Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1942-12-23
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

E8&1$3A NWN &N$2
For the United States Army, with
the war Just year old, the Incl
dence of psycopathic cases has been
much lower than many NP's of
neuro- pSychiatriSts, had predicted
! True. the number of men who have
been in actual combat has perhaps
rot yet been as high as that reach
| ed in the last year. so blitZkrieg at
| its worst has not had fun chance
TO play its tricks ON American
mental stability.
But even for the troops in
training there was 4 psychological
background which might have
led TO an expectancy OF more
nervous breakdowns. In the pre-
Pearl Harbor period, men brought
up in generation of peace were
suddenly put in the Army against
their will. Then Congress pro-
Ionged the draft period.
From these two factors alone,
psychiatristS anticipated numerous
deSertionS, attempted suicides
many complete mental breakdowns.
But they didn't develop with any
more frequency than in the last
war.
Principal reason there have been
no more metal cases in the Ameri-
can Army may come from the fact
that there has been a much closer
spychiatric examination OF men in
Quoted into service.
Ever since the last war, and par
ticularly since 1926, there had been
general staff study of the use of
psychiatric examination for draft
ed men in the Army's mobilization
plans. When Selective Service did
! become a fact in 1910, however,
! there weren't enough psychiatrlstS
available TO man every one of the
$500 draft boards. Preliminary
screening tests were of course Civ
en- by the medical examiners on
each board. and the obvious mis-
fits for military life were culled
A DOUBLE CHECK
Each quota Of drafted men was
| then re-eXamined at the induction
centers of which there were about
l25, and here the Army did see to it
that there was qualified psychla-
| trist to double check the men pass
ed by the local boards. Under this
| double screening, men rejected Tor
psvchiatric reasons numbered about
five or six to the hundred. Today
under new methods of eXamina-
! ton. with only the most rudlmen-
| tarv check at local draft boards but
with a much more careful check
| at the induction centers, the num-
| Der Of men rejected as mentally or
nervously unsuitable for army lie
runs as high as ga per cent.
Most soldiers being indicted
into the Armv have probably not
been aware that they were be-
ing psyched. They may have not
ed that the man at the end OF
the examining row, the last doc
tor to give them a going over,
has been a kindly man who had
been content to ask couple OF
innocent questions. This last
doctor would of course have the
advantage of physical eXamina-
lions made bv officers at the head
of the line, and on the mans
card would be reports on heart,
lungs, reflexes and so on. With
this data from the regular phys
icians and his own quick check
I'm on the incidence Of mental or
nervous disease in the family his
tory. the psycfiatrist might find
clews to identify likely psychia-
trio cases. Then would come the
questions.
Did the soldier like to go out
with girls? Normal boys do. Sur
prise answers to that question some
times gave a cleW to perVersion.
Did the soldier have any obiec-
tons to Poing in the Army? IN
usual replies may have given the
clew to psychological misfits.
Had any of the mans relatives
ever had a nervous breakdown?
Psychiatric cases sometimes run in
families.
Those art rough, hurried tests,
but thew have prevented the Army
from being saddled with many fG-
ture metal cases. which is no small
saving. After US. trooos got to
France in the last war General
Pershing had to cable the War De-
partment asking for more careful
psychiatric examination of men sent
! overseas.
For the entire US. Army in the
last war there were some 100000
neuro-psychiatric casualties. They
occurred at the rate Of % per
| thousand in the us" II per thou-
sand in the AEF That shows 1t
is essential to eliminate psychia-
| trio cases 80
The saving is great. From 1923
10 1870 the Veterans Adminlstra
ion paid out nearly 81 billion for
! he case of ncurO-psvchiatrlc cases
resulting from the last war. Oh
the 90 Veterans Administration Ia
ci!ities maintained today, q are
exclusively for mental cases--33 'ooo
of them. The cost for each case
has been about 10000
That's Why the big effort IS mace
4eaa,, 81 lyocr ant mon If the Army