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Underlying the problem of rehabilitation is the problem of conscious and unconscious motivation which determine how a man uses his strength and his opportunities. Such things as the unconscious meanings of injury and disease, the unconscious functions of disability, the critical phases in the readjustment of the wounded, and the practical consequences of these considerations for a rehabilitation program must all be investigated. This problem requires the manipulation of conscious motivating forces through the influence of hospital procedures and aptitudes, of family and friends and of national morale. Three phases may be recognized in the adjustment of a wounded veteran: first, an initial or acute phase in which fear, distorted by the processes of conscious and unconscious fantasy, is more or less dominant. In the second or transitional phase emotional isolation and progressive loss of identification with the military unit takes place. This is accompanied by signs of shame and guilt. In the last or chronic phase the man's readjustment is dominated by his attempt to return to civilian life or to duty.
It is very important to help the patient in his fight against his feeling of being a 'sucker'. In this connection there was one notable omission throughout the entire reconditioning program: no consideration was given to post war goals. 'It is one of the finer aspects of democratic tradition that the military forces conscientiously lean over backwards to avoid any involvement in politics. But who has decreed that to talk or think about the future of his country constitutes "politics"? … When a man risks his life in battle, it is presumably