Evening star., 1944-01-30
By Frank Carey.

global war to drive home front Amer
leans crazy.
Some psychiatrists say that the very
stresses which war has brought to the
home front may have served as mental
tonics to many nervous personalities
saving them from more serious trouble.
Since 1910 there has been no abb
normal increase in admissions to mental
hospitals, and the figures for 1912 even
show hospitahzed population Of mem
tally Ill smaller than would have been
expected in year Of peace.
Complete figures for 1943 are not yet
available, but DR.. Lawrence Kolb, chief
of the United States Public Health
Services mental hygiene division, says
there is no evidence to show any in
crease In admissions to mental hospitals
due to the war"
Members OF the armed forces who are
discharged for neuropsychiatric reasons
would figure in any survey of mental
conditions on the home front, but
breakdown Of the number who may
have entered mental hospitals other
than veterans installations is not pos
sible at this time.
One-Third Of Discharged.
The Army has estimated that neuro-
psychiatrics constitute approximately
one-third Of all Army discharges for
disability, but being rated IN. p" by the
armed forces does not necessarily mean
a man must be confined to mental
hospital.
On December ! there were 1891
neropsychiatric veterans Of this war
still in veterans hospitals out Of
1880 such casualties hospitalized in
veterans installations since Pear Harbor.
And the Veterans Administration de-
clares that no veteran Of this war who
sought such disqualification has had 1t
refused.
American experience on the home
front with regard to wartime mental
disease is paralleling that of the British,
although the impact Of the war on the
two countries is not exactly comparable.
Neither the blitz, with its bombs and
fire, nor the threat Of actual invasion
after Dunkerque resulted in any up
trend in the number Of serious mental
breakdowns among the British, although
there was some increase in minor men
tai ills.
And there's been no abnormal increase
in this country despite the threat OF
coastal attacks by enemy warships and
xI> nf rOarrf1acc
homes as sons, brothers, fathers were
called to war, and the wholesale changes
that have come about in our way of life.
Recent Normal Increase.
In considering the number of patients
In mental hospitals. it must be borne
in mind that for number of years
there has been a normal increase in
the population of mental hospitals.
This increase is due to such factors as
the growth of the national population
and greater public education regarding
treatment of mental disease, but princi-
pally to the fact that deaths and dis
charges in any one year do not offset
the number of persons who must be re-
tanned longer than a year. There's al
ways a semipermanent population in
these hospitals.
Since 1885 this normal" increase has
ranged from 10000 to 5000 year.
Statistics compiled by the American
Medical Association show that the aver
age population of all mental hospitals
in 1910 was 590712.
In 1941 it was 603, ITO; in 1943 it was
6Os,773.
You'll note that between 1910 and
194l the increase was approximately
average, whereas between l941 and 1912
our first full year at war-the in
crease was only about half the normal.
See Some Benefits.
Part Of that falling of may be due.
mental health statisticians say, to the
fact that a large segment of the Nations
population was removed from civilian
life to the armed forces-and cases de-
veloping among that segment will show
up in full later.
But some psychiatrists declare that
part of the falling off may be due to a
psychologically beneficial effect that the
demands of wartime living has upon
many persons who might otherwise have
suffered serious mental breakdowns.
DR.. Winfred Overholser, superintendent
of st. Elizabeth's Hospital here, the
Federal institution for the mentally i'll,
says wartime increased employment has
relieved many persons Of. the financial
worries which sometimes lead to mental
disease.
War, he says, calls for a strengthen
ing Of community. spirit, engenders
among most Of the people the feeling
that every. one has q stake in the fight,
and Lifts many out Of their mental shells.
Thus the introvert-the man who is
conscious Of his mental isolation and
who lives IN tortMing dream of SELF
pity-may forget himself in a new ac-
tivity, such as being an AFRAID warden
or volunteer fireman.
Find Antidote In Aid.
And the woman who has been running
to doctors to tell of her inhibitions-
some real, some imaginary-may find an
antidote for her worries in wrapping
bandages for the Red Cross, or serving
meals at q war canteen.
For people never previously troubled
with mental quirks. the war brought
stresses never experienced before-but
1t also brought the means to relieve
them In many cases.
Dr.. H. Warren Dmham Of Wayne
University In report to the American
Journal Of Sociology about year after
we had entered the war made these OBJ