Guadalcanal Neurosis

"Each man must have a breaking point." On Guadalcanal many a man came close to that realization.

Last week the mental suffering on Guadalcanal was described to the American Psychiatric Association in Detroit by Lieut. Commander Edwin R. Smith of the Naval Hospital at Mare Island, Calif. In the frankest statement on war's psychiatric casualties yet passed by the Army or Navy, he discussed "a group neurosis that has not been seen before and may never be seen again." The neurosis occurs in steady men who have been subjected to prolonged warfare without rest or hope--as on Guadalcanal. Said Commander Smith: "This was not the sudden and quickly terminated but terrific rape of Pearl Harbor, nor the similarly acute days of Dunkirk. This was the worst of both of them, prolonged literally for weeks. . . . Never before in history have such a group of healthy, toughened, well-trained men been subjected to such conditions."

Abuse After Dark. Commander Smith had seen 500 neurotic marines at the Mare Island hospital, nearly all of them from Guadalcanal. "All of them in their composite story give a picture of physical and mental strain that combines the best of Edgar Allan Poe and Buck Rogers. One cannot help but believe that the enemy made a careful study of our psychology and our ways of thinking and living, and used this knowledge against us. . . . Most of us consider the night as a time for rest . . . the Japs centered their activities during this period. They were taught a few American words or phrases, chiefly threatening or profane, and the dark hours filled with this abuse. They were Machiavellian in their cleverly timed bombings and raids.

"All of these men lost weight and none of them were pudgy when they landed on the beach. Weight losses in muscular, toughened young adults ran as high as 45 lb. Rain, heat, insects, dysentery, malaria all contributed--but the end result was not bloodstream infection nor gastrointestinal disease, but a disturbance of the whole organism, a disorder of thinking and living, of even wanting to live. . . .

"Fear of all kinds had to enter into the causative picture. Most men experienced fear as they approached the beach. Some tell you of their fear of being afraid and of feeling relief and exhilaration as soon as they went into actual combat. But new attacks, new near bomb hits would relight sudden fear. . . . As the weeks passed, hope left most of these men. . . . Soon they were sure that . . . they were expendable, doomed. . . . Fatigue wore them down, painful aching fatigue that they felt could never be relieved or cured."

"It Was Pathetic." When Commander Smith first saw them, they had all had the benefit of a three-week ocean trip, and said they felt "much better." But they had common symptoms galore: headaches, sensitivity to sharp noises, periods of amnesia, tendency to get panicky, tense muscles, tremors, hands that shook when they tried to do anything. They were "frequently close to tears or very short-tempered." Men who formerly took pride in their ability to hold their liquor "found that a couple of short beers would make them cry like babies or want to fight everyone in sight."

The Naval Hospital tried to relieve their tension by rest, food and quiet, and the assurance that no one would consider them cowards--"It was pathetic to see how grateful they were." But rest can go on too long, and after a few weeks some men grew tense again.

"Very Doubtful." Some of the Marines have been sent home on leave. Commander Smith is not sure how many will completely recover, but believes most of them will get along in civilian life. "Over 30% are being sent back to limited duty, and in some of these cases we are being disappointed by too prompt recurrence of tension and anxiety states. It is our intention to give these men six months' duty within the continental limits before considering their return to full duty--and while that probation period has not yet passed, we are all very doubtful that any of them can go back to the action that they faced last fall."

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