Mentally Maimed, Differently Treated. Attitudes Towards Mentally Disabled Civil War Veterans in Finland 1918–39

Abstract

This article analyses the ideological, political and medical positioning of mentally ill veterans of the Finnish Civil War of 1918 in inter-war Finland. Using pension applications, the writings of veteran activists, parliamentary debates, psychiatric examinations and military documents this article shows that war-related mental disability was a locally and nationally politicised, sympathised and justified phenomenon in inter-war Finland, as long as the maimed veteran had fought honourably on the White side of the internal conflict. White narrative also fuelled ideological interpretations of war neurosis and mental disability among doctors and even psychiatrists, many of whom had participated in the Civil War on the White side. Studying mental illness in a multiveteran cohort provides an important vantage point for understanding the values of hardiness and stamina as masculine ideals, and allows us to trace the flexible intersection of these demands with political identity, hegemonic ideological objectives, medical knowledge and class considerations after a civil war. It broadens our understanding of the influence that ideological and political forces have in the formation of medical understanding and diagnostic practice where mental health disabilities are concerned.