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Let There Be Light - WWII Combat Stress Disorder

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keywords: ptsd, post-traumatic stress disorder, combat fatigue, walking wounded, thousand yard stare

Synopsis: Documenting the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD afflicting veterans returning home from WWII and one New York hospital's treatment program which in 1946 was still uncharted territory in the mental health field of 1946...(read more)

Date: 1946
Duration: 00:57:57
Sound: Yes
Color: Monochrome
Type: Public Domain
Language: English
Location: United States

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Let There Be Light - WWII Combat Stress Disorder

In every war, from WWII to the current conflict in Iraq, men return with physical injuries that are obvious, but many have psychological problems that may even more difficult to treat.

A ten-week treatment program for men with psychological problems stemming from combat in WWII. This program was at Mason General Hospital, a Veteran’s hospital in Brentwood, New York. Men enter the hospital, go through the orientation, admission, and evaluation process as the narrator observes that these men, whose education, culture, and development rejects war, share common anxieties: fear, apprehension, disaster, hopelessness, death, and the fear of death; veterans relate their experiences, thoughts, and emotions to hospital medical and professional staff; at night dreams of combat and other fears interrupt the men as they try to sleep.

Next morning, as the process of diagnosis, treatment, and therapy begins, men undergo a series physical exams and psychological tests; shows individual and group counseling sessions; demonstrate use of hypnosis; as weeks pass, the positive affects of therapy become apparent; men relax in the recreation room as combat experiences are no longer blocks to present activities and future plans, with emphasis on the veteran's occupation; visitors day, time for contact with family and friends; group therapy discussion concerning civilian reaction to returning veterans and their adjustment to the post-war pattern; montage contrasting condition of men before and after therapy; men show signs of recovery, of readiness for discharge, and ability to resume civilian life.