Memorandum on social insurance and allied services in their bearing on neurotic disorder
1943 1943 1940s 19 pages 12 efficiency and at the same time requiring proof of their social insurance payments. (4) The Care of the Injured Workman. (a) Causes of "Compensation Neurosis." A limited form of compensation for accident or industrial disease was introduced in 1897 and...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
|---|---|
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
[1943?]
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/1670FE7D-94F9-4F2B-B74E-1B0308B09868 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/32C4F653-A80C-4607-A9E8-A48B8FF1F222 |
| Summary: | 1943
1943
1940s
19 pages
12 efficiency and at the same time requiring proof of their social insurance payments. (4) The Care of the Injured Workman. (a) Causes of "Compensation Neurosis." A limited form of compensation for accident or industrial disease was introduced in 1897 and generalized in 1906. It placed upon each employer a legal liability to compensate any employee for loss of earning capacity, the amount being partly determined by previous earnings. The usual rate was 30s. per week. A modified system of family allowances was introduced in 1941, but applied only to male workers. The Beveridge plan proposes that liability should be a State responsibility, and lump sum payments will be abolished. Under present conditions many psycho-neurotic states are caused or aggravated by the machinery of the Workmen's Compensation Act. In many cases the energy and interest of the injured workman is diverted from trying to get well to struggling for adequate compensation or a lump sum. In short, it may be said that the prospects of a lump sum may induce the patient to prolong an incapacity, and it may disturb his whole social life to the detriment of himself, his family and the State, and the failure to receive the amount he was led to expect often leaves him embittered and disillusioned. Anxiety symptoms in compensation cases at present are much aggravated by financial worry arising from the large difference in many cases between previous earnings and compensation payments. Many compensation neuroses arise from a combination of preoccupation, ignorance and insecurity about the future. The same conditions will continue to arise in a modified form under the Social Security Plan, and can best be dealt with by Social Service work. In the past compensation neuroses have arisen from a combination of insecurity due to inadequate weekly payments and the spurious prospects of a lump sum settlement. Both conditions are to be deplored, and the abolition of lump sum settlements is especially welcome. To obviate the development of traumatic neuroses, rehabilitation must start from the time of the accident. Thus Russell Brain (1941) states : "Rehabilitation should begin with the general practitioner or Casualty Officer who first saw the patient ; these need to learn the right psychological handling of the injured man, to avoid suggesting grave disability and hospitalizing light cases." This necessitates a much greater understanding of social medicine than exists at present, and also much better out-patient treatment facilities. Lewis (1942) pleads for an appraisal of multiple factors. Proper occupation during the disability goes far to counteract the "preoccupation" emphasized by Hart (1942). Each case should be under the care of a social worker, who would act as link between patient, hospital and employer. "From the first the patient must be made to realize that he is an active collaborator in his own treatment, and that he must accept some responsibility in his progress towards a successful result.." (Jefferson, 1942).
292/847/2/174 |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | TEXT |