Twenty-four Year Mortality Follow-up of Army Veterans with Disability Separations for Psychoneurosis in 1944, Keehn et al., 1974

Abstract

World War II Army inductees medically discharged for psychoneurosis in 1944 experienced a 20-percent excess mortality over the period 1946-1969, highest in the earlier years and diminishing thereafter. Some of the differential mortality, e.g., from inflammatory diseases of the CNS, may represent diagnostic error in 1944. Behavioral maladjustments, or pathological personality types coexisting with psychoneurosis, may explain the increased risk of death from alcoholism, suicide, and homicide. Although they usually existed prior to service, and most probably continued thereafter, the anxiety and emotional conflicts leading to discharge in 1944 seem not to have been associated with chronic disturbances of physiologic function sufficient to cause severe organic disease in later life. A possible exception is cerebrovascular disease, for which the discrepancy is neither large nor reinforced by similar differences in mortality from hypertension or hypertensive heart disease.

Full text at: https://journals.lww.com/psychosoma..._four_Year_Mortality_Follow_up_of_Army.3.aspx

 

Thought this was an interesting study as it provides some interesting data regarding psychosomatic theories that disturbances of the mind cause physiological disease in the body.

The authors looked at soldiers who were discharged in 1944 for psychoneurosis to see if they hade higher mortality rates and more diseases 24 years later than a matched control group.

The psychoneurosis group did have a higher mortality rate but this was mostly related to alcoholism, suicide and homicide. Rates of cancer and diseases diseases of the circulatory system were similar. There was an increased risk for certain physical illnesses, but the authors argue that this may also be due to misdiagnosis of psychoneurosis back in 1944.