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Title(s): Combat fatigue irritability
United States Navy training film
Author(s): United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Aeronautics.
Publication
Date: 		1945
Publication
Information: 		[Washington, DC] : Navy Dept., 1945
Language(s): English
Format: Moving image; 036 min.; Black and white; Sound
Subject(s): Combat Disorders - therapy
Irritable Mood
Military Psychiatry
Psychotherapy, Group
Rights: The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain.
Identifier(s): See catalog record: 9300763A
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9300763A
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Description: The case of a Navy seaman suffering from combat fatigue is presented in this film in story form. He is first shown at his duty station in the engine room of a ship, manipulating the valves of water pipes. The scene then shifts to a hospital ward. The sailor's ship has been torpedoed and sunk. The patient has not suffered any physical wounds, but he is jumpy, nervous, combative, and short-tempered. He does not know why he feels this way. He goes home on a thirty-day leave, thinking everything will be fine once he is away from the hospital and the military. But he blows up at his family, walks the streets, gets drunk, and fights with his girlfriend. The only people he feels comfortable with are other servicemen home on leave. He becomes so distraught when hunting in the woods with his father that he is taken to a doctor and then sent back to the navy hospital. He is aware now that he is ill and cannot cope with civilian or military life. Talking about his deep feelings and fears in individual and group therapy sessions helps the sailor recognize and deal with his problems. A navy physician explains the onset and development of this neurosis to a group session and what it will require on the part of the patient to recover from it. He also points out the similarities in the problems suffered by the other members of the group and the need for them all to recognize their feelings before they can begin to deal with them. This film acquaints the patient suffering from combat exhaustion with the nature of his illness and the therapy necessary for recovery. Stars Gene Kelly.
Received: Jan. 20, 1955 as a donation from the U.S. Navy

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