Starvation in Psychiatric Institutions in Sweden

Kristina Engwall [1] compared the nutritional status in Swedish mental hospitals and institutions for the "feebleminded" during the two world wars with those in German institutions of the same two eras. Both countries had high death rates during World War I. During World War II, the Nazis used starvation as a deliberate means of killing disabled people. In Sweden, rationing due to war also affected the patients. There was, however, no division of patients into "worthy" and "unworthy" eaters. Despite marked weight loss, there is no evidence that mortality rates at Swedish institutions increased-except at one, the Vipeholm. The patients at Vipeholm were severely disabled and required assistance in eating. It seems most likely that the high death rate at this institution between 1941 and 1943 was a result of staff shortages and insufficient assistance to patients needing help, with resultant undernourishment and death.