1940's Medicine and Health | Psychiatry after World War II

Psychiatry and the War.

Psychiatry came to the attention of the government and the public during World War II, when more than a million men were rejected from military service because of mental or neurological disorders. Of those inducted into the army and later given medical discharges, 40 percent were dismissed for psychiatric reasons. During the war 850,000 soldiers were hospitalized for psychiatric disorders. Many conscientious objectors were assigned to serve in mental hospitals during the war years and brought back with them tales of neglect, overcrowding, and brutal treatment in the public mental hospitals. Psychiatrists and others blamed these problems on a great, unmet need for psychiatric services.

The Scandal of Neglect.

At the end of the war the scandal of public mental hospitals became the subject of Mary Jane Ward's best-selling novel in 1946, The Snake Pit. In another widely read book,...