Don't be your own doctor! If you're sick - report sick
Soldier's-health poster: a helmeted soldier frowns at a bottle of pills tipped into his palm, under the headline 'Don't be your own Doctor!' and the slogan 'Never give a germ a break!'. The appeal is a warning against self-treatment, with the fear-appeal faint and carried by the grimace and the word 'germ'.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. War Department
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Health, War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. War Department. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-655 (NAID 514133).
Text on the object
Don't be your own Doctor! IF YOU'RE SICK - REPORT SICK NEVER GIVE A GERM A BREAK! Distribution: Continental: In accordance with Part II, ASF Cir. No. 313, 1944 and Section I, ASF Cir. No. 181, 1944. Overseas: 1 of Opns (10), Depts (10), SvC (10), Base Comds (10), Island Comds (10), Def Comds (10), Sectors (10), Base Sectors (10), Armies (1), Corps (1), D (1), B (1), R (1), Sep Bn (1). DON'T BE YOUR OWN DOCTOR Approved War Department Graphic Training Aid 8-13 WAR DEPARTMENT - 15 OCTOBER 1944 Reproduction without permission prohibited [imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1944-O-619225
