Psychiatric Diagnosis

[Corndog]

Are there any records of Bukowski's psyciatric assessment - his 4-F from 1941?

 

[hoochmonkey9]

fbi file info

 

[Olaf]

God, love the use of the word, 'malingerer' it's so quaint, not used much these days. A nice euphemism for 'nutter case' haha! Or, indeed, an 'a dessenter'. ;)

Or, more accurately, malingering = the act of intentionally feigning or exaggerating physical or psychological symptoms for personal gain.

Could that be the best descrption of a poet? haha, Ironically, perhaps soooo!

Mind you, when faced with War, we really should all become SICK AT THE IDEA! i feel.


god bless buk!

 

[Corndog]

It sounds too easy

God, love the use of the word, 'malingerer' it's so quaint, not used much these days. A nice euphemism for 'nutter case' haha! Or, indeed, an 'a dessenter'. ;)

Or, more accurately, malingering = the act of intentionally feigning or exaggerating physical or psychological symptoms for personal gain.

I get that...... But doesn't it sound too easy?
I wondered ir anyone had any real evidence of Buk's mental frailty?

 

[mjp]

"Failing To Meet Medical Standards" could mean a lot of things. I don't think U.S. military records fall under the Freedom of Information Act, so we'll probably never know for sure.

 

[Bukfan]

The FBI files says "found to be physically and mentally disqualified for military service and rejected for "Failing To Meet Medical Standards". I wonder what the physical part was about. Of course, it could be anything, such as a bad back or whatever...

 

[Sircha]

Given he was barely 21 when assessed, famous for nothing, his future talent unrealized, he must've been one hell of a mess. Maybe his acne scars made him look madder than he was. It's hard to imagine that a 21 year old could have faked being so mentally incompetent that he was deemed to be of no use even for cannon fodder... (unless he was in fact nearly insane, of course)...

... but then just maybe the psychiatric assessor intuited his future talent and did him a favor - a remote possibility (but even less so would have been the likelihood of his worldwide fame in 1941/42).

 

[1fsh2fsh]

"Henry Chinaski?" "Yes." "Sit down." I sat down. "Do you believe in the war?" "No." "Are you willing to go to war?" "yes." ........ I've always loved that line. Pure Bukowski...

 

[mjp]

Given he was barely 21 when assessed...

He was a few days from his 24th birthday, actually. But I'm quite sure they did everyone they rejected a favor. You know, if you prefer living to dying.

 

[Sircha]

True. The luck would lie in being mad / sick enough to be rejected (or possessing the skill to fake it)... I wonder if he would have been rejected during recruitment for the Vietnam war. Is it true that the standard of acceptability was somewhat lower?

 

[1fsh2fsh]

I wonder if he would have been rejected during recruitment for the Vietnam war. Is it true that the standard of acceptability was somewhat lower?

hell, they would of taken a one legged dwarf junkie. and of course we had the draft back in those days. many of my friends had to take the choice of jail time for drug offences or the service.

 

[Sircha]

Lucky Chucky. Given his lifestyle no doubt they'd have regarded him as the perfect candidate.

 

[informal]

32nd street and lancaster ave now "the philadelphia armory" where bukowski was examined is now a historic spot here in philadelphia. found it funny to recognize that address.

 

[Father Luke]

Great trivia question (hint hint)