Battle for the mind.

Much of what had been learned about shell shock in the First World War was forgotten once peace was restored. When the Second World War broke out no-one was prepared for the flood of shell shock. Notable among the psychiatrists who responded to the situation was Dr. William Sargant who boldly applied insulin shock therapy to severely shocked men. The scale of such casualties prompted the introduction of selection tests, mental and physical, to sort out those who were unsuitable for the armed services, and those already enlisted were tested and often moved to different areas of responsibility. But there was antagonism in the army towards psychiatry and those unable to withstand the strain of battle might find themselves treated as deserters. The RAF gave little consideration to mental casualities. Morale was of the highest importance and men under strain either kept quiet or were bundled out of the service. The 1944 D-Day landings marked the first occasion on which the army planned for emotional casualties and treatments which included insulin shock therapy were carried out close to the battlefront, with the aim of returning men to their units as swiftly as possible. But the effects of shock and stress were often felt long after the war ended and relatives awaiting the soldiers' return were unprepared for the mental problems which persisted for years afterwards. There is a section towards the end of the programme on Lt. Col. Tom Maine of Northfield Hospital. Contributors to this programme include Lt. Col. Ian Palmer (Professor of Military Psychiatry), Dr. Desmond Murphy (Army Medical Officer), Dr. Ann Dally (Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine), Dr. Peter Dally and the poet Vernon Scannell.