Abstract
IT is reported by Science Service that at a recent meeting of the South Psychiatric Association held at Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. C. Charles Burlingame, of Hartford, Conn., discussed the Nazi utilization of applied psychology in warfare. Dr. Burlingame pointed out that Hitler is mentally abnormal, but because he is a hysteric, it must not be assumed that his thinking is not lucid; for he has successfully used the psychological factors of modern warfare to produce mass depressions and mass anxieties in whole nations. In dealing with him, the statesmen of the world have made the grave and tragic error of assuming that he was a normal man, whereas almost any psychiatrist would have known that he could not be expected to function or react in a normal way. Psychology can, however, make a positive contribution to the task of ridding the world of Nazism. In times of war, all the paranoid trends come to the surface; in other words, the primitive brain which supplies the drive and co-ordinates the activities, but lacks the ability to formulate abstract principles, is apt to take charge. This is shown by outbreaks of persecutions and terrorism; such outbreaks are a sign of weakness. Germany will grow progressively weaker as her hatred grows stronger and then suddenly transforms itself into despair and depression. It is the duty of psychiatrists to ward off such outbreaks. They can also watch for possible social gains in times of war; many youths whom medical men would classify as ‘unstable’ might find a new life in the Army, where under intelligent discipline, with security and regular direction, they may become useful citizens.
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Psychology in War-time. Nature 146, 712 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146712c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146712c0