NERVES.

Observer, Volume XXXVII, Issue 34, 28 April 1917, Page 3

NERVES.

Shock and Madness

VARIOUS dega-eejs of madness, induced by military service of the most terrible kind, are at present presented to the public under the general title of "neurasthenia." The average person conceives "neurasthenia" to be the sort of thing that a money-igr'uflbbea.' might get in working long hours gathering in dollars, the "nervous break-down" of a perfect lady who plays bridge seven days a week, the collapse of the drug-taker, and so on. They talk of neurasthenic soldiers who have survived the hell of modern battle much as they do a man whose nerve strain has been induced by over study. There are easels of soldier neurasthenics in mental hospitals, some of them acutely sensible of their positions. Some medical persons belieA'e that entire forgetfulness of the horrors of Avar, dissociation from mentally afflicted persons,- and open-air life Avill ultimately cure these neurasthenic soldiers. But in any case the Avar induced disease is to be a •deeply serious problem. It is suggested that farm colonies be established for the employ of neurasthenic soldiers.

Dr. Arthur S. Herbert, of Rotorua, is illuminating on the subject, and we quote him gladly, especially as neurasthenic soldiers 'are often in the hands of the police, and are likely to be punished by the law ■for being ill. Dr. Herbert says: "The psychic difficulty is that men find it extremely difficult to settle ■down again to the monotony of ordinary Avork after the upheaval they have been through, and, were, the farms not self-supporting, or nearly .so, I think the. task would be hopeJess. Another difficulty is the mental apathy to work, a war weariness, which is not laziness, and which requires considerable patience, tact, and perseverance on the part of the supervisor if it is to be overcome." These matters are understood by the sympathetic, the ■observant, and the skilled, but to the average official neurasthenia or wiar-ihdniced -madness as simply "breaking the peace of our suffering Lord the King," as Grummer says in "Pickwick." In short, the world's brightest hero is liable, after intolerable suffering, to be "lumbered" for his wickedness in getting shell shock or wounds, pun-

ished for his carelessness in going to the Avar and strolling into "barrage" fire, and imprisoned for losing his balance after a hail of ma-chine-gun bullets. The Government, which declares its heart bleeds for the soldier, admits a mentally deficient pensioner into a lunatic asylum, and /impounds his pension! The soldier's relatives might easily be excused for believing the Government to bo. less softhearted than it pretends to be. The public and the police may be absolutely assured that no soldier returning from Avar service is strictly normal, and that, therefore he cannot be gauged by civilian standards. The person who has not seen -war or felt war may say "Nonsense," but it is plain truth. No treatment short of the greatest

liberality, the greatest kindness, the greatest consideration, and the greatest patience will suffice if the soldier is to get his real deserts.

Soldiers suffer acutely from those things they believe to be unjust. The appalling suddenness with which soldiers are discharged is regarded by them as the gravest of all injustices. Soldiers are often discharged while they are sick—their military identity is lost, and this is a real punishment to a soldier. An officer has gained his rank in the field. He is not, in the strict sense of the word a "commissioned" officer, but a "temporary" officer. If he is silly enough to get wounded or sick he loses his "field allowance" —that is, he is punished for fighting! It is exceedingly likely that if he returns to his regiment he finds he is degraded a step, and that somebody else is senior to him, and permanently on the seniority list. The quaintest thing of all is that he gets no recognition whatever when he returns to New Zealand. Thus, a man may rise from the ranks to a colonelby come home. He has no regimental depot to go to. He doesn't belong to anything on earth except a unit in the field. The home authorities don't iknow him. He is not welcomed, and he is given his discharge even before his pay and allowances are fixed up. It is excessively curious that any officer who has fought and bled can come back to New Zealand, and be ordered into civilian life in the shortest posjsible time- These are the things—pay, promotion, discharge, degradation for having been wounded, etc., that hurt the soldier more than shell fire or bullets, and the country isn't going to do anything about it unless the soldiers themselves (in a body) insist.