Selective placement for the handicapped : information for the placement of disabled applicants in competitive employment / War Manpower Commission, United States Employment Service.

Date:
1945
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Selective placement for the handicapped : information for the placement of disabled applicants in competitive employment / War Manpower Commission, United States Employment Service. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    classifications will enable the interviewer to interpret the technical diagnosis in practical terms. 1. The Psychotic A psychotie is one with a severely disorganizing complaint which some- times requires hospitalization. People in this group are sent to mental insti- tutions when disorganization becomes marked and released when their symp- toms diminish enough or disappear. These individuals have a very unrealis- tie relation to their surroundings and usually do not realize they are ill. a. Schizophrenia or dementia praecox This illness frequently has its first manifestation in youth. It is char- acterized by a gradual withdrawal of interest and emotion from real life into a fantastic dream world wherein the hardships and frustrations of real life do not exist. Due to this lack of emotional attention to reality the individual may avoid people. Parallel to the withdrawal, however, there may be a strong attempt to preserve contact with the outside world. When this is so, one sees a hypersensitivity, but not an overt withdrawal. The hypersensitivity may make the person seem very aggressive and quick to quarrel. Because many schizophrenics have artistic ability it seems wise to con- ‘ sider the possibility of artistic train- ing in this group wherever it is practical. The two most common types of schizophrenia are: (1) Simple ality has gone so far that there is little energy or drive in the direction of rea] life. These peo- ple can engage in occupations which require a minimum of thinking or action. They may be sensitive to criticism and, therefore, should not work in groups or in competi- tion with others. In groups they tical jokes and teasing. Under these circumstances they may be- come violent. (2) Paranoid The individual believes that peo- ple are “ganging up” against him and due to this belief he is unduly antagonistic and ready to take offense over trifles. When work- ing in a group he may come to believe that the conversations and jokes which the other workers have among themselyes are di- rected at him. The individual may show a queer, mystical kind of logic in his conversations. He may have delusions of grandeur. He may actually see and hear things which are not there. Whether or not he may work will depend on the degree of contact which he has with reality, or the degree of emotional upset he suf- fers. Success in placing him ealls for a protected job situation. which does not strain him along competi- tive lines, and which does not call for skills which he has not up to the moment developed. The para- noid needs a good deal of reassur- ance from his employer. A recent issue of Industrial Hy- giene cites the case of a production worker who believed she was Queen Elizabeth (schizophrenia). As long as she was addressed in a manner which she considered befitting her dignity, she did an excellent job at her machine. A United States Employment Serv- ice office in New York placed a woman with auditory hallucinations who re- mained in her job several months. She quit only because the change of co-workers near her made the “little men under the table” return. vb. Manic-depressive psychosis This is a condition which recurs in cycles. These may be predomi-