During World War II army physicians discovered that one-quarter of the cardiac patients in army hospitals had conditions traceable to emotional turmoil rather than physical defects. According to Brig. Gen. William C. Menninger, head of the Army Psychiatric Division, one-fifth to one-third of officers and men ailing with gastrointestinal disorders were ill for the same reasons. Sick civilians also suffered from their emotions. Leading specialists estimated that over 50 percent of common medical complaints were psychogenic, or linked to the mind. There were not enough trained psychiatrists to handle these psychosomatic ailments. In 1946, of the nation's 160,000 accredited medical doctors, only 3,500 were psychiatrists. To aid the general practitioner in treating his patients' emotional problems, a neuropsychiatrist from Chicago recommended the "narcosynthesis" technique used widely during the war for combat fatigue. A patient given the truth serum sodium amytal would speak openly, and the doctor could quickly...