The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-01-19

DR.. Clendening will answer
questions Of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
under modern conditions Of war
fare. Indeed my observation IS
that the civilian population thinks
about it more than anything else.
Glow do they stand it, How
do they endure the strain - Those
are the remarks we hear about US
al the time.
It's no great wonder to US, then,
10 learn that a large number do
break. We still have $1,000 mental
and personality casualties of
World War | in our Veterans Hos
pitfalls and 10000 men a month are
being currently discharged from
the army for psychiatric reasons,
according 10 the magazine, For
tune
A Pitiful Sight
A letter from a friend Of mine,
a medical officer in Africa, makes
special mention Of the large num-
Der Of nervous breakdowns and
mental wrecks he had in the hos
pital He added they were a pitlful
sight.
There are two features Of this
situation that should be remem-
bered by the public. The first is
that these people are really sick,
even if they have no wounds or
organic disease. 1t is common
practice even among some medical
men to say "Oh, there's nothing
the matter with him!" What they
mean is that there is nothing or
ganic the matter. But that doesn't
mean that the trouble is not real,
or that these men are fit for duty,
because they are not. That seems
to have been the attitude Of Gen
eral Patton, for instance, and 1t
must be Of many others. General
Patton didn't seem to think that a
medical officer could tell whether
a man was fit for duty or not, but
his rugged intuition could. That
hard commonsense attitude has
been the greatest bar to the proper
handling Of these cases. A few of
the shocked soldiers are takers,
but an experienced psychiatrist
can usually spot them,
The second point is that the
neuroses of war are the same as
the neuroses Of peace. War simply
supplies the strain and stress that
finds the breaking point. If in
civilian life some such stress came
along the individual would crack
just the same.
Appropriate Name
Objections to the name "shell
shock" for these conditions have
been voiced, but until a better
name comes along, that World
War | diagnosis will do quite well.
1t is true many Of them have never
been near a bursting shell, but
that was true in World War also.
The soldiers call them eight
balls" because Section VIII Army
regulations provide for discharge
for such cases. Or they are bar
rack wacky," or bomb happy.
Air men. have "Zeroitis". The
coast guard has Convoy jitters".
The symptoms show that Git
tiers" is a good word for them.
They have tremblings. They are
unable to concentrate. They are
so alert to noises and movements
that they seem TO keep a constant
vigil. Then there comes on a per-
sonality change. They are de-
pressed, intolerant Of argument,
morose, and they assume a feeling
Of guilt for what is going on.
OF course the draft boards try
TO screen out these men before
they are indicted, and many of
them can be made useful for other
than combat duty.
Treatment for rehabilitation is
carried out by the medical corps,
using rest, extra feeding, occupa-
tional therapy, discussions with
the psychiatrist and all forms of
psychotherapy. The idea is not
so much to return these men to
duty, but to prepare them for USE
fulness on their discharge to civil
life.