Following the Korean War, Major (Dr.) William E. Mayer, who would
later become the U.S. Army's chief psychiatrist, studied 1,000 American
prisoners of war who had been detained in a North Korean camp. He was
particularly interested in examining one of the most extremely and
perversely effective cases of psychological warfare on record - one that
had a devastating impact on its subjects.
American soldiers had been detained in camps that were not considered
especially cruel or unusual by conventional standards. The captives had
adequate food, water, and shelter. They weren't subjected to common
physical torture tactics. In fact, fewer cases of physical abuse were
reported in the North Korean POW camps than in prison camps from any
other major military conflict throughout history.
Why, then, did so many American soldiers die in these camps? They
weren't hemmed in with barbed wire. Armed guards didn't surround the
camps. Yet no soldier ever tried to escape. Furthermore, these men
regularly broke rank and turned against each other, sometimes forming
close relationships with their North Korean captors.
When the survivors were released to a Red Cross group in Japan, they
were given the chance to phone loved ones to let them know they were
alive. Very few bothered to make the call. Upon returning home, these
soldiers maintained no friendships or relationships with each other. Mayer had discovered a new disease in the POW Camps - a disease of
extreme hopelessness. It was not uncommon for a soldier to wander into
his hut and look despairingly about, deciding there was no use in trying to
participate in his own survival. He would go into a corner alone, sit down,
and pull a blanket over his head. And he would be dead within two days. The soldiers actually called it "give-up-it is." The doctors labeled it
"mirasmus," meaning a lack of resistance, a passivity. If the soldiers had
been hit, spat upon, or slapped, they would have become angry. Their
anger would have given them the motivation to survive. But in the
absence of motivation, they simply died, even though there was no
medical justification for their deaths.
Despite relatively minimal physical torture, "mirasmus" raised the overall
Death Rate in the North Korean POW camps to an incredible 38% - the
highest POW death rate in U.S. military history. Even more astounding
was that half of these soldiers died simply because they had given up.
They had completely surrendered, both mentally and physically.