Evening star., 1953-12-25
Older GIs Crack Up
Easier, Study Reports
Most Breokdowns Come
In First Yeur in Army
By Thomos R. Henry

The older the soldier the greater -
the probability that he viii have some
sort Of nervous or mental breakdown
in the Army in wartime.
This is the conclusion Of an extern
sive analysis Of psychiatric casualties
during the last war reported by DR.. Nor
man @. Brill and q group Of associates
from the pSychiatric department OF
George Washington University Medical
School. It was part Of q program Of
such studies being sponsored by the Ma
tional Research Council and the Vet
erans' Administration.
Reports in the past. based on made
quate data, have been quite CONTRA
dictory and some have contended that
the greatest danger Of crackup came
in the younger age groups. The George
washington scientists proceeded on
the hypothesis that the capacity OF
resistance to stress and danger differs
with all men. Some break down with
repetition Of petty annoyances and
minor hardships, such as are inevitable
in Army life. without any particular
danger attached to them. Others can
advance in the face of mortar fire
through live mine field without show
ing any particular emotions. But, by
and large, the greater the danger, the
fewer the men who win stand up to
it without mental or emotional
blowup.
Tricky Statistics.
From this basic point on, DR.. Brill
points out, statistics become extremely
tricky and false conclusions easy to
reach, because of the difficulty Of esti-
mating the stress to which various age
groups are subjected. During the t1rst
year of service, however, men IN their
30s have about twice the breakdown
rate of the 18-19-year-old group. This
is the period when the rate is highest
for all ages. It also is the time when
the danger is least. Few see any actual
combat during the first year. 1t usually
is passed in training camps In the
United States. But the older the man
the more his habits have been fixed
and the harder to adjust to military
life.
The first year is q screen. 1t takes
out of the service those who obviously
are emotionally unfit and mentally un-
stable of all ages. During the second
year there is very little difference in
the rate for average age groups. BY
this time the men actually are in COM
bat. Despite the greater danger. 1t was
shown in the last war, breakdoWnS
decrease by about Is per cent.
It is not fair to assume, however.
that the older men face quite the same
dangers as the younger age group even
as members of infantry rifle companies.
They are far more likely to have jobs
as cooks, clerks, and the like which
keep them out of the actual firing line
most of the time. In the third year the
rate for the younger group shoots up
probably due to the long continued
stress of dangerous assignments.
Rate Climbs.
Starting with the fifth year, espe-
cially in combat, the rate goes up for
all. but especially for the older men.
There apparently Is definite limit to
the length of time man can face the
dangers of battle.
One purpose of the study was to de-
-termine whether military service had
an especially bad effect on the minds
of youths of the 18-19-year group. IT
has even been suggested that they are
too young to serve.
The results give no support to this
contention. Whatever bad effects mill
tary training and exposure to danger
may have, it certainly is not as appar-
ent in these youths, by the scale OF
actual breakdowns, as among those who
have started to get established in life
They have, for one thing, less to worry
about and they have fewer established
ways of life which must be changed.