War neurosis, adjustment problems in veterans, and an ill nation: The disciplinary project of American psychiatry during and after World War II.

After World War II, the confidence of American psychiatrists was at an all-time high as a result of their successful participation in the war. When the incidence of mental breakdown in the American armed forces rose to unprecedented heights, new and effective psychotherapeutic methods were developed to treat the traumatic effects of the extraordinary stresses of warfare. At the same time, social scientists concluded that breakdown incidence was inversely related to morale, which led to the development of preventive measures aimed at specific groups. Both initiatives stimulated a number of psychiatrists to plan projects of social engineering after the war. They first focused on aiding the reintegration of returning veterans. Later, they addressed the poor mental health of the American population as a whole, which they considered to be the consequence of faulty child-rearing methods.