Army psychiatry in the Korean War: The experience of 1 Commonwealth Division

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the incidence of psychiatric casualties in I Commonwealth Division during the Korean War. It had been hypothesized that these casualties were unusually low compared with earlier conflicts. Casualty returns and psychiatric reports were analyzed and showed that the war fell into two phases determined by the intensity of combat, which, in turn, influenced the nature of the psychiatric disorders encountered. Rates of acute combat stress were closely correlated with battle casualties, although not with total psychiatric admissions or nonbattle injuries. The limitations imposed on the psychiatric liaison service by the medical organization suggested that the incidence of psychosomatic cases, including cold injury, may have been unintentionally underreported.