Evening star., 1944-04-04

before the invasion last July, had
been trapped in a line of tank fire
other paratroopers killed around hin
and with very little to eat.
He had continued through the
to England, where he had suffered
a nerve breakup lost lot of weight
and passed through five hospitals
in which efforts were made to find
out the nature of his affliction. He
looked like a fine, outstanding SOL
dier. His combat record showed
that he was. His only ambition, he
says, is ito go back there and slug
it out with the"
This man appeared before DEM
onstration clinic here today. He
was brought in in wheel chair His
body was convulsed with tremors.
When asked his name it took him
a full minute to answer. 1t was a
great effort for him to give his age
and home town. When asked about
his Sicilian experiences he faltered
q moment and then started quick,
vivid, extremely detailed description
in normal voice, without an in
stant's hesitation, which lasted for
q full Is minutes.
Could Talk No Longer.
Then he said dramatically: Jesus,
help me" He could talk no
longer. Once more it took him
full minute to give his name. His
statement revealed at one time dur
ing the fighting he had shown very
clear symptoms of anxiety neurosis,
but had overcome them-or thought
he had-by his own willpower.
Now 1t may, or may not, be pos
sible to return this man to combat
duty. It almost certainly will be
possible to keep him overseas on
some kind of military duty. Had he
gone on much longer he probably
would have developed definite
psychqsis which might have con-
tinued for the rest of his life.
Thousands of such cases came
out of the last war. Very few will
come out of this war. The treatment
being given the man is almost pre-
cisely the same-only it probably
must be more extended.
He appeared in a demonstration
for prospective combat surgeons of
what should be done in such cases.
At Celia he should have been put to
sleep for three or four days. Now
he is an extreme case of anxiety
neurosis, yet, as was pointed out to
the assembled surgeons, there are
few soldiers the United States can
less afford to lose.
Man Lost 40 Pounds.
This mans story was unfolded be-
fore the clinic like a Shakespearian
tragedy. The next patient to appear
was also paratrooper who landed
In the same operation He showed
no mental symptoms whatever
Physically he was a wreck, having
lost 40 pounds in a few weeks. He
also wanted to go back.
He kept the audience of doctors
convulsed as he recounted his vari-
Gus adventures-the time he had
gone over the hill" back in the
States to get an engagement ring
worth $3.50 back from girl who had
Tilted him; his experiences as a
gay Lothario among the girls of
Sicily, whose language he under
stood Still the man was in real
trouble and he was an ideal dem
onstration case because he was the
victim 4of a condition likely to be
Of frequent occurrence.
Fairly early In the war, British
doctors began reporting a high in
cidence of stomach ulcers among
combat troops-especially among the
men evacuated from Dunkirk. They
believed these were of psychic origin
and were partly taking the place of
the shell shock" of the last war
Now the diagnosis is not so certain.
This mans case, and that of scores
of others, would have been mistaken
for stomach ulcers by many physi-
clans without thorough examination.
In fact, the mans story showed it
had been so mistaken.
Trouble Lay in Mind.
He seemed a bad stomach ulcer
case in every detail except one
and this one showed clearly that he
had no ulcers. No free acid ap-
peared in his stomach on fasting.
Thus it was demonstrated pretty
clearly that the trouble lay pri-
marily In the mans mind. But he
could not digest his food and was
losing weight faster than would have
been the case If the condition had
been organic.
When the mental genesis of the
trouble-a delayed nervous reaction
from battle-became apparent, he
was sent to this mind repair as
sembly line" commanded by 1t. Col
Ernest Parsons, formerly stationed
at st. Elizabeth's Hospital in Wash
ington There is no reason to sup
pose his recovery will not be COM
plete in few days The modified
insulin treatment used here has
worked like a charm on similar
cases.
Both these men. it was pointed out
by Maj. Howard D. Fabing, who was
conducting the demonstration, easily
might have been lost to the Army if
treatment had been much further
delayed, and the only treatment
necessary was astonishingly simple.
They also were brought forward to
convince the doctors of the fallacy
of popular idea that the man who
develops an anxiety neurosis-it was
called shell shock" in the last war
y have unstable nervous systems
and do not make good soldiers. Both
these men, their records and their
attitudes showed, were of the stuff
Of which heroes are made.
Psychopaths Clog Machinery.
The record of cures" on the as
sembly line would be very high
indeed were 1t not for one type of
neuroSis patient-the constitutional
psycopath. Everything possible is
done for him, but whenever he ap-
pears he clogs up the machinery.
He is the fellow who is always
getting into trouble His record
often shows his career in the Army