These writers, working as military psychiatrists in the European theatre of operations where they had ample opportunity to see many 'combat precipitated dementia-præcoxlike reactions', describe three such cases. The patients were treated with shock therapy, narcotherapy, suggestion, hypnosis and short psychotherapy.

The combat soldier who breaks down with a psychoticlike reaction in defending himself against the traumatic experiences of combat, utilizes what

conscious and unconscious defense mechanisms he possesses. The psychoticlike reaction is an exaggeration of these defense mechanisms. The prognosis is better for those patients whose thought content during abreaction dealt with the present rather than with past conflicts and who abreacted the consciously remembered traumatic experiences of combat. The writers believe that some other terminology than 'dementia præcox' should be used for the 'reactive regression, reactive projection or reactive psychoticlike episodes' described.