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New Method Used to TreatMental CasesNEW YORK, April 25 (INS)-*A new technique called “psycho-drama, which consists in having mental casualties of the war reenact in impromptu fashion the traumatic experiences they've suffered overseas, has been introduced with marked success.This form of treatment was introduced by J. L. Moreno, neuropsychiatrist and director of a unique mental hospital in Beacon, N. Y.t where all patients are treated on a stage.The first experiments were conducted in an evacuation hospital in Trier, Germany, by Capt. Ernest Fantel, and are discussed in a 560-page symposium on group psychotherapy. recently published by the American Sociometric Association.Case HistoryOne patient complained about symptoms frequently encountered in combat exhaustion His heart was “beating like a sledge hammer ” He couldn’t retain his food. He showed a marked tremor of his fingers. He had nightmares and would wake up bathed in cold sweat.His history revealed that he had been in a foxhole for three days in Hurtgen Forest without food or water, under bombardment by German artillery and small arms fire.In the treatment, the whole episode was reenacted. One of the wardmen acted as his buddy. They talked, prayed and crouched as they had done in the real situation. The patient was much shaken at first, but gradually gained a more objective attitude and finally was returned to duty.Another soldier had been hearing voices for the previous six weeks. Especially, he was haunted by the voice of a German soldier whom he had shot on guard duty on the Rhine. Although he had hi % the German twice in the chest, the latter got up twice to rush at him before he finally collapsed.Pafienl Loses FearThe American had killed many men in combat but this particular episode stuck in his mind. It was reenacted with much realism, a wardman playing the role of the German. The episode was reenacted several times until the patient gradually lost fear.Another soldier accidentally shot and killed a 12-year-old girl during a street fight ’hi a small Belgian town. He carried her for several miles to the nearest aid station where she died in his arms.Later, he married a girl of 16, despite the objection of her parents. An annulment was obtained and he did not see his former wife until just before he went overseas. She told him she was expecting a baby. She asked him to marry her again, but he refused, on the pretext that life during wartime was too uncertain. The child was born while he was overseas.On Way fo RecoveryThe soldier was shaken, (Tied incessantly, and had to be hospital-tied. The diagnosis was that he had an Inference of guilt from the little Belgian girl to his own unwanted child. At last reports, he was on the way to recovery.Capt. Fantel Is continuing his psvehodram atic treatment with selected cases at the Camp Butner General - Hospital, and also is teaching in a class on psychodrama in the Department of Neuropsychiatry at Duke University.
Newspaper Details
Southern Germany Stars and Stripes
Altdorf, Bavaria, DE
Fri, Apr 26, 1946
Page 2
Full Page
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Dylan S.
USA 13 Sep 2016
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Southern Germany Stars and Stripes
