Chickenhouse Chronicles: Early Warning Signs of Schizophrenia

1939-06-06 (est date) Polly and ElsieMy Aunt Polly and Grandmother Elsie Philips, circa 1939, in Darien, Conn.

This past week we’ve been studying schizophrenia in the psychology class I’m taking at BSU. Schizophrenia often manifests itself in late teens and early twenties. This evening I was reading some of my grandfather’s letters and discovered this one, where he discusses Polly’s frame of mind. In 1943, when this letter is written, she was 21 years old. Two years later she would be diagnosed with schizophrenia. In this letter, my grandfather is an army officer, training recruits at Camp Maxey, Texas. The letter is addressed to my grandmother.

1943-3-8 Pol must arouse some of that fine philosophy of living she had a few years ago.1943-3-8 Pol must arouse some of that fine philosophy of living she had a few years ago. (2)1943-3-8 Pol must arouse some of that fine philosophy of living she had a few years ago. (3)

2 Comments

  1. Laurel Hofmann says:

    Simply fascinating! Henry was so sweet and very much in love with Elsie. It seems their love remained steadfast and they weathered the mental health problems of their daughters.

  2. Betsy says:

    He is very eloquent, much like someone else I know. No mention of Barb?

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