Evening star., 1944-09-24
St. Ebets Hospital Performs Heaviest Task Vital Wartime Role
By Robert J. Lewis.

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Miss Herriott stood with her back to
the stage. facing dozen young men
and q few girls. Only the stage was
lighted.
To-day let's try to work out something
on our first job" she said. "How ABOUT
you, George? What was your first job9"
Shining shoes, I guess" said the
tanned Navy man.
"How did you happen to shine shoes?"
"Well, I wanted to get some money
for chemical SET" George said.
How much did you charger"
"Whatever they wanted to give"
"You mean to say you let the Gus
toners set the price?"
Most always" said George. "Oh,
sometimes would say q dime. But I
only needed SIPS for the chemical SET"
That brought q laugh.
"How long did it take you to get the
money!"
"Oh, couple OF days. shined all the
neighbors shoes and then I quit"
George smiled in recollection.
Miss Herriott spoke again. Lets try
to get that into scene, George. You
pick cut a couple of fellows to be the
neighbors, and just play it. as nearly as
you can remember, the way it hap
pened."
Treating War Casualties
This wasn't game, or Little The
ater experiment, but q treatment for
mental illness. The theater was in
charge of Miss Frances Herriott and
under the direction of psychiatrists.
The stage was in the basement of Hitch
cock Hall, one of $50 buildings which
make up st. Elizabeth's Hospital. ad-
joining Boiling and Anacostia Fields,
just across the Potomac from WASH
ington.
The young men and girls in the audi
ence had been casualties of war just as
much as If they had been wounded on
a battlefield. Now they we're in the
final stages of treatment which would
send them out again into the world
their mental breakdown cured-ready to
take their place in civilian work with
fhon 1,ol
a fractured arm healed, an appendix
removed, or q case of the measles
cleared up.
This treatment-the psychodrama-is
one of the many modern psychiatric
developments by which st. Elizabeths is
salvaging servicemen and civilians at a
greater rate today than ever before in
the history Of the $18,000,000 mental
hospital.
A Remarkable Record
Since the war began, admissions to
St. Elizabeths have more than doubled
The rate of discharges is Is per cent
higher than in peace years The reason
why more cures are effected, explains
DR.. Winfred Overholser, one of the Ma
tion's outstanding psychiatrists and su
perintendent of the hospital since 1887,
is that the proportion of service patients
is high.
Says DR.. Overhdser: "One of the
main things we've learned from the war
is that the average case of mental dis
order occurring in service people tends
to have a considerably better outlook
for prompt recovery than if the same
symptoms occurred in the civilian.
Service people stand a better chance
for recovery since the cause is usually
some phase of military life, and re-
moval from the service even though
only temporary, often enables the
patient to regain his equilibrium very
quickly"
St. Elizabeth's occupies $50 acres OF
grounds. Its emerald lawns, handsome
red brick buildings, 200 different vari-
eties of trees and well-kept walks give
1t the appearance Of a beautiful college
campus. 1t Is one of two Federal civil
ian mental hospitals in the United
States. Though not an Army or Navy
hospital 1t actually is one Of the three
or four largest military hospitals in the
country.
Military and Civilian Patients
This year 1t had more than 5000 pa.
tients under treatment In peacetime
third are from the armed forces, the
Coast Guard and marine services. To.
day the number Of military patients
while unrevealed, is far greater thar
in peacetime. Most of the remainder
are from the District.
Among the more than score group!
OF individuals eligible for admittance
under the law, in addition to resident.
OF the District and service people, are
Virgin Islanders, residents of the Pan.
anna Canal Zone, foreign service officers
interned aliens, inmates of the Soldiers
Home and American Indians.
This sprawling hospital, known al
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