Emergency Psychiatric Treatment During a Mass Rally: The March on Washington
WILLIAM T. CARPENTER JR. M.D.1,
NORMAN R. TAMARKIN M.D.2, , and
DAVID E. RASKIN M.D.3
1 Research Psychiatrist, Psychiatric Assessment Section, Adult Psychiatry Branch, Bldg. 10, Room 3N212, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Md. 20014, National Institute of Mental Health
2 Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
3 Chief, Psychiatric Residency Program, Vestermark Division, National Center for Mental Health Services, Training and Research, National Institute of Mental Health
The authors present a rationale for establishing emergency psychiatric facilities during mass demonstrations. Special aspects or attributes such as trust, confidentiality, the authoritarian role of the physician, legal complications, the management of potentially violent patients, and the evaluation of thought processes are discussed. The low incidence of psychiatric casualties and the relative rarity of adverse drug reactions during the November 1969 March on Washington are documented: the majority of the most disturbed patients came to Washington for idiosyncratic reasons and did not regard themselves as antiwar protestors.
