Hidden Wounds of WW2

“The war has brought to the attention of many Americans that the casualties of battle are not only those who have been physically wounded by shot or shell. In addition, there are those who are injured in mind or emotions. It is also being discovered by friends and relatives that these types of injury are often incurred far from combat, but those involved are nonetheless deserving and in need of treatment and understanding.”

-The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May 1945

William C. Menninger was the director of Neuropsychiatry Consultants Division in the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army, Washington D.C. Menninger broke barriers in the war by studying veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder and mental illness caused by war.

“We must assume that much of the soldier’s life is lived under somewhat unpleasant circumstances; some it –combat–under extremely adverse conditions."

-The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May 1945

During World War II, millions of soldiers suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and mental illnesses. Psychiatrists were called upon to prevent other soldiers from going down the same path as those before them.

“Forty-eight percent of the discharges for disability between January and June 1944 were on the basis of neuropsychiatric disorders...Because of the way human beings’ function, they often react to emotional problems with the development of physical symptoms.”

- The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May 1945

A World War II soldier exhibits an unfocused and weary stare, effects of shell shock, commonly called "Thousand-yard Stare"

Source: National Archives, 1944

After World War II, many soldiers came back to America with post-traumatic stress disorder. At that time, the Menninger Foundation was one of the only facilities to utilize psychoanalysis for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. The use of psychoanalysis became one of the most effective ways to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. William Menninger strove to decrease the amount of deaths due to post-war mental illnesses. With his research and experience from his time serving in the Army, he came back to the family clinic and continued to break barriers in the treatment of mental illnesses.

"Menninger and his allies launched a campaing to Americanize, medicalize, and popularize their profession. They tried to redirect the insular psychoanalytic community away from its theoretical concerns and intensive focus on the individual unconscious by advocating assimilation with psychiatry and stressing practical applications. To a large extent, the rapid growth and increasing prestige of psychoanalysis in postwar America can be attributed to their efforts."

- Rebecca Plant, Menninger and Psychoanalysis, 2005

William's groundbreaking work during World War II led to the Menninger Clinic becoming the preeminent psychiatric training institution in the world. In 1946, approximately 108 doctors who served in World War II, came to Kansas and started their psychiatric residency at the world-renowned Menninger School of Psychiatry. The Menninger Foundation was ultimately responsible for training 7% of the nation's psychiatrists.

Menninger served as Surgeon General in the Army, researching the effects of war on the human psyche.

Source: Kansas Memory, 1940s

The Hidden Wounds of World War II