, or two years, he becomes quiet
and his work shows the imprOv vement,
but the sale value is not the point
it is his nerves. his mind.
x X X
In the exhibit room at Veterans
Bureau headquarters is a beautifully
carved picture frame. The maker,
for five years, was rated a hopeless
case with hallucinations and despond.
ency-an inCurable "dementia precox."
He was illiterate and violent and
ugly" Three years ago. he began to
take notice of the school lessons given
to other patients His own schooling
was equal only to a third grade, He
became interested in study and he has
received 511 hours of school training,
1,1S5 hours of a full commercial
course and 1886 hours of craftsman
ship. He has volu tarily read "Taie
of Two Cities, "Silas Warner" and ell
the volumes of Bryce's America
Commonwealth" He was rediagnostd
as manic Oppressive" He was dis
charged from hospital in 1926, clear
headed and able to support himself In
treating his case, every study pre-
scribed was with definite purpose to
hold out to a disturbed, confused mind
something by which it could be open.d
up and lifted out of apathy and de-
pressions, and into confidence in him
self renewed.
Social service" no longer consists
in unregulated JOY dances and enter
talnment merely for amusement; the
entertainment is given, but with the
definite view of therapeutic effect only.
Trained social service" workers CO.
operate i'm getting life histories of the
patients. whether through skillful
questioning of the men or investigat-
ing outside. These give clues to their
mental states. which guide the doc
tor-in his treatment. At last, Macbeth
may have his, question answered,
"Canst thou not minister to a mind
diseased?"
tcopyright 1917. hy Paul v. .collins.l