HUMAN REACTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 23512, 28 February 1940, Page 3

HUMAN REACTIONS

WAR S STRAIN ON NERVES PSYCHIATRIST’S OBSERVATIONS Since husbands, brothers, sons, and sweethearts have left home to join the fighting forces, there has been a noticeable increase in Sydney of nervous disorders, particularly among women* A leading Sydney psychiatrist, with European experience, has watched closely the effect of the war on th» nerves of the people in Sydney, , and h» said recently that when many women realised that their men might have to serve overseas, nervous tension increased. He said, also, that some men who had joined the Second A.T.F., had discovered that their nervous system was not strong enough to face war, and they had had to leave the Army. INTROSPECTION CURED. “ War has different effects upon! people,” he said. “ I should say thaft introspection has much to do with nervous disorders. People worry and ponder about themselves, but when a war occurs, and people are lifted out oR themselves, by an interest which is ms stupendous and tragic that it transcends any personal problem, thenl there is a tendency for certain- human beings with nervous trouble to becouia better. “ It is also true that many peopl* with nervous sickness receive a mental tonic when they read the newspaper* and realise that millions of people in the world are much worse off than they are.

“ That is one side of the picture* There is another side which occur# . when the war comes into direct con- ( tact with the lives of people. Such was the case with the Second A.l.F* For the first time many women realised that the war was real and earnest, and they suffered accordingly. GERMAN REGIMENTATION. “ A long war imposes’ a dangerou# strain on everyone. The German people* for example, have been regimented ta such a degree that no longer are they; able to think wholly for themselves. If this war continues long there mus# be a crack in the human fibre of r h«# Reich. “Human beings are not meant ta stand such a strain. The fact that tha German people have been regimented mentally will make the crack more dan* gerous and wider when it does come* The nervous reactions of such people are always more violent than those of a more balanced people. “ It is a most interesting problem purely from the medical point of view. The Germans are not Martians, or people of iron. Thev are subject to tha same emotional and nervous stresses that we are How long will their nerves stand the strain? On thati hinges largely the peace of the world.”