ABSTRACT
The urgency of the situation during the war compelled many, grudgingly or anxiously, to turn to Army psychiatry as a means of solving difficulties or obviating disasters. The lessons learnt in Army psychiatry during and following the First World War were largely ignored or forgotten, both in this country and in the United States. The whole success of forward psychiatry depends on early treatment, the essentials of which are adequate sedation by the regimental medical officer immediately after the breakdown, and continuance of this sedation at the M.D.S. and Corps Exhaustion Centre. In order to co-ordinate the various important prophylactic and therapeutic activities of Army psychiatry in war-time, and to maintain necessary liaison with the several branches and departments of the War Office, it is essential that there be an independent central organization as a part of the Army Medical Department.
