Keywords
psychiatry
war
psychological suffering
biological determinism
Ljubljana Psychiatric Hospital
psychiatric diagnostics
World War I
World War II
How to Cite
Abstract
This article examines the role of psychiatrists and psychiatric institutions in the Slovenian environment during the tumultuous periods of World War I, the in- terwar years, and World War II. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative analy- ses of 2,220 patient files from the Ljubljana Psychiatric Hospital, it explores diagnostic trends, focusing on the role of biological determinism in explaining mental disease. The study highlights the influence of Habsburg-era scientific hereditary/biologically oriented traditions and the broader socio-political con- texts shaping psychiatric practices. It also investigates how war psychological suffering was understood, documented, and occasionally dismissed, reflecting broader attitudes toward mental disease and disability in Yugoslavia.
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