Evening star., 1944-04-03


though grossly
unethical psy-
chiatric proceed =
ure. The point Thomas R. Henry.
woke up not only cured of his
whisky-induced nurosis, but prob.
ably at the end of his spree and
ready to 60 back to work as soon
as his crecked skull was patched up
That, in somewhat more delicate
fashion, sis the first thing. they do
In the line of treatment, to shell
shock" case sent to this hospital.
use the term "shell-shock" rather
deliberately. 1t is all right so long
as the reader understands that 1t
has nothing to do with shells, moth
ing to do with shock, and applies
generally to nervous break-ups In
the armed services.
Patient Slipped Mickey Finn"
When a patient arrives here Capt
Howard D. Kelley slips him modi-
fed mickey finn" but instead OF
kicking him into the alley he puts
him In warm bed in warm room
Actually, the drug is usually sodium
amytal. 1t throws the patient into
q profound sleep for four to seven
days, during which he is awakened
from time to time to eat, move
about little, etc. But most of the
time he spends fast asleep.
The drug, in prescribed doses, is
harmless. It's effect, in some
amounts, is to make a man mildly
drunk and very suggestible. During
the intervals of sleeping he is in an
ideal condition to receive sugges-
tions that he is getting better. But
the real object is to keep him asleep
with his brain immobilized. Ideally,
he might be described as func-
tioning, living body without a head.
Amytal, incidentally, is one of the
truth drugs" allegedly used by the
German Army in questioning war
prisoners, but another truth drug
to be described later, is of more
significance in treatments here.
The advantage of amytal is that
prescribed doses have standard ef-
fects. Anything which would cut
off mans brain for a time would
have about the same effect. Prob
ably, they say, whisky would work
in great many cases, but its effects
are unpredictable, 1t is more poison
Gus, and 1t leaves one with a worse
hangover. Besides, it is too rare
in England--to be wasted for me-
dicinal purposes.
u.s.. Brain Put in Splints."
DR.. Kelley describes the process
as putting the brain in splints. I"
It is very much the same procedure,
he says. as putting 4 cast on a
broken limb. The, surgeon doesn't
set an arm. It sets itself when
given a chance with nothing else
to do. Neither does a psychiatrist
cure a poisoned brain. 1t cures itself
when it is put at relatively complete
rest.
This is the part of the treatment
used on the assembly line here
about which there has been some
misunderstanding. It has received
considerable publicity, the first of
which was by myself, when it was
used, as it ideally should have been
used, in North Africa and Sicily.
1t is primarily the treatment for a
neurosis induced by an acute epi-
sode, such as very severe fighting
In person of relatively good con-
stitutional stability.
There are few supermen. Every
one has a breaking point. This
varies enormously from individual
to individual. A cut finger may send
a hopeless sissy into Mysteries. When
the head is blown of the fellow in
the next foxhole and you are show
cred with his blood, when you are
nervous and irritable, anyway, from
being pinned down by shell fire for
"a hours, your breaking point is
apt to come even If you are a pretty
stable fellow. And the front-line
combat soldier in this mans army
is usually herman. The break
Ing point" is indicated in a number
OF ways. An arm suddenly may
become paralyzed. A soldier may
ind himself blind. His whole BODY
may be shaken by uncomfortable
tremors. He may start screaming
and be unable to stop, however hard
he tries. Such cases are not rare
They have constituted a large pro-
portion Of battle casualties. The
brain, controlling the nervous sys-
tenn, has been poisoned. At least
that is one explanation and is as
good as any other. The brain tries
TO throw of the poison and fails
The condition goes from bad to
worse.
Victim Is Not Taking"
This is what they called Shell
shock" early in the last war. Now
they prefer anxiety neurosis,
which will be discussed in more de-
tail later. One point which cannot
be stressed too much is that the
victim is not taking" He is not
trying to get safely out of action
His condition is as real as If a mine
had blown up under him. He is a.
pitiable a casualty as comes out o1
battle. His condition is not vastly
different from that of the drunk
who starts throwing bottles around
In one case the nervous system ha.
reached its limit of tolerance fol
alcohol. In the battle case it ha.
reached Its limit of tolerance fol
something else-perhaps there is {
still chemically unknown fear Sc.
cretion" put out by the body ir
self-defense.
For less severe phases of the con.
dition a treatment long has beer
known instinctively by troops them
selves. That is why they must b.
Kept under pretty close discipline
when drawn out of battle. The,
Will give themselves mickey finns
with whatever local intoxicants car
be had-and these may not Away
be obtained by honest barter.
They tell here a good case ii
point. 1t was during a shuttl,
bomber raid over Europe from Eng
land to Africa. The crew of thi
particular ship had been through
hell. They were nervous wrecks