Nurturing a National Neurosis

In this supposedly modern age of psychiatry it is indeed inconsistent and somewhat startling to find that the government of an enlightened country is foisting upon its citizens a state akin to a national neurosis. Reference is made to the manner in which the Veterans' Administration disposes of those individuals who come under its jurisdiction with ills that might be included under the heading of psychoneurosis. We are uninformed whether or not a somewhat comparable situation developed, psychiatrically speaking, after previous campaigns involving this country. There is no reason to believe that such was not the case; but that the neuroses were encouraged and provided with such fertility in which to develop as they were after the World War is unlikely. It is probable that no precedent was set for the psychiatric confusion in which the Veterans' Administration now finds itself. The experience of other governments with this problem should