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Social History of Medicine 2004 17(3):463-479; doi:10.1093/shm/17.3.463
© 2004 by Society for the Social History of Medicine
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Civilian Morale During the Second World War: Responses to Air Raids Re-examined

Edgar Jones1, Robin Woolven2, Bill Durodié3 and Simon Wessely4

1 Department of Psychological Medicine, Guy's, King's, and St Thomas' School of Medicine, 103 Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ, UK. E-mail: E.Jones{at}hogarth7.demon.co.uk, 2 Centre for Defence Studies, Department of War Studies, King's College London, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. E-mail: Robin.Woolven{at}btopenworld.com, 3 International Centre for Security Analysis, Department of War Studies, King's College London, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK. E-mail: bill.durodie{at}kcl.ac.uk, 4 Institute of Psychiatry, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9RJ, UK. E-mail: s.wessely{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk

The impact of air raids on civilian morale during the Second World War has been the subject of much dispute. Official histories concluded that the mental health of the nation may have improved, while panic was a rare phenomenon. Revisionist historians argued that psychiatric casualties were significantly higher than these accounts suggested because cases went unreported, while others were treated as organic disorders. Using contemporary assessments and medical literature, we sought to re-evaluate the psychological effect of bombing. There is little evidence to suggest that admissions for formal mental illness increased appreciably, although a question remains about the incidence of functional somatic disorders, such as non-ulcer dyspepsia and effort syndrome. The fact that civilians had little to gain from hospitalization in part explained why dire predictions of mass air-raid neurosis failed to materialize. In the event, civilians proved more resilient than planners had predicted, largely because they had underestimated their adaptability and resourcefulness, and because the lengthy conflict had involved so many in constructive participant roles.

Keywords: psychological casualties, air raids, traumatic neurosis, the Blitz, panic, conversion disorders, somatization, morale


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