Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-11-24
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henri.

By Thomas r. Henry.
Uncle Sam is not going crazy but just
getting little queerer as he grows older.
Such is the finding of an intensive
Public Health Service analysis, just re-
ported, of what appeared to be an enor-
nous increase in admissions to mental
hospitals during the past 10 years.
But although the insanity rate is
standing still, relative to the size of the
population in different age groups, 20
years from now there will be approxi-
mately twice as many persons admitted
to institutions for the insane as at pres
ent, according to the findings of Harold
F. Dorm, Public Health Service statis-
tician, who made the analysis.
The increase of approximately 40 per
cent in the number of annual admissions
to mental hospitals between 1926 and
1886 has caused spirited debates among
psychiatrists. Some have claimed that
the mind of America actually was
breaking down under the stress of mod
ern civilization and life in cities with
its intense competition. Others have
insisted that there was no real increase
but that the intense competition was
requiring the disqualification of thou
sands who IN slower day would have
been considered merely a little queer
and remained with their families. They
pointed to the familiar village fool, for
merly an institution in every American
small town, who now was being taken
of the streets and put in an institution
for his own protection. Another factor
was that during the depression, when,
the supposed increase in insanity as re-
vealed by statistics was most alarming,
many families which formerly had taken
care OF their own queer relatives could
not longer stand the expense and threw
them on the state.
Even with these factors, however,
there seemed to be an absolute increase.
DR.. Dorm introduces hitherto uncon-
sidered factor-the normal increase of
insanity with age and the fact that more
persons are living long enough to go
crazy. He bases his conclusions on an
analysis of the annual admissions to
mental hospitals in Massachusetts, New
York and Illinois, where the greatest
attention is paid to such cases, and
where there is little likelihood of an
increase in admissions because of more
general recognition. He makes his fore
casts, he warns, on the basis of hypo-
thetical population of these three States,
increasing only by virtue of its natural
birth rate and unaffected by immigra-
ton or emigration, both of which are
incalculable factors.
In all these States definite age trends
are revealed by the statistics of the
past few years. For males in Massachu-
sets, for example, DR.. Dorm finds a
steady decrease in the probability of
developing insanity from the ages of S
to SIS. Then, with the breaking of the
mind at the approach of old age, there
is a big jump. For women there was
an increase in this probability for every
extra year of life, with the largest in
crease at the older ages.
But the age of the population is stead
lily increasing. Consequently a greater
proportion of the whole is bound to go
crazy, assuming that external factors
remain exactly as they are. For MaSsa-
chusetts in 1920, DR.. Dorm points out,
SIS out of every thousand male infants
and 40 out of every thousand female
some time during the course of their
lives. In 1881 this probability had in
creased, through the increasing age fac
tor alone, to 81 males and SO females.
This represented in 10 years an increase
Of 3.6 and 80 per cent, respectively, with
nothing to do with it.
When this age factor is applied to the
observed increase, and allowance is made
for greater populations of cities and more
willingness on the part of families to
have their relatives taken care of in
institutions, it is pointed out, almost
everything is accounted for. Neverthe-
less the situation as he sees it is serious
enough. Out of the 2,144,80O children
born in 1896 in the United States, from
10000 to 10000 will be admitted to
hospitals for the insane some time in
the course of their lives Every year
some slight increase in this proportion
can be expected.
In 1860, according to recent estimates,
the United States will have population
of close to 10000 600, including much
larger percentage of persons over SO
than does the present population. APP
plying the age factor, this means, DR..
Dorm calculates, that in that year $4,000
persons will be admitted to insane hos
pitfalls for the first time-about twice
the present number of annual first adj
missions This will be in spite of the
fact that the total population will have
increased less than Is per cent.
Actually, he finds, commitments are
decreasing for both men and women
under the age of so. Above that they
are increasing rapidly, not because an
elderly person is more likely to go in
sane than before, but because more per-
sons will reach the age when mental
breakdoWns are most likely.