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

''Canst thou minister to a mind
diseased?"
What a long span it Is in medical
practice from the bleeding" OF
patients for all kinds Of ailments. as
done by the doctors Of half q. century
ago or more, to the present.day an
nouncement, made at this weeks con-
ference .of the American Medical
Association. that the doctors should
now use mental therapy in healing
s'broken hearts" and readjusting dis
located mentalities! Only few years
ago one smiled incredulously at the
Partisan "unmedicaP' specialist VINO
professed actual cures through having
the patient repeat. I'm getting pet
ter in every way, day by DAY. NOW
the scientific doctors or the american
Medical Association are getting hettef
day by day." for they recognize .nai
mind has almost unlimited controi
over the bodily functions, and tnat
"there's nothing either good or hao
h1t thinking makes 1t So" Snake
sneare found that out centuries before
The American Medical Association olu'
Even the Christian Scientists-out no
matter!
A. all events, the United States
Veterans Bureau seems TO nave
beaten the general practitioner ano
also the specialist, to the ldea lha'
the influence of mind is the one tactor
of supreme importance in the pu
reau's increa sing problem OF reiievlns
or curing the afflicted veteran OF the
World War. At the last session OF
Congress the bureau was given Iuil
authority to take over control ana au
ministration of "occupational therapy
and social service" in all IT'S nos
pitfalls. That work hitherto mas
been carried on by the Red cross 30
ciety. the Knights of Columbus ahu
other philanthropic organizations. puI
today the surgeons recognize tnat tne
benefits must come through not
,nerelv unmethodical social ENTER
tainment," or recreation, but tnat
srcb aids are more necessary in treat
ment of all kinds of ailments than is
the prescribing of drugs. The work
therefore. under the new law, Will De
taken over July / directly by the Vet.
erans' Bureau doctors. The Reu
Cross Society will continue to serve,
hut will serve according to definite
and individual prescriptions from the
doctors. Just as the dispensary tunc'
tions in filling medical prescriptions.
The knights of Columbus Will WITH
draw entirely.
Contrary to misunderstanding in
some quarters, this does not mean
that there will be less recreation, nor
less social service. but it does mean
that both will be scientifically admin
istered toward the relief, not the mere
entertainment" or financial profit OF
the patient.
This is comparatively new science
developed in and since the World
War. While it applies most conspic-
uously to mental adjustment. it also
affects diseases of the heart, abdo-
men. and, i'll fact, all diseases.
y X x
In the British hospitals "shell
shock is recognized as a genuine
nervous collapse, but in America it
is the fashion to deny that there ever
was such a disease as "shell shock
and to declare that the thousands Of
soldiers who claimed to have feen so
afflicted were either malingerers or,
after the war, seekers OF notoriety or
maudlin sympathy. The explanation
is that they were not shocked by the
explosion of shells or the terrors Of
"shocked''-that's all. The inference
is that in most cases they were
previously emotionally or mentally in
clined toward OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
tai weakness which predisposed to-
ward insanity. Much Of this dis
avowal of shell shock is now attributed
to the ignorance of the surgeons be-
fore systematic research. Predisposi-
ton to insanity is more common than
most of us like to admit.
A medical authority, DR.. c. M. Bow
man, examined certain regiment
and found that $3.50 per cent Of the
men gave positive findlngs'-showing
evidences of insanity, either person.
ally or of parents or near relatives.
The soldiers who showed personal
positive findings" were 3S.43 per cent.
However, only 20 per cent were so
deficient as to be discharged from the
service. In another examination Of
1000 men, 63.48 per cent showed "posi.
tive" indications, either personal or
family.
On the contrary, Mott, in the
British Medical Journal Q919), said:
"Shock-and by that / mean not
only commotional but emotional shock
due to terrifying or horrifying con-
ditions of this war. may induce
hysterical manifestations in a neuro-
potentially sound individual--in fact,
in soldier who by his record has
shown that he Is neither of a timid
disposition nor has any neuropathic
tendency.'..A
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