Human nature in peace and war

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of psychoneurosis and its causes, and argues that, as a word applied to conditions of nervousness in the US Army (in the 1940s and 1950s), it was a term used primarily for statistical purposes. It distinguishes between two types of nervous (or psychoneurotic) symptoms and, with reference to a case study, shows the beginning of a psychoneurosis. Originally written between 1943 and 1946, it is reproduced with permission from the Berne estate.