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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Why Worry?, by George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Why Worry?
+
+Author: George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
+
+Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8554]
+This file was first posted on July 22, 2003
+Last Updated: May 14, 2013
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHY WORRY? ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Charles
+Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WHY WORRY?
+
+By George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
+Consulting Neurologist To The Massachusetts General Hospital
+
+
+
+The legs of the stork are long, the legs of the duck are short; you cannot
+make the legs of the stork short, neither can you make the legs of the duck
+long. Why worry?--_Chwang Tsze_.
+
+
+TO MY LONG-SUFFERING FAMILY AND CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, WHOSE PATIENCE HAS
+BEEN TRIED BY MY EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE WORRY, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY
+DEDICATED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+No apology is needed for adding another to the treatises on a subject whose
+importance is evidenced by the number already offered the public.
+
+The habit of worry is not to be overcome by unaided resolution. It is hoped
+that the victim of this unfortunate tendency may find, among the homely
+illustrations and commonplace suggestions here offered, something to turn
+his mind into more healthy channels. It is not the aim of the writer to
+transform the busy man into a philosopher of the indolent and contemplative
+type, but rather to enable him to do his work more effectively by
+eliminating undue solicitude. This elimination is consistent even with the
+"strenuous life."
+
+One writer has distinguished between normal and abnormal worry, and
+directed his efforts against the latter. Webster's definition of worry (A
+state of undue solicitude) obviates the necessity of deciding what degree
+and kind of worry is abnormal, and directs attention rather to deciding
+what degree of solicitude may be fairly adjudged undue.
+
+In the treatment of a subject of this character a certain amount of
+repetition is unavoidable. But it is hoped that the reiteration of
+fundamental principles and of practical hints will aid in the application
+of the latter. The aim is the gradual establishment of a _frame of mind_.
+The reader who looks for the annihilation of individual worries, or who
+hopes to influence another by the direct application of the suggestions,
+may prepare, in the first instance for disappointment, in the second, for
+trouble.
+
+The thanks of the writer are due to Miss Amy Morris Homans, Director of
+the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics, for requesting him to make to her
+students the address which forms the nucleus of these pages.
+
+GEORGE L. WALTON.
+
+BOSTON, April, 1908.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+    I. INTRODUCTORY
+   II. EPICURUS AS A MENTAL HEALER
+  III. THE PSYCHO-THERAPY OF MARCUS AURELIUS
+   IV. ANALYSIS OF WORRY
+    V. WORRY AND OBSESSION
+   VI. THE DOUBTING FOLLY
+  VII. HYPOCHONDRIA
+ VIII. NEURASTHENIA
+   IX. SLEEPLESSNESS
+    X. OCCUPATION NEUROSIS
+   XI. THE WORRIER AT HOME
+  XII. THE WORRIER ON HIS TRAVELS
+ XIII. THE WORRIER AT THE TABLE
+  XIV. THE FEAR OF BECOMING INSANE
+   XV. RECAPITULATORY
+  XVI. MAXIMS MISAPPLIED
+ XVII. THE FAD
+XVIII. HOME TREATMENT
+  XIX. HOME TREATMENT CONTINUED
+
+
+
+
+DEFINITIONS.
+
+
+WORRY. A state of undue solicitude.
+
+HYPOCHONDRIA. A morbid mental condition characterized by undue solicitude
+regarding the health, and undue attention to matters thereto pertaining.
+
+OBSESSION. An unduly insistent and compulsive thought, habit of mind, or
+tendency to action.
+
+DOUBTING FOLLY (_Folie du doute_.) A state of mind characterized by a
+tendency unduly to question, argue and speculate upon ordinary matters.
+
+NEURASTHENIA. A form of nervous disturbance characterized by exhaustion and
+irritability.
+
+PHOBIA. An insistent and engrossing fear without adequate cause, as judged
+by ordinary standards.
+
+OCCUPATION NEUROSIS. A nervous disorder in which pain, sometimes with
+weakness and cramp, results from continued use of a part.
+
+PSYCHO-THERAPY. Treatment through the mind.
+
+No other technical terms are used.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+When Thales was asked what was difficult he said, "To know oneself"; and
+what was easy, "To advise another."
+
+
+Marcus Aurelius counselled, "Let another pray, 'Save Thou my child,' but do
+thou pray, 'Let me not fear to lose him.'"
+
+Few of us are likely to attain this level; few, perhaps, aspire to do
+so. Nevertheless, the training which falls short of producing complete
+self-control may yet accomplish something in the way of fitting us,
+by taking the edge off our worry, to react more comfortably to our
+surroundings, thus not only rendering us more desirable companions, but
+contributing directly to our own health and happiness.
+
+Under the ills produced by faulty mental tendencies I do not include cancer
+and the like. This inclusion seems to me as subversive of the laws of
+nature as the cure of such disease by mental treatment would be miraculous.
+At the same time, serious disorders surely result from faulty mental
+tendencies.
+
+In this category we must include, for example, hypochondria, a disturbance
+shown by undue anxiety concerning one's own physical and mental condition.
+This disorder, with the allied fears resulting from the urgent desire to
+be always absolutely safe, absolutely well, and absolutely comfortable, is
+capable, in extreme cases, of so narrowing the circle of pleasure and of
+usefulness that the sufferer might almost as well have organic disease.
+
+Neurasthenia (nervous prostration) has for its immediate exciting cause
+some overwork or stress of circumstance, but the sufferer not infrequently
+was already so far handicapped by regrets for the past, doubts for the
+present, and anxieties for the future, by attention to minute details
+and by unwillingness to delegate responsibilities to others, that he was
+exhausted by his own mental travail before commencing upon the overwork
+which precipitated his breakdown. In such cases the occasion of the
+collapse may have been his work, but the underlying cause was deeper. Many
+neurasthenics who think they are "all run down" are really "all wound up."
+They carry their stress with them.
+
+Among the serious results of faulty mental habit must be included also
+the doubting folly (_folie du doute_). The victim of this disorder is so
+querulously anxious to make no mistake that he is forever returning to see
+if he has turned out the gas, locked the door, and the like; in extreme
+cases he finally doubts the actuality of his own sensations, and so far
+succumbs to chronic indecision as seriously to handicap his efforts. This
+condition has been aptly termed a "spasm of the attention."
+
+The apprehensive and fretful may show, in varying degree, signs of either
+or all these conditions, according as circumstances may direct their
+attention.
+
+Passing from serious disorders to minor sources of daily discomfort, there
+are few individuals so mentally gifted that they are impervious to the
+distress occasioned by variations of temperature and of weather; to the
+annoyance caused by criticism, neglect, and lack of appreciation on the
+part of their associates; to active resentment, even anger, upon moderate
+provocation; to loss of temper when exhausted; to embarrassment in unusual
+situations; to chronic indecision; to the sleeplessness resulting from
+mental preoccupation; and above all, to the futile regrets, the querulous
+doubts, and the undue anxiety included under the term _worry_, designated
+by a recent author "the disease of the age."
+
+Something may be accomplished in the way of lessening all these ills by
+continuous, properly directed effort on the part of the individual. Every
+inroad upon one faulty habit strengthens the attack upon all, and each gain
+means a step toward the acquisition of a mental poise that shall give its
+possessor comparative immunity from the petty annoyances of daily life.
+
+In modern psycho-therapy the _suggestion_, whether on the part of the
+physician or of the patient, plays a prominent part, and it is in this
+direction, aside from the advice regarding occupation and relaxation, that
+my propositions will trend. I shall not include, however, suggestions
+depending for their efficacy upon self-deceit, such as might spring, for
+example, from the proposition that if we think there is a fire in the stove
+it warms us, or that if we break a pane in the bookcase thinking it
+a window, we inhale with pleasure the resulting change of air. The
+suggestions are intended to appeal to the reason, rather than to the
+imagination.
+
+The special aim will be to pay attention to the different varieties of
+worry, and to offer easily understood and commonplace suggestions which any
+one may practice daily and continuously, at last automatically, without
+interfering with his routine work or recreation. Indeed the tranquil mind
+aids, rather than hinders, efficient work, by enabling its possessor to
+pass from duty to duty without the hindrance of undue solicitude.
+
+In advising the constitutional worrier the chief trouble the physician
+finds is an active opposition on the part of the patient. Instead of
+accepting another's estimate of his condition, and another's suggestions
+for its relief, he comes with a preconceived notion of his own
+difficulties, and with an insistent demand for their instant relief by drug
+or otherwise. He uses up his mental energy, and loses his temper, in the
+effort to convince his physician that he is _not_ argumentative. In a less
+unreasonable, but equally difficult class, come those who recognize the
+likeness in the portrait painted by the consultant, but who say they have
+tried everything he suggests, but simply "can't."
+
+It is my hope that some of the argumentative class may recognize, in my
+description, their own case instead of their neighbor's, and may of their
+own initiative adopt some of the suggestions; moreover, that some of the
+acquiescent, but despairing class will renew their efforts in a different
+spirit. The aim is, not to accomplish a complete and sudden cure, but to
+gain something every day, or if losing a little to-day, to gain a little
+to-morrow, and ultimately to find one's self on a somewhat higher plane,
+without discouragement though not completely freed from the trammels
+entailed by faulty mental habit.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+EPICURUS AS A MENTAL HEALER
+
+'Tis to believe what men inspired of old, Faithful, and faithfully
+informed, unfold.
+
+_Cowper_.
+
+
+The suggestions offered in the following pages are not new. Many of them
+were voiced by Epicurus three hundred years before Christ, and even then
+were ancient history. Unfortunately Epicurus had his detractors. One,
+Timocrates, in particular, a renegade from his school, spread malicious and
+unfounded reports of his doings and sayings, reports too easily credited
+then, and starting, perhaps, the misconception which to-day prevails
+regarding the aims of this philosopher.
+
+But when Marcus Aurelius, nearly five centuries later, decided to endow a
+philosophical professoriate he established the Epicurean as one of the four
+standard schools. The endorsement of such a one should surely predispose
+us to believe the authentic commentators of Epicurus, and to discredit the
+popular notion which makes his cult synonymous with the gratification of
+the appetites, instead of with the mental tranquility to which he regarded
+sensual pleasures so detrimental that he practically limited his diet, and
+that of his disciples, to bread and water.
+
+It is of special encouragement to such of us as painfully realize our
+meagre equipment for reaching a high plane of self-control, to learn that
+Epicurus was by nature delicate and sensitive. At seven years of age, we
+are told, he could not support himself on tiptoe, and called himself the
+feeblest of boys. It is said that in his boyhood he had to be lifted from
+his chair, that he could not look on the sun or a fire, and that his skin
+was so tender as to prevent his wearing any dress beyond a simple tunic.
+These physical characteristics suggest the makings of a first class "fuss"
+and inveterate worrier. In this event his emancipation from such tendencies
+must have been due to the practice of his own philosophy.
+
+As an antidote for the fear of death and the miraculous in the heavens
+Epicurus urges the study of Nature, showing his appreciation of the fact
+that one thought can only be driven out by another, as well as of the
+importance of the open air treatment of depressing fears.
+
+That he recognized the doubting folly and its evils is shown by the
+following Maxim for the Wise man:
+
+"He shall be steady in his opinion and not wavering and doubtful in
+everything."
+
+To the hypochondriac he said:
+
+"Health in the opinion of some is a precious thing; others rank it among
+the indifferent." Again:
+
+"If the body be attacked by a violent pain the evil soon has an end; if, on
+the contrary, the pain be languishing and of long duration it is sensible
+beyond all doubt of some pleasure therefrom. Thus, most chronical
+distempers have intervals that afford us more satisfaction and ease than
+the distempers we labor under cause pain." And further:
+
+"The Wise man takes care to preserve the unequivocable blessing of an
+undisturbed and quiet mind even amidst the groans and complaints which
+excess of pain extorts from him." He states, again, that one can be happy
+though blind.
+
+Regarding insomnia, he recognized the futility of expecting restful sleep
+to follow a day of fret and worry. He says:
+
+"He shall enjoy the same tranquility in his sleep as when awake."
+
+Epicurus realized that the apparent inability of the old to acquire
+new habits is due rather to lack of attention, and to indifference or
+preoccupation, than to lack of aptitude. He placed, in fact, no limit to
+the age for learning new methods, stating in his letter to Meneceus,--
+
+"Youth is no obstacle to the study of philosophy--neither ought we to be
+ashamed to concentrate our later years to the labor of speculation. Man has
+no time limit for learning, and ought never to want strength to cure his
+mind of all the evils that afflict it."
+
+Epicurus does not counsel seclusion for the cultivation of tranquility, but
+holds that mental equipoise "may be maintained though one mingles with the
+world, provided he keeps within the bounds of temperance, and limits his
+desires to what is easily obtained."
+
+Curiously enough, in view of the idea of epicureanism which has become
+proverbial, Epicurus regards the avoidance of excess a logical and
+necessary step toward the tranquil life, and among other admonitions is
+found the following Maxim:
+
+"The Wise man ought never to drink to excess, neither must he spend the
+nights revelling and feasting."
+
+We may conclude our selection from the Maxims of Epicurus by one which
+strikes a body-blow at worry and the allied faulty mental habits:
+
+"That being who is happy and immortal is in no way solicitous or uneasy on
+any account, neither does he torment or tease others; anger is unworthy of
+his greatness ... for all these things are the property of weakness."
+
+Such then, was the real Epicurus, not a seeker after effeminate luxury, but
+a chaste and frugal philosopher, serene of mien, and of gentle disposition,
+firm in his friendships, but sacrificing to them none of the high ideals
+which characterized his thought. He erred, doubtless, in the avoidance of
+responsibilities and in narrowing his efforts to promoting the happiness
+of his own immediate circle, but he was fearless in the defence of his
+principles and steadfast in the pursuit of the tranquility which for him
+included truth.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+MARCUS AURELIUS
+
+Such a body of teachers distinguished by their acquirements and character
+will hardly be collected again; and as to the pupil, we have not had
+another like him since.
+
+_Long_.
+
+
+Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the philosopher-Emperor, showed by practice as
+well as by precept that the tranquil mind is not incompatible with a life
+of action. Destined from birth to stand at the head of a great empire
+engaged in distant wars, threatened by barbaric invasion, and not without
+internal dissention, he was prepared not only to command armies but to
+govern himself. Fortunately we are not without a clue to his methods--he
+not only had the best of teachers, but continued his training all through
+his life. When we consider his labors, the claim of the busy man of to-day
+that he has "no time" seems almost frivolous.
+
+The thoughts of Marcus Aurelius (of which the following citations are
+from Long's translation) were written, not for self exploration, nor from
+delight in rounded periods, but for his own guidance. That he was in fact
+guided by his principles no better illustration offers than his magnanimity
+toward the adherents of one who would have usurped the throne of the
+Cęsars. The observation of Long that fine thoughts and moral dissertations
+from men who have not worked and suffered may be read, but will be
+forgotten, seems to have been exemplified in the comparative oblivion into
+which the philosophy of Epicurus has fallen.
+
+It is with the ethical side of the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius that we
+are concerned, and with that portion only which bears on the question of
+mental equipoise.
+
+"Begin the morning," he says, "by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the
+busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these
+things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and
+evil."
+
+With regard to the habit of seclusion common among the self-conscious, he
+says:
+
+"If thou didst ever see a hand cut off, or a foot, or a head, lying
+anywhere apart from the rest of the body, such does a man make himself, as
+far as he can, who is not content with what happens, and separates himself
+from others, or does any thing unsocial. Suppose that thou hast detached
+thyself from the natural unity--for thou wast made by nature a part, but
+now thou hast cut thyself off--yet here there is this beautiful provision,
+that it is in thy power again to unite thyself. God has allowed this to no
+other part, after it has been separated and cut asunder, to come together
+again. But consider the kindness by which he has distinguished man, for he
+has put it in his power not to be separated at all from the universal; and
+when he has been separated, he has allowed him to return and to resume his
+place as a part."
+
+On the futile foreboding which plays so large a part in the tribulation of
+the worrier, he says:
+
+"Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life. Let not thy
+thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which thou mayest expect
+to befall thee; but on every occasion ask thyself, What is there in this
+which is intolerable and past bearing? for thou wilt be ashamed to confess.
+In the next place remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee,
+but only the present. But this is reduced to a very little, if thou only
+circumscribest it, and chidest thy mind, if it is unable to hold out
+against even this." Again: "Let not future things disturb thee, for thou
+wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the same
+reason which now thou usest for present things."
+
+On the dismissal of useless fret, and concentration upon the work in hand,
+he says:
+
+"Labor not as one who is wretched, nor yet as one who would be pitied or
+admired; but direct thy will to one thing only, to put thyself in motion
+and to check thyself, as the social reason requires."
+
+Regarding senseless fears he counsels:
+
+"What need is there of suspicious fear, since it is in thy power to inquire
+what ought to be done? And if thou seest clear, go by this way content,
+without turning back: but if thou dost not see clear, stop and take the
+best advisers. But if any other things oppose thee, go on according to thy
+powers with due consideration, keeping to that which appears to be just.
+For it is best to reach this object, and if thou dost fail, let thy failure
+be in attempting this. He who follows reason in all things is both tranquil
+and active at the same time, and also cheerful and collected."
+
+On irritation at the conduct of others:
+
+"When thou art offended with any man's shameless conduct, immediately ask
+thyself, Is it possible, then, that shameless men should not be in the
+world? It is not possible. Do not, then, require what is impossible. For
+this man also is one of those shameless men who must of necessity be in the
+world. Let the same considerations be present in thy mind in the case of
+the knave and the faithless man, and of every man who does wrong in any
+way."
+
+Regarding the hypochondriacal tendency he reverts to Epicurus, thus:
+
+"Epicurus says, In my sickness my conversation was not about my bodily
+sufferings, nor did I talk on such subjects to those who visited me; but I
+continued to discourse on the nature of things as before, keeping to this
+main point, how the mind, while participating in such movements as go on in
+the poor flesh, shall be free from perturbations and maintain its proper
+good.... Do, then, the same that he did both in sickness, if thou art sick,
+and in any other circumstances;... but to be intent only on that which thou
+art now doing and on the instrument by which thou doest it."
+
+These quotations will serve to show the trend of the reflections of this
+remarkable man. After reviewing this epitome of ethical philosophy I might
+stop and counsel the worrier to study the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius
+and other philosophers, whose practical suggestions are similar,
+notwithstanding their diversity of views regarding the ultimate object of
+the training. I shall venture, however, to elaborate the subject from the
+present view-point, even though the principles of Marcus Aurelius are as
+applicable now as they were in the days of the Roman Empire.
+
+No reminder is needed of the wealth and efficacy of suggestion in the Book
+which contains the statement that "the Kingdom of God is within you," and
+that "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth
+the bones." One of its suggestions was paralleled by the philosopher-poet
+when he wrote:
+
+  "Latius regnes avidum domando
+  Spiritum, quam si Libyam remotis
+  Gadibus iungas et uterque Poenus
+    Serviat uni."
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+ANALYSIS OF WORRY
+
+Of these points the principal and most urgent is that which reaches the
+passions; for passion is produced no otherwise than by a disappointment
+of one's desires and an incurring of one's aversions. It is this which
+introduces perturbations, tumults, misfortunes, and calamities; this is
+the spring of sorrow, lamentation and envy; this renders us envious and
+emulous, and incapable of hearing reason.
+
+_Epictetus_.
+
+
+Under this rather pretentious title an attempt is made to indicate certain
+elements of worry. No claim is made that the treatment of the subject is
+exhaustive.
+
+The motto "Don't Worry" has inspired many homilies. But the mere resolve to
+follow this guide to happiness will no more instantaneously free one from
+the meshes of worry than the resolve to perform a difficult gymnastic feat
+will insure its immediate accomplishment.
+
+The evils of worry as well as of its frequent associate, anger, have been
+dwelt upon by writers philosophical, religious, and medical. "Worry," says
+one author, "is the root of all cowardly passions,--jealousy, fear, the
+belittling of self, and all the introspective forms of depression are the
+children of worry." The symptoms and the evil results seem to receive
+more elaborate and detailed attention than the treatment. "Eliminate it,"
+counsels this writer; "Don't worry," advises another. "Such advice is
+superficial," says their critic, "it can only be subdued by our ascending
+into a higher atmosphere, where we are able to look down and comprehend the
+just proportions of life." "Cultivate a quiet and peaceful frame of mind,"
+urges another; and still another advises us to "occupy the mind with better
+things, and the best--is a habit of confidence and repose."
+
+From such counsel the average individual succeeds in extracting nothing
+tangible. The last writer of those I have quoted comes perhaps the nearest
+to something definite in directing us to occupy the mind with better
+things; in the suggestions I have to offer the important feature is the
+effort to replace one thought by another, though not necessarily by a
+better one. If we succeed in doing this, we are making a step toward
+acquiring the habit of confidence and repose.
+
+The simple admonition not to worry is like advising one not to walk
+awkwardly who has never learned to walk otherwise. If we can find some of
+the simpler elements out of which worry is constructed, and can learn to
+direct our attack against these, the proposition "Don't worry" will begin
+to assume a tangible form.
+
+We can at least go back one step, and realize that it is by way of the
+_unduly insistent thought_ that most of these faulty mental habits become
+established. It might be claimed that fear deserves first mention, but the
+insistent thought in a way includes fear, and in many cases is independent
+of it.
+
+The insistent thought magnifies by concentration of attention, and by
+repetition, the origin of the worry. If my thoughts dwell on my desire for
+an automobile this subject finally excludes all others, and the automobile
+becomes, for the time being, the most important thing in the world, hence I
+worry. Into this worry comes no suggestion of fear--this emotion would be
+more appropriate, perhaps, if I acquired the automobile and attempted
+to run it. If, now, I have trained myself to concentrate my attention
+elsewhere before such thoughts become coercive, the automobile quickly
+assumes its proper relation to other things, and there is no occasion for
+worry. This habit of mind once acquired regarding the unessentials of life,
+it is remarkable how quickly it adapts itself to really important matters.
+
+Take a somewhat more serious question. I fear I may make a blunder. If I
+harbor the thought, my mind is so filled with the disastrous consequences
+of the possible blunder that I finally either abandon the undertaking or
+approach it with a trepidation that invites failure. If, on the other hand,
+I have learned to say that even if I make a blunder it will only add to
+my experience, then apply myself whole-minded to the task, I have made a
+direct attack on worry.
+
+The qualification _unduly_ is not to be forgotten; a certain discrimination
+must be exercised before entirely condemning the insistent thought. The
+insistent thought that one's family must be fed is not a morbid sign. In
+fact, he also errs who can eliminate this thought and enjoy the ball game.
+It is not for the deviate of this type that I am writing. Nevertheless, the
+over-solicitous victim of the "New England Conscience" can almost afford to
+take a few lessons from the ne'er-do-weel.
+
+The practical bearing of this attempt to analyze worry is obvious. If it is
+through the insistent desire for an automobile that I worry, I must bring
+my training to bear, not on the worry, which is elusive, but on the desire,
+which is definite. I must fortify myself with what philosophy I can
+acquire, and must console myself with such compensations as my situation
+may offer; and above all, I must _get busy_, and occupy hands and brain
+with something else. If, on my travels, I worry over the sluggish movement
+of the train, it is because of the insistent thought that I must arrive
+on time. In this event I should practice subduing the insistent thought,
+rather than vaguely direct my efforts against the worry. In the majority of
+cases I can bring myself to realize that the question of my arrival is not
+vital. Even in case I am missing an important engagement I may modify the
+dominance of the thought by reflecting that I cannot expect to be wholly
+immune from the misfortunes of mankind; it is due me, at least once in a
+lifetime, to miss an important engagement,--why fret because this happens
+to be the appointed time? Why not occupy my thoughts more profitably than
+in rehearsing the varied features of this unavoidable annoyance?
+
+If we fret about the weather it is because of an insistent desire that the
+weather shall conform to our idea of its seasonableness. If we complain
+of the chill of May it is not because the cold is really unbearable, but
+because we wonder if spring will ever come. If we fume on a hot day in July
+it is because the weather is altogether _too_ seasonable to suit us.
+
+We spend far too much thought on the weather, a subject that really
+deserves little attention except by those whose livelihood and safety
+depend upon it. Suppose a runaway passes the window at which we are
+sitting, with collar off, handkerchief to our heated brow, squirming to
+escape our moist and clinging garments, and being generally miserable. We
+rush out of doors to watch his course, and for the next few minutes we do
+not know whether it is hot or cold, perspiring less during our exertions, I
+strongly suspect, than we did while sitting in the chair. At all events, it
+is obvious that our thoughts played quite as great a part in our discomfort
+as did the heat of the day.
+
+Suppose now, instead of devoting all our attention to the weather we should
+reason somewhat as follows:
+
+As long as I live on this particular planet, I shall be subject perhaps
+three days out of four, to atmospheric conditions which do not suit me.
+Is it worth my while to fret during those three days and to make it up by
+being elated on the fourth? Why not occupy myself with something else and
+leave the weather for those who have no other resource? Or, as someone has
+said, why not "make friends with the weather?" If one will cultivate this
+frame of mind he will be surprised to find that a certain physical relief
+will follow. In the first place, he will lessen the excessive perspiration
+which is the invariable accompaniment of fret, and which in its turn
+produces more discomfort than the heat itself.
+
+We have selected, so far, the comparatively unimportant sources of mental
+discomfort, fret, and worry. The reader who can truthfully say that such
+annoyances play no part in his mental tribulations may pass them and accept
+congratulations. The reader who cannot be thus congratulated, but who is
+impatient to attack the major sources of worry, must be reminded at this
+point that he must practice on the little worries before he can accomplish
+anything with the great. The method is the same. The philosophy that will
+make us content with the weather will do something toward establishing the
+mental poise which shall enable us to withstand with comparative equanimity
+the most tragic of misfortunes that may fall to our lot.
+
+To draw an example from the more serious disorders, let us consider the
+hypochondriac, who harbors the insistent thought that he must be always
+perfectly well, that each of his sensations must conform to his ideal, and
+that each function must follow regulations imposed by himself. If he
+can learn to ignore this thought by realizing that an acute illness is
+preferable to life-long mental captivity; if he can learn to do what others
+do, and to concentrate his energies on outside affairs which shall displace
+the question of health; if he can learn to say "What I am _doing_ is more
+important than how I am _feeling_;" he will have cured his hypochondria.
+
+In the foundation of the structure we are studying is found _exaggerated
+self-consciousness_. Whatever is said, done, or left undone, by others is
+analyzed by the worrier with reference to its bearing on himself. If others
+are indifferent it depresses him, if they appear interested they have an
+ulterior motive, if they look serious he must have displeased them, if they
+smile it is because he is ridiculous. That they are thinking of their own
+affairs is the last thought to enter his mind.
+
+I suppose it would be an affectation for any of us to deny that, as far as
+we are concerned, we are the centre of the universe. This conceit does
+us no harm so long as we remember that there are as many centres of the
+universe as there are people, cats, mice and other thinking animals. When
+we forget this our troubles begin. If I enter a strange shop and find they
+desire security, need I take this as a reflection on _my_ credit? Need I
+expect to be invited to every entertainment I should like to attend, and to
+be excused from those that bore me, and shall I make no allowance for the
+attitude of my host? Is it not rather egotistic for me to suppose that
+others are vitally interested in the fact that I blush, tremble, or am
+awkward? Why then should I allow my conduct to be influenced by such
+trivial matters?
+
+The order of training is, then, generally, to modify our self-consciousness
+by externalizing our thoughts and broadening our interests; specifically,
+to eliminate the unduly insistent habit of thought.
+
+This analysis of worry and allied mental states may facilitate such
+training, but the practical value of the suggestions does not depend upon
+the acceptance of these theoretical considerations.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+WORRY AND OBSESSION
+
+So much are men enured in their miserable estate, that no condition is so
+poore, but they will accept; so they may continue in the same.
+
+_Florio's Montaigne_.
+
+
+"You may as well be eaten by the fishes as by the worms," said the daughter
+of a naval commander to me one day, when discussing the perils of the sea.
+Such philosophy, applied to each of the vexatious and dangerous situations
+of daily life, would go far toward casting out worry.
+
+We have already referred to two important elements at the foundation,
+and in the framework, of the elaborate superstructures we rear with such
+material as worry, doubts, fears and scruples. The first is _exaggerated
+self-consciousness_, the second the tendency to succumb to the compelling
+thought or impulse, technically termed _obsession_.
+
+With regard to self-consciousness, the worrier will generally realize that
+even as a child he was exceptionally sensitive to criticism, censure,
+ridicule and neglect. He was prone to brood over his wrongs, to play the
+martyr, and to suffer with peculiar keenness the "slings and arrows of
+outrageous fortune." I remember once leaving the table on account of some
+censure or careless remark. I fancied I had thrown the whole family into a
+panic of contrition. On the first opportunity, I asked what they had said
+about it, and was told that they had apparently not noticed my departure.
+This salutary lesson prevented repetition of the act.
+
+To the self-conscious person the mere entrance into a public vehicle may
+prove an ordeal. It is hard for him to realize that the general gaze has no
+peculiar relation to himself, and that if the gaze is prolonged this is due
+to no peculiarity of his beyond the blush or the trepidation that betrays
+his feeling. If he can acquire indifference to this feature of his case,
+through the reflection that to others it is only a passing incident, the
+blush and the trepidation will promptly disappear, and a step will have
+been taken towards gaining the self-control for which he aims.
+
+The usual cause of stage-fright is exaggerated self-consciousness. The
+sufferer from stage-fright can hardly fail to be a worrier. A certain
+shyness, it would seem, may also result from too acute a consciousness of
+one's audience, as in the case of Tennyson, whom Benson quotes thus:
+
+"I am never the least shy before great men. Each of them has a personality
+for which he or she is responsible; but before a crowd which consists of
+many personalities, of which I know nothing, I am infinitely shy. The great
+orator cares nothing about all this. I think of the good man, and the bad
+man, and the mad man, that may be among them, and can say nothing. _He_
+takes them all as one man. _He_ sways them as one man."
+
+This, I take it, hardly spelled stage-fright. At the same time, it
+is improbable that one so sensitive to criticism meant to convey the
+impression that it was of his audience alone he thought in shrinking from
+the effort.
+
+It appears that Washington Irving suffered from actual stage-fright.
+
+In the Library edition of Irving's works appears the following anecdote
+from the reminiscences of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, then a young woman of
+twenty-three:
+
+"I was present, with other ladies, at a public dinner given in honor of
+Charles Dickens by prominent citizens of New York. The ladies were not
+bidden to the feast, but were allowed to occupy a small ante-room which,
+through an open door, commanded a view of the tables. When the speaking was
+about to begin, a message came suggesting that we take possession of some
+vacant seats at the great table. This we were glad to do. Washington
+Irving was president of the evening, and upon him devolved the duty of
+inaugurating the proceedings by an address of welcome to the distinguished
+guest. People who sat near me whispered, 'He'll break down,--he always
+does.' Mr. Irving rose and uttered a sentence or two. His friends
+interrupted him by applause, which was intended to encourage him, but which
+entirely overthrew his self-possession. He hesitated, stammered, and sat
+down, saying, 'I cannot go on.'"
+
+Cavendish, the chemist, suffered from a constitutional shyness attributable
+only to self-consciousness. He is said to have carried so far his aversion
+to contact with others, outside of his colleagues, that his dinner was
+always ordered by means of a note, and instant dismissal awaited the female
+domestic who should venture within his range of vision.
+
+Lombroso cites, among his "Men of Genius," quite a list--Corneille,
+Descartes, Virgil, Addison, La Fontaine, Dryden, Manzoni, and Newton--of
+those who could not express themselves in public. Whatever part
+self-consciousness played in the individual case, we must class the
+peculiarity among the defects, not signs, of genius. "A tender heel makes
+no man an Achilles."
+
+To the second faulty habit, obsession, I wish to devote special attention.
+This word we have already defined as an unduly insistent and compulsive
+thought, habit of mind, or tendency to action. The person so burdened is
+said to be obsessed.
+
+Few children are quite free from obsession. Some must step on stones;
+others must walk on, or avoid, cracks; some must ascend the stairs with the
+right foot first; many must kick posts or touch objects a certain number of
+times. Some must count the windows, pictures, and figures on the wallpaper;
+some must bite the nails or pull the eye-winkers. Consider the nail-biter.
+It cannot be said that he toils not, but to what end? Merely to gratify an
+obsession. He nibbles a little here and a little there, he frowns, elevates
+his elbow, and inverts his finger to reach an otherwise inaccessible
+corner. Does he enjoy it? No, not exactly; but he would be miserable if he
+discontinued.
+
+An unusual, but characteristic obsession is told by a lady in describing
+her own childhood. She thought that on retiring she must touch nothing with
+her hands, after she had washed them, until she touched the inside of the
+sheets. In case she failed she must return and wash the hands again. The
+resulting manoeuvres are still fresh in her mind, particularly when her
+sister had preceded her to bed and she had to climb the footboard.
+
+It is during childhood that we form most of the automatic habits which are
+to save time and thought in later life, and it is not surprising that some
+foolish habits creep in. As a rule, children drop these tendencies at need,
+just as they drop the rōles assumed in play, though they are sometimes so
+absorbing as to cause inconvenience. An interesting instance was that of
+the boy who had to touch every one wearing anything red. On one occasion
+his whole family lost their train because of the prevalence of this color
+among those waiting in the station.
+
+The longer these tendencies are retained in adult life, the greater the
+danger of their becoming coercive; and so far as the well-established case
+is concerned the obsessive act must be performed, though the business,
+social, and political world should come to a stand-still. Among the stories
+told in illustration of compulsive tendency in the great, may be instanced
+the touching of posts, and the placing of a certain foot first, in the
+case of Dr. Johnson, who, it appears, would actually retrace his steps and
+repeat the act which failed to satisfy his requirements, with the air of
+one with something off his mind.
+
+A child who must kick posts is father to the man who cannot eat an egg
+which has been boiled either more or less than four minutes; who cannot
+work without absolute silence; who cannot sleep if steam-pipes crackle; and
+who must straighten out all the tangles of his life, past, present, and
+future, before he can close his eyes in slumber or take a vacation. The boy
+Carlyle, proud, shy, sensitive, and pugnacious, was father to the man who
+made war upon the neighbor's poultry, and had a room, proof against sound,
+specially constructed for his literary labors.
+
+The passive obsessions are peculiarly provocative of worry. Such are
+extreme aversions to certain animals, foods, smells, sounds, and sights, or
+insistent discomfort if affairs are not ordered to our liking. A gentleman
+once told me that at the concert he did not mind if his neighbor followed
+the score, but when he consulted his programme during the performance it
+distressed him greatly.
+
+Such instances illustrate the fact that when our obsessions rule us it is
+not the noise or the sight, but our idea of the fitness of things, that
+determines the degree of our annoyance. A person who cannot endure the
+crackling of the steam-pipe can listen with pleasure to the crackling of an
+open fire or the noise of a running brook.
+
+It is said that the sensitive and emotional Erasmus had so delicate a
+digestion that he could neither eat fish nor endure the smell of it; but
+we are led to suspect that obsession played a part in his troubles when we
+further learn that he could not bear an iron stove in the room in which he
+worked, but had to have either a porcelain stove or an open fire.
+
+If we can trust the sources from which Charles Reade drew his deductions
+regarding the character of the parental stock, Erasmus came fairly by his
+sensitive disposition. In "The Cloister and the Hearth" we find the father
+of Erasmus, fleeing from his native land, in fear of his life on account of
+a crime he thought he had committed, frozen, famished and exhausted, unable
+to enter the door of a friendly inn on account of his aversion to the
+issuing odors. Forced by his sufferings at last to enter the inn, he visits
+each corner in turn, analyzing its peculiar smell and choosing finally the
+one which seems to him the least obnoxious.
+
+I have heard somewhere, but cannot place, the story of a prominent writer
+who was so disturbed by the mechanical lawn-mower of his neighbor that he
+insisted upon the privilege of defraying the expense of its replacement by
+the scythe.
+
+Peculiar sensitiveness to sights, sounds and smells seems to be a common
+attribute of genius. This sort of sensitiveness has even been credited with
+being the main-spring of genius, but it is improbable that the curbing of
+such aversions would in any way endanger it. However this may be, such
+supersensitiveness ill becomes the rest of us, and these extreme aversions
+surely clog, rather than accelerate, our efforts.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+The natural tendency of the healthy mind is to accustom itself to new
+sensations, as the ring on the finger, or the spectacles on the nose. The
+obsessive individual resists this tendency; he starts with the fixed idea
+that he cannot stand the annoyance, his resentment increases, and his
+sensations become more, instead of less, acute. His reaction to criticism,
+slight, and ridicule is similar; he is prepared to start, blush, and show
+anger on moderate provocation, and can often reproduce both the sensation
+and its accompanying physical signs by merely recalling the circumstance.
+
+The passive as well as the active obsessions can be overcome by cultivating
+the commonplace, or average normal, attitude, and resolving gradually to
+accustom one's self to the disagreeable. This change of attitude can be
+made in adult life as well as in youth. "You cannot teach an old dog new
+tricks," we are told. The reason is not that the old dog cannot learn them,
+but that he does not want to. I met in Germany a British matron who was
+obsessed with the belief that she could not learn the language. At the
+end of four years' sojourn she entered a store and asked the price of an
+article.
+
+"Four marks," was the answer.
+
+"How much in English money?" she inquired.
+
+"Why, madam, a mark is the same as a shilling."
+
+"I don't know anything about that; how much is it in English?"
+
+"Four shillings."
+
+"Ah, quite so; you might have told me at once."
+
+Experience has shown that no time in life precludes the acquirement of
+new knowledge and new habits by one who thinks it worth while to make the
+attempt. The elderly person will be surprised at his progress if he will
+bring to bear upon a new subject a mind free from doubts of its usefulness,
+doubts of his own ability, worry lest he is wasting valuable time, regrets
+for the past and plans for the future.
+
+It is not always possible to say just where useful habit merges into
+obsession. A certain individual, we will say, invariably puts on the
+left shoe before the right. This is a useful habit, fixed by constant
+repetition, useful because it relieves the brain of conscious effort. But
+suppose he decides some morning to put on the right shoe before the left;
+this new order so offends his sense of the fitness of things that he finds
+it hard to proceed; if he perseveres, his feet feel wrong to him; the
+discomfort grows until finally he is impelled to remove the shoes and
+replace them in the usual order. In this case an act which started as a
+useful habit has been replaced by an obsession.
+
+Suppose, again, a person obsessed by the fear of poison is prevented from
+washing his hands before eating. He sits down, perhaps, fully intending to
+proceed as if nothing had happened, but the thought occurs to him that he
+may have touched something poisonous, though his reason tells him this
+is most improbable. He reviews the events of the day and can find no
+suggestion of poison; still the thought of poison obtrudes itself, and he
+finds it impossible to put anything which he touches into his mouth. He
+next wonders if he has not already put something into his mouth. This
+thought produces a mental panic, the blood mounts to his head, he becomes
+incapable of coherent thought or speech, and the task of finishing his
+dinner would now be beyond his power even if he had not lost all taste for
+it.
+
+Such illustrations of obsession in daily life, by no means rare, could be
+multiplied indefinitely, and may be perhaps better appreciated than the
+text-book illustration of the man who neglected to flick off with his whip
+a certain stone from the top of a wall, and who could not sleep until he
+had returned to the spot and performed the act.
+
+Suppose a man has always worn high boots and is accustomed to a feeling of
+warmth about the ankles. The desire for warm ankles may finally so dominate
+him that he not only cannot wear low shoes in mid-summer, but he cannot
+wear slippers, even in a warm room; and finally, perhaps, finds that he
+must wear woollen socks to bed. By this time the desire for a certain
+sensation is in a fair way to become an obsession. When you assure him that
+many wear low shoes throughout the winter, he asks if their ankles really
+feel warm. That is not the question. The question is, can one accustom
+himself to the ankles feeling cool, just as he accustoms himself to his
+face feeling cool. If he can, he has conquered a sensory obsession, and has
+made a step toward fitting himself to meet more serious vicissitudes with
+equanimity.
+
+Similar instances can be adduced in all realms of sensation, both general
+and special. One person cannot bear the light, and wears blue glasses;
+another cannot breathe out-door air, and wears a respirator; another cannot
+bear to see a person rock or to hear a person drum.
+
+If a family or circle of friends is so constituted that some are obsessed
+to _do_ certain things and others are obsessed _not to stand them_ the
+foundation is laid for a degree of irritability inconsistent with mental
+health. Mrs. X. simply cannot stand hearing Mr. X. tap the floor, and if he
+continues, her discomfort becomes acute; the sound so dominates her that
+she can think of nothing else and can accomplish nothing until the sound is
+stopped. She can stand _anything_ but _that_. The daughter, Miss X., hardly
+hears the tapping, and is irritated and impatient to the last degree on
+account of her mother's "silly" notion. What Miss X. simply cannot bear is
+hearing her brother continually clear his throat, and if he does not stop
+she must leave the room or "go wild." Unfortunately, meantime, Mr. X. is so
+obsessed to tap the floor that he cannot follow his task without it, and
+Master X. _must_ clear his throat every few moments with a peculiar note
+because he "has catarrh."
+
+Here we have a common starting-point for family discomfort, and here we
+have a clue to the advice of the physician who advises isolation as a step
+toward the cure of the member of the family who first breaks down, not
+simply under the stress of occupation, but of occupation plus the wear and
+tear of minor but constant sources of irritation.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is said that the victim of jiu jitsu, by breaking one hold, places
+himself in the greater danger from the next. Similarly, after having
+conquered a few obsessions, one is overwhelmed with the obsession to set
+every one straight. Soukanhoff was right in warning the obsessive to beware
+of pedantry.
+
+The question here presents itself whether this line of thought does not
+foster, rather than lessen, the pedantry and the self-study which it is
+intended to combat. Why not simply drop the worry and the doubt without
+further argument? The difficulty is that the mental processes of the
+over-scrupulous person are such that he cannot summarily drop a habit of
+thought. He must reason himself out of it. There is no limit to his ability
+if properly directed; he can gradually modify all his faulty tendencies,
+and may even finally acquire the habit of automatically dismissing worry,
+but it would be too much to expect that he suddenly change his very nature
+at command.
+
+Soukanhoff's description of obsessives is peculiarly apt: "over-scrupulous,
+disquieted over trifles, indecisive in action, and anxious about their
+affairs. They are given early to morbid introspection, and are easily
+worried about their own indispositions or the illnesses of their friends.
+They are often timorous and apprehensive, and prone to pedantism. The
+moral sentiments are pronounced in most cases, and if they are, as a rule,
+somewhat exigent and egotistic, they have a lively sense of their own
+defects."
+
+A common obsession is the compulsion to dwell upon the past, to reproduce
+the circumstances, and painfully to retrace the steps which we took in
+coming to an erroneous decision which led to a foolish, unnecessary, or
+perhaps even a wrong decision. One of my earliest impressions in golf was
+the remark of a veteran who was good enough to make a round with me. "If
+I had only approached better, I should have made that hole in five," I
+remarked, after taking seven strokes for a hole.
+
+"Perhaps not," he replied; "if you had _approached better_, perhaps you
+would have _putted worse_ and taken _eight_ strokes for the hole. At all
+events, that hole is ancient history now, and you will play this one better
+if you leave that one alone."
+
+He little realized how many times his advice would recur to me elsewhere
+than on the links. Retrospective worry can be absolutely eliminated from
+the most obsessive mind by the practice of the veteran's philosophy.
+
+Mercier says the greatest intellectual gift is the ability to forget.
+
+The conscientious self-analyst spends too much time in weighing his ability
+or inability to perform some task. Between his fear, his worry over the
+past, and his indecision whether the task should be attempted, he starts
+with an overwhelming handicap. If he learns to say, "Other people fail;
+it will not matter if I do this time," he will find the task already half
+accomplished.
+
+The Rev. Francis Tiffany has observed that if a ship could think, and
+should imagine itself submerged by all the waves between here and Europe,
+it would dread to leave its moorings; but in reality it has to meet but one
+wave at a time.
+
+The tendency of the average American in this bustling age, whether he is
+obsessive or not, is to live at least several hours in advance. On the
+train he takes no comfort and makes no observations, for his mind is upon
+his destination rather than on his journey.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+Though the immediate object of these chapters is the promotion of the
+mental, and indirectly the physical, health of the individual, I cannot
+forbear referring to the effect of this training on the position of the
+individual in society and his relation toward his surroundings.
+
+The endeavor to overcome obsessions is likely to be ignored by two classes:
+the self-centered individuals who see no reason for learning what they do
+not want to learn, and the individuals who have no time for, or interest
+in, self-training because of absorption in subjects of wider relation, as
+art, or science, or reform. The philosophy of Haeckel applies to both:
+
+"Man belongs to the social vertebrates, and has, therefore, like all social
+animals, two sets of duties--first to himself, and secondly to the society
+to which he belongs. The former are the behests of self-love, or egoism,
+the latter love for one's fellows, or altruism. The two sets of precepts
+are equally just, equally natural, and equally indispensable. If a man
+desires to have the advantage of living in an organized community, he has
+to consult not only his own fortune, but also that of the society, and of
+the 'neighbors' who form the society. He must realize that its prosperity
+is his own prosperity, and that it cannot suffer without his own injury."
+
+The individual who is ruled by his obsessions not only paves the way for
+needless and ultimate breakdown, but is in danger of gradually narrowing
+his field of usefulness and pleasure until he is in little better case than
+Simeon Stylites, who spent nearly half a century on the top of a monument.
+Nor has he even Simeon's consolation that he could come down if he chose;
+for it seems that the authorities sent messengers demanding his return,
+with orders to let him stay if he showed willingness to come down--and he
+stayed.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE DOUBTING FOLLY
+
+_Jatgeir_. I needed sorrow; others there may be who need faith, or joy--or
+doubt--
+
+_King Skule_. Doubt as well?
+
+_Jatgeir_. Ay; but then must the doubter be strong and sound.
+
+_King Skule_. And whom call you the unsound doubter?
+
+_Jatgeir_. He who doubts of his own doubt.
+
+_King Skule_ (slowly). That methinks were death.
+
+_Jatgeir_. 'T is worse; 't is neither day nor night.
+
+_King Skule_ (quickly, as if shaking off his thoughts). Where are my
+weapons? I will fight and act, not think.
+
+IBSEN: _The Pretenders_, Act iv.
+
+
+A gentleman once told me that he rarely passed another in the street
+without wondering if he had not accosted him in an improper manner. He knew
+very well that he had not, but the more he dwelt upon the possibility, the
+more doubtful he became, until the impulse to settle the question became
+so strong that he would retrace his steps and inquire. He asked if _nux
+vomica_ would help this trouble! I told him he needed mental training.
+
+"I have tried that," he answered. "I keep saying to myself, 'I will not
+think of it,' but it is no use; my head becomes hot, my sight blurred, my
+thoughts confused, and the only relief I find is to settle the question."
+
+I tried to point out the direction in which he was tending, and told him he
+must remind himself that even if he had accosted another improperly, it was
+a trifling matter compared to the injury to himself of giving way to this
+compulsion; moreover, the impression he would make upon the other by going
+back would be even worse than that of having so accosted him; and, finally,
+he must dwell upon the _probability_ that he had not offended the man,
+instead of the _possibility_ that he had. Having pursued this line of
+thought, he must force himself to think of something else until the
+besetting impulse was obliterated. I suggested that if a baseball player
+should become incapacitated for the game, he would not lessen his
+disappointment by reiterating, "I will not think of baseball," but if he
+persistently turned his thoughts and his practice to billiards he might in
+time forget baseball.
+
+"I never played baseball," he replied, "and don't even know the rules."
+
+This represents an extreme case of "doubting folly" a case in which the
+victim could no longer concentrate his thoughts on the simplest proposition
+outside the narrow circle to which his doubts had restricted him.
+
+If we once allow ourselves to wonder whether we have turned off the
+water, enclosed the check, or mailed the letter, it is but a step to an
+uncomfortable frame of mind which can be relieved only by investigating the
+matter. This compulsion once acceded to, it becomes more and more easy to
+succumb. The next step is to blur, by constant repetition, the mental image
+of the act. In extreme cases the doubter, after turning the gas on and off
+a dozen times, is finally in doubt whether he can trust his own senses. A
+certain officer in a bank never succeeded in reaching home after closing
+hours without returning to try the door of the bank. Upon finding it
+locked, he would unlock it and disappear within, to open the vault, inspect
+the securities, and lock them up again. I once saw a victim of this form of
+doubt spend at least ten minutes in writing a check, and ten minutes more
+inspecting it, and, after all, he had spelled his own name wrong!
+
+Constant supervision only impairs acts which should have become automatic.
+We have all heard of the centipede who could no longer proceed upon his
+journey when it occurred to him to question which foot he should next
+advance.
+
+To other doubts are often added the doubt of one's own mental balance;
+but it is a long step from these faulty habits of mind to real mental
+unbalance, which involves an inability to plan and carry out a line of
+conduct consistent with one's station.
+
+It took a young man at least fifteen minutes, in my presence, to button his
+waistcoat. He felt the lower button to reassure himself, then proceeded
+to the next. He then returned to the lower one, either distrusting his
+previous observation, or fearing it had become unbuttoned. He then held the
+lower two with one hand while he buttoned the third with the other. When
+this point was reached he called his sight to the aid of his feeling, and
+glued his eyes to the lower while he buttoned the upper, unbuttoning many
+meantime, to assure himself that he had buttoned them. This young man said
+he would sometimes stop on his way to the store in doubt whether he was
+on the right street, a doubt not quieted either by reading the sign or by
+asking a stranger, because the doubt would obtrude itself whether he could
+trust his sight and his hearing, indeed, whether he was really there or
+dreaming. Even this victim of extreme doubting folly conducted his business
+successfully so long as I knew him, and so comported himself in general as
+to attract no further comment than that he was "fussy."
+
+These doubts lead to chronic indecision. How often, in deciding which of
+two tasks to take up, we waste the time which would have sufficed for the
+accomplishment of one, if not both.
+
+The doubt and the indecision result directly from over-conscientiousness.
+It is because of an undue anxiety to do the right thing, even in trivial
+matters, that the doubter ponders indefinitely over the proper sequence of
+two equally important (or unimportant) tasks. In the majority of instances
+it is the right thing for _him_ to pounce upon _either_. If he pounces
+upon the wrong one, and completes it without misgiving, he has at least
+accomplished something in the way of mental training. The chances are,
+moreover, that the harm done by doing the wrong thing first was not to be
+compared to the harm of giving way to his doubt, and either drifting into
+a state of ineffective revery or fretting himself into a frenzy of anxious
+uncertainty.
+
+A gentleman once told me that after mailing a letter he would often linger
+about the box until the postman arrived, and ask permission to inspect
+his letter, ostensibly to see if he had put on the stamp, but in fact to
+reassure himself that he had really mailed the missive, although he knew
+perfectly well that he had done so. The life of the chronic doubter is
+full of these small deceits, though in most matters such persons are
+exceptionally conscientious.
+
+This form of over-solicitude is peculiarly liable to attack those in whose
+hands are important affairs affecting the finances, the lives, or the
+health of others. I have known more than one case of the abandonment of a
+chosen occupation on account of the constant anxiety entailed by doubts of
+this nature. Nor are these doubts limited to the question whether one has
+done or left undone some particular act. An equally insistent doubt is that
+regarding one's general fitness for the undertaking. _The doubter may spend
+upon this question more time than it would take to acquire the needed
+facility and experience_.
+
+Some one has said there are two things that no one should worry about:
+first, the thing that can't be helped; second, the thing that can. This is
+peculiarly true of the former.
+
+Reflection upon the past is wise; solicitude concerning it is an
+anachronism. Suppose one has accepted a certain position and finds himself
+in doubt of his fitness for that position. Nothing can be more important
+than for him to decide upon his next line of conduct. Shall he resign
+or continue? Is he fit for the position, or, if not, can he acquire the
+fitness without detriment to the office? These are legitimate doubts. But
+the doubter who finds himself in this predicament adds to these legitimate
+doubts the question, "Ought I to have accepted the office?" This is the
+doubt he must learn to eliminate. He must remind himself that he has
+accepted the position, whether rightly or wrongly, and that the acceptance
+is ancient history. The question what shall he do next is sufficiently
+weighty to occupy all his attention without loading his mind with anxious
+doubts regarding the irrevocable past.
+
+Suppose, in fact, the doubter has made a mistake; how shall he banish the
+worry? By reminding himself that others have made mistakes, why should not
+he, and that it is somewhat egotistic on his part to insist that, whatever
+others may do, _he_ must do everything right. If this line of reasoning
+fails to console him, let him think of the greater mistakes he might have
+made. A financial magnate was once asked how he succeeded in keeping his
+mind free from worry. He replied, by contemplating the two worst things
+that could happen to him: losing all his property and going to jail. He had
+learned the lesson that _one thought can be driven out only by another_.
+
+With regard to immediate doubts. If the over-scrupulous business or
+professional man, worn out after an exacting day's work, will stop and
+reflect, he will realize that much of his exhaustion is due to his having
+filled the day with such doubts as whether he is doing the wrong thing, or
+the right thing at the wrong time, whether he or someone else will miss an
+appointment or fail to meet obligations, and whether he or his assistants
+may make blunders.
+
+Let him resolve some morning that he will proceed that day from task to
+task without allowing such thoughts to intrude. If he does so he will find
+that he has succeeded in his work at least as well as usual, and that he is
+comparatively fresh in the evening.
+
+Why not try this every day?
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+So far we have only considered the most obvious and simple among the
+evidences of doubting folly. A still more obstinate tendency of the doubter
+is the insistent habit interminably to argue over the simplest proposition,
+particularly regarding matters pertaining to the health, comfort, and life
+of the individual himself. A certain patient, of this type, attempts to
+describe to his physician a peculiar, hitherto undescribed, and even now
+indescribable sensation "through his right lung." He traces this sensation
+to what he believes to have been the absorption of a poison some years ago.
+His line of reasoning is somewhat as follows: 1. The drug was a poison. 2.
+If he absorbed it he must have been poisoned. 3. If he was poisoned then,
+he is poisoned now. 4. There is no proof that such a poison cannot produce
+such a sensation. 5. He has the sensation. Conclusion: He is suffering from
+poison. In support of this proposition he will spend hours with anyone
+who will listen. The physician who allows himself to be drawn into the
+controversy speedily finds himself, instead of giving advice to listening
+ears, involved in a battle of wits in which he is quite likely to come
+off second best. He assures the patient, for example, that, as far as
+scientific methods can establish the fact, the lung is sound.
+
+"But has science established everything? And if it had, is such negative
+evidence to be weighed against the positive evidence of the sensation in my
+lung?"
+
+"But the sensation may not be in your lung."
+
+"Can you prove that it is _not_ in my lung?" Folly scores!
+
+On being urged to direct his attention to some other part of his body, he
+promptly inquires,
+
+"How can I direct my thoughts elsewhere, when the sensation is there to
+occupy my attention?" Obviously he can not without changing his mental
+attitude, so folly scores again.
+
+He is assured that if the poison had been absorbed the effects would have
+passed away long before this time.
+
+"But do the effects of poison _always_ pass away? And can you _prove_ that
+they have passed away in my case? Is not the sensation positive evidence,
+since you have allowed that you cannot prove that the sensation does _not_
+come from the poison?"
+
+Folly scores again, but the victory is an empty one. The vicious circle
+continues: Attention magnifies sensation--sensation produces fear--fear
+increases attention; and throughout runs the insistent thought that his
+sensations shall conform to his ideal.
+
+If the discussion of such comparatively tangible matters can occupy a large
+part of one's attention, imagine the result of the insistent desire, on the
+part of the doubter, to solve such problems as "What is thought?" "What is
+existence?"
+
+If the windings of this intellectual labyrinth have not too far involved
+us, we have only to recognize the futility of such arguments, and exercise
+our will-power in the right direction. If we can bring ourselves to take
+the initiative, it is as easy to step out of the vicious circle, as for
+the squirrel to leave his wheel. But unless we grasp the logic of the
+situation, and take this initiative, no amount of abuse, persuasion, or
+ridicule will effect our freedom.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+A word may be in place regarding the anthropological status of the doubting
+folly and allied mental states. Men of genius have suffered from them all.
+A long list may be found in Lombroso's "Man of Genius." Under _folie du
+doute_ we find, for example, Tolstoi, Manzoni, Flaubert and Amiel.
+
+Lombroso regards genius as degenerative, and places among the signs of
+degeneration, deviations from the average normal, whether physical or
+mental. This plan has been quite generally followed. The nomenclature seems
+to me unfortunate and hardly justified by the facts. I can think of no more
+potent objection to such inclusive use of the term degenerate, than the
+fact that Lombroso includes, under the signs of degeneration, the enormous
+development of the cerebral speech-area in the case of an accomplished
+orator. If such evolutional spurts are to be deemed degenerative, the fate
+of the four-leaved clover is sealed.
+
+The application of the term degeneration may be, and should be, it seems
+to me, limited to the signs, whether physical or mental, which indicate an
+obviously downward tendency. I have elsewhere suggested, and the suggestion
+has already found some acceptance, that when the variation is not
+definitely downward, _deviation_ and _deviate_ be substituted for the
+unnecessarily opprobrious and often inappropriate terms, _degeneration_ and
+_degenerate_.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+HYPOCHONDRIA
+
+Il marche, dort, mange et boit comme tous les autres; mais cela n'empeche
+pas qu'il soit fort malade.
+
+MOLIERE: _Le Malade imaginaire_.
+
+
+The victim of hypochondria may present the picture of health, or may have
+some real ill regarding which he is unduly anxious. His consultation with
+a physician is likely to be preceded by letters explaining his exact
+condition, naming his various consultants and describing the various
+remedies he has taken. At the time of his visit notes are consulted, lest
+some detail be omitted. In his description anatomical terms abound; thus,
+he has pain in his lungs, heart, or kidney, not in his chest or back.
+Demonstration by the physician of the soundness of these organs is met by
+argument, at which the hypochondriac is generally adept.
+
+The suggestion that the hypochondriac devotes undue attention to his own
+condition is met by him with indignant denial. Proposals that he should
+exercise, travel, engage in games, or otherwise occupy himself, fall on
+deaf ears, but he is always ready to try a new drug. If a medicine is found
+with whose ingredients the patient is not already familiar, its use is
+likely to produce a beneficial effect for a few days, after which the old
+complaint returns.
+
+The case has come to my attention of a young man who, for fear of taking
+cold, remains in bed, with the windows of the room tightly closed and a
+fire constantly burning. He has allowed his hair to grow until it reaches
+his waist, he is covered with several blankets, wears underclothing under
+his nightshirt, and refuses to extend his wrist from under the bed-clothes
+to have his pulse taken.
+
+Such faulty mental habits in minor degree are common. There are those who
+will not drink from a bottle without first inspecting its mouth for flakes
+of glass; some will not smoke a cigar which has been touched by another
+since leaving the factory; some will not shake hands if it can possibly be
+avoided; another pads his clothing lest he injure himself in falling. Many
+decline to share the occupations and pleasures of others through fear of
+possible wet feet, drafts of air, exhaustion, or other calamity. Such
+tendencies, though falling short of hypochondria, pave the way for it, and,
+in any event, gradually narrow the sphere of usefulness and pleasure.
+
+No part of the body is exempt from the fears of the hypochondriac, but he
+is prone to centre his attention upon the obscure and inaccessible organs.
+The anecdote is told of a physician who had a patient of this type--a
+robust woman who was never without a long list of ailments. The last time
+she sent for the doctor, he lost patience with her. As she was telling him
+how she was suffering from rheumatism, sore throat, nervous indigestion,
+heart-burn, pains in the back of the head, and what not, he interrupted
+her:
+
+"Ah," he said in an admiring tone, "what splendid health you must have in
+order to be able to stand all these complaints!"
+
+The phobias are so closely allied to hypochondria that it will not be out
+of place to discuss them here. A phobia is an insistent and engrossing
+fear, without adequate cause as judged by ordinary standards. Familiar
+instances are fear of open places (agoraphobia), fear of closed places
+(claustrophobia), and fear of contamination (mysophobia).
+
+The sufferer from agoraphobia cannot bring himself to cross alone an open
+field or square. The sufferer from claustrophobia will invent any excuse
+to avoid an elevator or the theatre. When a certain lady was asked if she
+disliked to go to the theatre or church, she answered, "Not at all, but of
+course I like to have one foot in the aisle; I suppose everyone does that."
+
+The victim of mysophobia will wash the hands after touching any object,
+and will, so far as possible, avoid touching objects which he thinks may
+possibly convey infection. Some use tissue paper to turn the door-knob,
+some extract coins from the pocket-book with pincers. I have seen a lady in
+a public conveyance carefully open a piece of paper containing her fare,
+pour the money into the conductor's hand, carefully fold up the paper so
+that she should not touch the inside, and afterwards drop it from the tips
+of her fingers into a rubbish barrel.
+
+The case of a nurse who was dominated by fear of infection has come to my
+attention. If her handkerchief touched the table it was discarded. She
+became very adept at moving objects about with her elbows, was finally
+reduced to helplessness and had to be cared for by others.
+
+Unreasoning fear of one or another mode of conveyance is not rare. It is
+said that Rossini found it impossible to travel by rail, and that the
+attempt of a friend to accustom him to it resulted in an attack of
+faintness (Lombroso).
+
+The sufferer himself realizes, in such cases, that there is no reason in
+his fear--he knows he can undergo greater dangers with equanimity. Even
+doubting folly finds no answer to the question why should this danger be
+shunned and that accepted. The nearest approach to an answer is "I can't,"
+which really means "I haven't."
+
+The origin of the phobia is not always clear, but given the necessary
+susceptibility, circumstances doubtless dictate the direction the phobia
+shall take. A startling personal experience, or even reading or hearing of
+such an experience may start the fear which the insistent thought finally
+moulds into a fixed habit.
+
+To the hypochondriac who concentrates his attention upon the digestive
+tract, this part of his body occupies the foreground of all his thoughts.
+He exaggerates its delicacy of structure and the serious consequences of
+disturbing it even by an attack of indigestion. A patient to whom a certain
+fruit was suggested said he could not eat it. Asked what the effect would
+be, he answered that he did not know, he had not eaten any for twenty years
+and dared not risk the experiment.
+
+Extreme antipathies to various foods are fostered among this class. A lady
+told me that she perfectly abominated cereals, that she could not stand
+vegetables, that she could not bear anything in the shape of an apple, that
+she could not abide spinach, and that baked beans made her sick at the
+stomach.
+
+The heart is perhaps the organ most often the object of solicitude on the
+part of the hypochondriac. When we realize that the pulse may vary in the
+healthy individual from 60 to over 100, according to circumstances, and
+that mere excitement may send it to the latter figure, we may appreciate
+the feelings of one who counts his pulse at frequent intervals and is
+alarmed if it varies from a given figure.
+
+Inspection of the tongue is a common occupation of the hypochondriac, who
+is generally more familiar than his medical attendant with the anatomy of
+this organ.
+
+Insistent desire regarding the temperature is common not only among
+hypochondriacs, but among others. I do not allude to the internal
+temperature (though I have been surprised to learn how many people carry a
+clinical thermometer and use it on themselves from time to time); I refer
+to the temperature of the room or of the outside air. The wish to feel a
+certain degree of warmth is so overpowering in some cases that neither work
+nor play can be carried on unless the thermometer registers the desired
+figure. A person with this tendency does not venture to mail a letter
+without donning hat and overcoat; the mere thought of a cold bath causes
+him to shudder.
+
+Golf has cured many a victim of this obsession. It takes only a few games
+to teach the most delicately constructed that he can remain for hours in
+his shirt-sleeves on quite a cold day, and that the cold shower (preferably
+preceded by a warm one) invigorates instead of depresses him. Further
+experiment will convince him that he can wear thin underwear and low shoes
+all winter. Such experiences may encourage him to risk a cold plunge in
+the morning, followed by a brisk rub and a few simple exercises before
+dressing.
+
+Morbid fears in themselves produce physical manifestations which add to the
+discomfort and alarm of the hypochondriac. I allude to the rush of blood
+to the head, the chill, the mental confusion, and the palpitation. These
+symptoms are perfectly harmless, and denote only normal circulatory
+changes. It is true that one cannot at will materially alter his
+circulation, but he can do so gradually by habit of thought. To convince
+ourselves of this fact, we need only remember to what a degree blushing
+becomes modified by change of mental attitude. Similarly, the person who
+has practiced mental and physical relaxation will find that the blood
+no longer rushes to his head upon hearing a criticism or remembering a
+possible source of worry.
+
+The automatic processes of the body are in general performed best when the
+attention is directed elsewhere. After ordinary care is taken, too minute
+attention to the digestive apparatus, for example, may retard rather than
+aid it. Watching the digestion too closely is like pulling up seeds to see
+if they are growing.
+
+The more attention is paid to the sensations, the more they demand. Nor can
+the degree of attention they deserve be measured by their own insistence.
+If one tries the experiment of thinking intently of the end of his thumb,
+and imagines it is going to sleep, the chances are ten to one that in five
+minutes it will have all the sensations of going to sleep. If this is true
+of the healthy-minded individual, how much more must it be so in the person
+who allows his thoughts to dwell with anxious attention on such parts of
+his body as may be the immediate seat of his fears. The next step is for
+various sensations (boring, burning, prickling, stabbing, and the like)
+to appear spontaneously, and, if attention is paid to them, rapidly to
+increase in intensity.
+
+It is probable that the mere pressure of part upon part in the body, even
+the ordinary activity of its organs, would give rise to sensations if we
+encouraged them. Given an anomalous sensation, or even a pain, for which
+the physician finds no physical basis, and which, after a term of years,
+has produced no further appreciable effect than to make one nervous, it is
+always in place to ask one's self whether the sensation or the pain may not
+be of this nature.
+
+Medical instructors are continually consulted by students who fear that
+they have the diseases they are studying. The knowledge that pneumonia
+produces pain in a certain spot leads to a concentration of attention
+upon that region which causes any sensation there to give alarm. The mere
+knowledge of the location of the appendix transforms the most harmless
+sensations in that region into symptoms of serious menace. The sensible
+student learns to quiet these fears, but the victim of "hypos" returns
+again and again for examination, and perhaps finally reaches the point of
+imparting, instead of obtaining, information, like the patient in a recent
+anecdote from the _Youth's Companion_:
+
+It seems that a man who was constantly changing physicians at last called
+in a young doctor who was just beginning his practice.
+
+"I lose my breath when I climb a hill or a steep flight of stairs," said
+the patient. "If I hurry, I often get a sharp pain in my side. Those are
+the symptoms of a serious heart trouble."
+
+"Not necessarily, sir," began the physician, but he was interrupted.
+
+"I beg your pardon!" said the patient irritably. "It isn't for a young
+physician like you to disagree with an old and experienced invalid like me,
+sir!"
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+There is no absolute standard for the proper degree of solicitude regarding
+one's health, but if the habitual invalid possess a physique which would
+not preclude the average normal individual from being out and about, even
+at the expense of a pain, a stomach ache, or a cold, there is probably a
+hypochondriacal element in the case. It is a question of adjustment of
+effect to cause.
+
+The term "imaginary" is too loosely applied to the sensations of the
+hypochondriac. This designation is unjustified, and only irritates the
+sufferer, rouses his antagonism, and undermines his confidence in the
+judgment of his adviser. He knows that the sensations are there. To call
+them imaginary is like telling one who inspects an insect through
+a microscope that the claws do not look enormous; they _do_ look
+enormous--through the microscope--but this does not make them so. The
+worrier must learn to realize that he is looking at his sensations, as he
+does everything else, _through a microscope_.
+
+If a person living near a waterfall ignores the sound, he soon ceases to
+notice it, but if he listens for it, it increases, and becomes finally
+unbearable. Common sense teaches him to concentrate his attention
+elsewhere; similarly, it demands that the victim of "hypos" disregard his
+various sensations and devote his attention to outside affairs, unless the
+sensations are accompanied by obvious physical signs. Instead of running
+to the doctor, let him _do_ something--ride horseback, play golf, anything
+requiring exercise out of doors. Let him devote his entire energy to the
+exercise, and thus substitute the healthy sensations of fatigue and hunger
+for the exaggerated pains and the anomalous sensations which are fostered
+by self-study. Let him remember moreover, that nature will stand an
+enormous amount of outside abuse, but resents being kept under close
+surveillance.
+
+In practicing the neglect of the sensations, one should not allow his mind
+to dwell on the possibility that he is overlooking something serious, but
+rather on the danger of his becoming "hipped," a prey to his own doubts and
+fears, and unable to accomplish anything in life beyond catering to his own
+morbid fancies.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+Turning now to the bibliographic study of hypochondria, an interesting and
+characteristic contrast is offered between Huxley, who called himself
+a hypochondriac, but apparently was not, and Carlyle, who resented the
+imputation, though it apparently had some justification in fact.
+
+With regard to Huxley,--the only basis for the diagnosis hypochondria in
+a given case, is undoubted evidence, by letter or conversation, that the
+question of health is given undue prominence. I have looked carefully
+through the volume of Huxley's letters (published by his son), without
+definitely establishing this diagnosis. The state of his health and the
+question of his personal comfort received comparatively little attention.
+Whatever suffering Huxley endured he seems to have accepted in a
+philosophical and happy spirit, thus:
+
+"It is a bore to be converted into a troublesome invalid even for a few
+weeks, but I comfort myself with my usual reflection on the chances of
+life, 'Lucky it is no worse.' Any impatience would have been checked by
+what I heard about ... this morning ... that he has sunk into hopeless
+idiocy. A man in the prime of life!"
+
+With regard to Carlyle,--it is true, as claimed by Gould (_Biographic
+Clinics_, 1903) that he showed every evidence of eyestrain with resulting
+symptoms, particularly headache. This does not, however, preclude his
+having had hypochondria also, and in view of the violent and reiterated
+complaints running through his letters it seems quite credible that
+Froude's estimate of his condition was not far wrong. Surely, unless
+Carlyle was merely trying his pen without intending to be taken seriously,
+he devoted to the question of health a degree of attention which may be
+fairly adjudged undue.
+
+The first letter I quote (from those cited by Gould in fortifying his
+position) is of special interest as presenting in rather lurid terms
+Carlyle's ideal of health. After reading this letter one cannot help
+suspecting that the discomforts so vividly described in his other letters
+were compared by him with this ideal rather than with those of the average
+individual.
+
+"In the midst of your zeal and ardor,... remember the care of health.... It
+would have been a very great thing for me if I had been able to consider
+that health is a thing to be attended to continually, that you are to
+regard that as the very highest of all temporal things for you. There is no
+kind of achievement you could make in the world that is equal to perfect
+health. What to it are nuggets and millions'? The French financier said
+'Why is there no sleep to be sold!' Sleep was not in the market at any
+quotation.... I find that you could not get any better definition of what
+'holy' really is than 'healthy.' Completely healthy; _mens sana in corpore
+sano_. A man all lucid, and in equilibrium. His intellect a clear mirror
+geometrically plane, brilliantly sensitive to all objects and impressions
+made on it and imaging all things in their correct proportions; not twisted
+up into convex or concave, and distorting everything so that he cannot see
+the truth of the matter, without endless groping and manipulation: healthy,
+clear, and free and discerning truly all around him."
+
+The following extracts illustrate his attitude toward his physical
+shortcomings, whatever they may have been.
+
+... "A prey to nameless struggles and miseries, which have yet a kind of
+horror in them to my thoughts, three weeks without any kind of sleep, from
+impossibility to be free from noise."
+
+"I sleep irregularly here, and feel a little, very little, more than my
+usual share of torture every day. What the cause is would puzzle me
+to explain. I take exercise sufficient daily; I attend with rigorous
+minuteness to the quality of my food; I take all the precautions that I
+can, yet still the disease abates not."
+
+"Ill-health, the most terrific of all miseries."
+
+"Grown sicker and sicker.... I want health, health, health! On this subject
+I am becoming quite furious.... If I do not soon recover, I am miserable
+forever and ever. They talk of the benefit of health from a moral point of
+view. I declare solemnly, without exaggeration, that I impute nine-tenths
+of my present wretchedness, and rather more than nine-tenths of all my
+faults, to this infernal disorder in the stomach."
+
+"Bilious, too, in these smothering windless days."
+
+"Broke down in the park; _konnte_ _nichts mehr_, being sick and weak beyond
+measure."
+
+"Many days of suffering, of darkness, of despondency.... Ill-health has
+much to do with it."
+
+"Occasionally sharp pain (something cutting hard, grasping me around the
+heart).... Something from time to time tying me tight as it were, all
+around the region of the heart, and strange dreams haunting me."
+
+"There is a shivering precipitancy in me, which makes _emotion_ of any kind
+a thing to be shunned. It is my nerves, my nerves.... Such a nervous system
+as I have.... Thomas feeling in his breast for comfort and finding bilious
+fever.... All palpitating, fluttered with sleeplessness and drug-taking,
+etc.... Weary and worn with dull blockheadism, chagrin (next to no sleep
+the night before)."
+
+"A head _full of air_; you know that wretched physical feeling; I had been
+concerned with drugs, had awakened at five, etc. It is absolute martyrdom."
+
+"A huge nightmare of indigestion, insomnia, and fits of black impatience
+with myself and others,--self chiefly.... I am heartily sick of my
+dyspeptic bewilderment and imprisonment."
+
+"Alas! Alas! I ought to be wrapped in cotton wool, and laid in a locked
+drawer at present. I can stand nothing. I am really ashamed of the figure I
+cut."
+
+Froude's statements regarding Carlyle's condition are as follows:
+
+"... The simple natural life, the 'wholesome air, the daily rides or
+drives, the poor food,... had restored completely the functions of a
+stomach never so far wrong as he had imagined.... Afterwards he was always
+impatient, moody, irritable, violent. These humours were in his nature, and
+he could no more be separated from them than his body could leap off its
+shadow.... He looked back to it as the happiest and wholesomest home that
+he had ever known. He could do fully twice as much work there, he said, as
+he could ever do afterwards in London."
+
+"... If his liver occasionally troubled him, livers trouble most of us as
+we advance in life, and his actual constitution was a great deal stronger
+than that of ordinary men.... Why could not Carlyle, with fame and honor
+and troops of friends, and the gates of a great career flung open before
+him, and a great intellect and a conscience untroubled by a single act
+which he need regret, bear and forget too? Why indeed! The only answer is
+that Carlyle was Carlyle."
+
+These observations carry weight as representing the impartial and judicial
+estimate of a careful observer desiring only accurately to picture Carlyle
+as he was. The only logical conclusion, it seems to me, was that Carlyle,
+in addition to ocular defect with its legitimate consequences, was weighed
+down by worry over the failure to realize his own exaggerated ideal of
+health, that he devoted an undue degree of attention to this subject
+and was unduly anxious about it--in other words, that he had decided
+hypochondriacal tendencies.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+NEURASTHENIA
+
+It was a common saying of Myson that men ought not to investigate things
+from words, but words from things; for that things are not made for the
+sake of words, but words for things.
+
+_Diogenes Laertius_.
+
+
+This term (properly, though not commonly, accented upon the penult), was
+introduced by Beard to designate the large class of over-worked and worried
+who crowded his consulting room. The word is derived from the Greek
+_neuron_ nerve, and _astheneia_ weakness.
+
+Among the symptoms of this disorder have been included disorders of
+digestion and circulation, muscular weakness, pains, flushes and chills,
+and anomalous sensations of every variety. It has been especially applied
+to cases showing such mental peculiarities as morbid self-study, fear of
+insanity and the various other phobias, scruples, and doubts with which we
+have become familiar.
+
+The "American Disease" has been adopted abroad, and volumes have been
+devoted to it. Neurasthenia has been divided into cerebral, spinal, and
+otherwise, according as the fears and sensations of the patient are
+referred to one or another part of his body. While the term neurasthenia
+is becoming daily more familiar to the general public, it is being, on the
+whole, used, except as a convenient handle, rather less among neurologists.
+[Footnote: In substantiation of this statement I need only cite the
+recent contribution of my friend, Dr. Dana, on the "Partial Passing
+of Neurasthenia."] The question has arisen whether the symptoms of
+neurasthenia are always due to simple exhaustion. Advice regarding method,
+as well as amount, of work, is coming into vogue. Peterson, in a letter
+published in _Collier's Weekly_ (November 9, 1907) thus arraigns a patient
+who has told him he is a practical business man, and that his mind has been
+so occupied with serious matters that he has been unable to attend to his
+health.
+
+"You, practical! you, a business man! Why, you never had a serious
+thought in your life until now--at least not since you were a lad in the
+country.... Since boyhood you have never given a serious thought to health,
+home, wife, children, education, art, science, racial progress, or to the
+high destiny of man. You are simply a collector of money for its own sake,
+with no appreciation of what it might represent if you were really serious
+and really a business man or man of affairs. There are many like you in
+our asylum wards, where they are known as chronic maniacs. Here is one who
+collects bits of glass, old corks, and pieces of string. There sits another
+with a lap full of pebbles, twigs and straws."
+
+Courtney (in Pyle's "Personal Hygiene") says, "The brain is an organ which,
+under proper training, is capable of performing an immense amount of work,
+provided only that the work is of a varied character and does not produce a
+corresponding amount of mental disquietude. The importance of the emotions,
+especially the depressing emotions such as grief, anxiety, and worry, as
+factors in the brain exhaustion, cannot easily be overestimated."
+
+The obvious corollary to this proposition is that the constitutional
+worrier is likely to break down under an amount of work which produces no
+such effect upon the average normal individual.
+
+The only quarrel I have with the name neurasthenia is that it diverts
+attention from the real condition oftenest to be treated, namely, the
+faulty mental tendency, and directs attention to an assumed debility which
+may or may not exist. Misdirected energy, rather than weakness, is the
+difficulty with one who is ready and anxious to walk miles to satisfy a
+doubt, or to avoid crossing an open square, and who will climb a dozen
+flights of stairs rather than be shut up in an elevator. Even the
+exhaustion that follows long attention to business is quite as often due to
+worry and allied faulty mental habits as to the work itself. In most cases
+the phobias, the doubts, and the scruples, instead of being the result of
+breakdown, must be counted among its principal causes.
+
+This is why simple rest and abstinence from work so often fail to
+accomplish the cure that should follow if the exhaustion were due simply to
+overwork. In the "neurasthenic" rest from work only redoubles the worries,
+the doubts and the scruples, and the obsession to improve his time only
+adds to his nervous exhaustion. If a European trip is undertaken, the
+temperament responsible for the original breakdown causes him to rush from
+gallery to gallery, from cathedral to cathedral, so that no moment may be
+lost. Not infrequently it so happens that the patient returns more jaded
+than ever.
+
+The neurasthenic is not infrequently a confirmed obsessive, with all the
+faulty mental habits of this temperament. If he cannot make up his mind it
+is not because he is tired, but because this is his natural mental trend.
+If he drums, twitches, and walks the floor, these movements are not always
+due to exhaustion, but are habits peculiar to the temperament, habits well
+worth an effort to eliminate while in health, since they doubtless, through
+precluding bodily repose, contribute their mite toward the very exhaustion
+of which they are supposed to be the result. If he cannot sleep it is not
+simply because he is tired, but because he is so constituted that he cannot
+bring himself to let go his hold on consciousness until he has straightened
+out his tangles. If, in addition, one has the hypochondriacal tendency,
+he may worry himself into complete wakefulness by the thought that he has
+already irreparably injured himself by missing something of the mystic
+number, eight or nine, or whatever he may deem the number of hours' sleep
+essential to health.
+
+It is important that the overwrought business or professional man realize
+the importance of undertaking no more than he can accomplish without fret
+and worry; the importance of taking proper vacations before he is tired
+out; the importance of learning to divert his mind, while he can still do
+so, into channels other than those connected with his business; above all,
+the importance of cultivating the faculty of relaxing, and of dismissing
+doubts, indecisions and fears. He must cultivate what my colleague Dr. Paul
+succinctly terms "the art of living with yourself as you are." If he would
+"last out" he must learn to proceed with single mind upon whatever work he
+undertakes, and with equal singleness of mind apply himself, out of hours,
+to other occupation or diversion, preferably in the open air. For the most
+effective work, as well as for peace of mind, it is essential that every
+thought of one's office be shut out by other interests when there is no
+actual business requiring attention. Mental relaxation is materially
+hampered by such persistent thoughts of one's place of business as those
+cited by Dr. Knapp:
+
+"A striking instance of the sort was related to me by a friend remarkably
+free from any psychopathic taint. It often happens that he does scientific
+work in the evening at the Agassiz Museum. When he leaves for the night he
+puts out the gas and then stands and counts slowly up to a given number
+until his eyes are used to the darkness, in order that he may detect any
+spark of fire that may have started while he was at work. This is his
+invariable custom, but it sometimes happens that when he goes back home so
+strong a feeling of doubt comes over him lest he may that once have omitted
+to do this, that he is uncomfortable until he returns to the museum to make
+sure."
+
+Among the predisposing causes for nervous breakdown none is more potent
+than the inability of the obsessive to adapt himself to change of plan, and
+to reconcile himself to criticism, opposition, and the various annoyances
+incident to his occupation.
+
+In dealing with others the following suggestion of Marcus Aurelius may come
+in play:
+
+"When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what opinion
+about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen this, thou
+wilt pity him, and neither wonder nor be angry." Again, in this connection
+the lines of Cowper are pertinent:
+
+  "The modest, sensible and well-bred man
+  Will not affront me, and no other can."
+
+Pope, also, who is said not always to have followed his own good counsel,
+contributes a verse which may serve a turn:
+
+  "At ev'ry trifle scorn to take offense,
+  That always shows great pride, or little sense."
+
+The practice of such commonplace philosophy (which, to be effective, should
+be ready for immediate use, not stored away for later reflection), together
+with training against faulty mental states studied in these pages, will
+go far toward relieving the mental perturbation that unfits for effective
+work, and contributes to "neurasthenia."
+
+During an hour's delay, caused by the failure of another to keep an
+appointment, I formulated the following maxim:
+
+"These are the annoyances incident to my business; to fret when they occur
+means that I cannot manage my business without friction."
+
+This may not appeal to the reader, but for me it has proved as good an
+hour's work as I ever did. Since that time, on the occurrence of similar
+sources of provocation, I have found it necessary to go no farther than
+"These are the annoyances," to restore the needful balance. When we allow
+our gorge to rise at ordinary sources of discomfort, it implies that we
+are prepared only for our affairs to run with perfect smoothness. This
+represents the insistent idea carried to an absurdity.
+
+At the risk of losing caste with the critical I cannot forbear sharing with
+the reader an inelegant maxim which has more than once prevented an access
+of rage upon the blunder of a subordinate: "If he had our brains he'd have
+our job."
+
+Spinoza says: "The powerlessness of man to govern and restrain his emotions
+I call servitude. For a man who is controlled by his emotions is not his
+own master but is mastered by fortune, under whose power he is often
+compelled, though he sees the better, to follow the worse." The same
+philosopher in counselling self-restraint adds:
+
+"The mind's power over the emotions consists, first, in the actual
+knowledge of the emotions." Again: "An emotion which is a passion ceases
+to be a passion as soon as we form a clear and distinct idea of it." The
+meaning of this dictum I first realized on experiencing the magical effect
+of the line of thought suggested by the delayed appointment.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+Communion with Nature has a peculiarly soothing effect on tired and jangled
+nerves. My friend, Dr. Harold Williams, tells me that among his main
+reliances for tired and overwrought women are the _reading of children's
+books_, and _working in the garden_. Peterson thus advises his busy
+patient:
+
+"A small farm in a simple community would be for you an asset of
+immeasurable value from the standpoint of health and spiritual
+rejuvenation. But true simplicity should be the rigorous order of that
+country life. A chateau by the sea, with a corps of gardeners, a retinue of
+servants, and yachts and automobiles, would prove a disastrous expedient.
+
+"In that quiet retreat you should personally and tenderly learn to know
+each rosebud, shrub, vine, creeper, tree, rock, glade, dell, of your
+own estate. You should yourself design the planting, paths, roads, the
+flower-garden, the water-garden, the wood-garden, the fernery, the
+lily-pond, the wild-garden, and the kitchen garden."
+
+Not everyone is so happily situated as to be able to follow this advice
+in its entirety, but many can make a modest effort in this direction: the
+kitchen-garden may appeal to some who have no appreciation for the wild
+flowers, and who scorn to cultivate such tastes.
+
+One warning is, however, here in order: The cultivation of the garden or
+the field for utilitarian purposes is inevitably associated with the maxim,
+"Hoe out your row"--an excellent maxim for the idle and disorderly, but not
+to be taken too literally by the over-exacting and methodical business man
+who is trying to make the radical change in his view of life necessary to
+free his mind from the incubus of worry. Nor must the amateur husbandman
+scan with too anxious eye the weather map and the clouds. If he mind these
+warnings he may learn to say,--
+
+  "For me kind Nature wakes her genial pow'r,
+    Suckles each herb, and spreads out ev'ry flower,
+  Annual for me, the grape, the rose renew,
+    The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew."
+
+The over-conscientious individual may object that it is selfish to consider
+his own comfort when he has work to do for others. But expending too freely
+of our nervous energies, even in a good cause, is like giving to charity
+so much of our substance that we in turn are obliged to lean on others for
+support.
+
+In properly conserving our own energy we may be lightening the ultimate
+burden of others. There is no place for selfishness in Haeckel's philosophy
+regarding the proper balance between duty to one's self and duty to others.
+Nor was selfishness a failing of the Quaker poet who idealized
+
+  "The flawless symmetry of man,
+  The poise of heart and mind."
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+SLEEPLESSNESS
+
+He shall enjoy the same tranquility in his sleep as when awake.
+
+_Digby's Epicurus_, Maxim xl.
+
+
+Sleeplessness is due, in the majority of cases, to a faulty habit of mind.
+The preparation for a sleepless night begins with the waking hours, is
+continued through the day, and reaches its maximum when we cease from the
+occupations which have in some degree diverted our attention from harassing
+thoughts, and retire, to struggle, in darkness and solitude, with the
+worries, doubts, regrets, and forebodings, which now assume gigantic and
+fantastic shapes.
+
+He who would sleep at night must regulate his day, first, by not
+undertaking more than he can accomplish without undue stress, and, second,
+by carrying through what he does undertake, as far as he may, without the
+running accompaniment of undue solicitude, anxious doubts, and morbid fears
+discussed in the preceding sections. It is futile to expect that a fretful,
+impatient, and over-anxious frame of mind, continuing through the day and
+every day, will be suddenly replaced at night by the placid and comfortable
+mental state which shall insure a restful sleep.
+
+Before proceeding, then, to the immediate measures for inducing sleep, let
+us consider the suitable preparatory measures.
+
+The nervous breakdown which precludes sleep is oftener due to worry than to
+work. Nor should the sufferer jump too quickly to the conclusion that it
+is the loss of sleep rather than the worry that makes him wretched. It is
+astonishing how much sleep can be lost without harm, provided its loss is
+forgotten, and how much work can be carried on without extreme fatigue,
+provided it be undertaken with confidence and pursued without impatience.
+It is, however, essential that the work be varied and, at due intervals,
+broken. Trainers for athletic contests know that increasing practice
+without diversion defeats its end, and particularly insist upon cessation
+of violent effort directly before the final test. Why should we not treat
+our minds as well as our bodies?
+
+The active and over-scrupulous business or professional man who allows no
+time for rest or recreation, who can confer no responsibility upon his
+subordinates, who cultivates no fad, and is impatient of every moment spent
+away from his occupation, is in danger of eventually "going stale," and
+having to spend a longer and less profitable vacation in a sanitarium than
+would have sufficed to avert the disaster. Nor will he find it easy to
+change his sleep-habit with the change of residence. It behooves him to
+change that habit while still at work, as a step toward averting breakdown.
+
+It will harm few of us to take a bird's eye view of our affairs at stated
+intervals, and ask ourselves if the time has not arrived when it will be a
+saving of time and money as well as worry for us to delegate more of the
+details, and more even of the responsibilities, to others, concentrating
+our own energies upon such tasks as we are now peculiarly qualified to
+undertake. To the man determined to accomplish a lifetime of work before he
+rests, there is food for thought in the following anecdote:
+
+When Pyrrhus was about to sail for Italy, Cineas, a wise and good man,
+asked him what were his intentions and expectations.
+
+"To conquer Rome," said Pyrrhus.
+
+"And what will you do next, my lord?"
+
+"Next I will conquer Italy."
+
+"And after that?"
+
+"We will subdue Carthage, Macedonia, all Africa, and all Greece."
+
+"And when we have conquered all we can, what shall we do?"
+
+"Do? Why, then we will sit down and spend our time in peace and comfort."
+
+"Ah, my lord," said the wise Cineas, "what prevents our being in peace and
+comfort now?"
+
+The time to take a vacation is before one is exhausted. If one is
+discontented during his vacation, he should take it, none the less, as a
+matter of duty, not expecting to enjoy every moment of it, but contenting
+himself with the anticipation of greater pleasure in the resumption of his
+duties. He should cultivate an interest in out-door occupation or some
+study that carries him into the fields or woods. Aside from the time on
+shipboard, the worst possible vacation for the over-worked business or
+professional man is the trip to Europe, if spent in crowding into the
+shortest possible time the greatest possible amount of information on
+matters artistic, architectural, and historic.
+
+No one can acquire the habit of sleep who has not learned the habit of
+concentration, of devoting himself single-minded to the matter in hand. If
+we practice devoting our minds, as we do our bodies, to one object at a
+time, we shall not only accomplish more, but with less exhaustion. Training
+in this direction will help us, on retiring, to view sleep as our present
+duty, and a sufficient duty, without taking the opportunity at that time to
+adjust (or to try to adjust) all our tangles, to review our past sources of
+discomfort, and to speculate upon the ills of the future.
+
+A walk, a bath, a few gymnastic exercises, will often serve a useful
+purpose before retiring, but if they are undertaken in a fretful and
+impatient spirit, and are accompanied by doubts of their effectiveness,
+and the insistent thought that sleep will not follow these or any other
+procedure, they are likely to accomplish little.
+
+The best immediate preparation for sleep is the confidence that one will
+sleep, and _indifference if one does not_. It is an aid in the adoption of
+this frame of mind to learn that many have for years slept only a few
+hours per night, without noticeable impairment of their health or comfort.
+Neither unbroken nor long-continued sleep, however desirable, is essential
+to longevity or efficiency. This is illustrated by the following examples:
+
+Joseph A. Willard, for nearly half a century Clerk of the Court in Suffolk
+County, and a well-known figure on the streets of Boston, died in his
+eighty-eighth year. He was active and alert in the performance of his
+daily duties up to their discontinuance shortly before his death. He
+kept, meantime, records of the temperature, weather, and condition of the
+streets, at all hours of the night, and every night, for many years before
+the establishment of the weather bureau. So reliable were these records
+regarded by the courts that they were often appealed to in the trial of
+cases, and their accuracy never questioned by either party in the suit. I
+publish these facts by the permission of his son.
+
+George T. Angell, the well-known humanitarian, than whom few, if any, have
+led a more busy life, when in his sixty-ninth year wrote as follows:
+
+"For the benefit of those who do not [take narcotics, opiates, anęsthetics]
+I will say that I suppose there are very few in this country _who have
+slept less_ than I have; but I have never taken anything to stupefy, while
+thousands of good sleepers I have known have long since gone to the last
+sleep that knows no waking here. It was undoubtedly wise to change my
+professional life from court to office practice: but in other matters I
+was compelled to choose between living the life of a vegetable, or losing
+sleep; and I chose the latter."
+
+Mr. Angell is now eighty-four, still actively engaged in affairs, and
+allows me to add that during the past six years he has gone for a week at
+a time with no sleep; for three months at a time he has not averaged more
+than two hours in twenty-four; he does not remember having ever had a good
+night's sleep. Mrs. Angell states that, with one exception, she has never
+known him to sleep through the night.
+
+It is worth while to remember these experiences before resorting to drugs
+for sleeplessness.
+
+I have somewhere seen it stated that a prominent divine attributed his
+happy and green old age to the fact that he slept a certain number of hours
+every night. Against this statement must be set the reflection that many
+another old gentleman can fairly attribute his comfort, in part at least,
+to an attitude of indifference toward the unessentials, among which I
+suspect must be included the question whether we average eight hours of
+sleep or materially less.
+
+Let us now consider some of the faulty mental habits directly affecting
+sleep itself. First comes the compulsive thought that one must sleep _now_,
+and the impatient count of the wakeful hours supposed to be irrecoverably
+lost from the coveted number. This insistence in itself precludes sleep.
+The thought, "No matter if I don't sleep to-night; I will some other
+night," will work wonders in the direction of producing sleep to-night.
+
+The continuance of any given position, completely relaxed, in bed, even
+without unconsciousness, is more restful than tossing about. The mere
+experiment of remaining immobile in a certain position as long as possible,
+and concentrating the mind on the thought, "I am getting sleepy, I am
+going to sleep," will oftener produce the desired result than watching the
+proverbial sheep follow one another over the wall. Training during the day
+in restraining nervous movements is an aid in acquiring the ability to do
+this.
+
+This is a field in which self-suggestion is of definite value. Everyone
+appreciates the effect on sleep of the "state of mind" when he has passed a
+succession of sleepless hours followed by a sudden tendency to somnolence
+at the time for rising. The problem is to acquire the frame of mind without
+waiting for circumstances. To demonstrate the effect of faulty suggestion
+combined with restlessness on awaking in the night, try the following:
+
+EXPERIMENT I.--Place yourself on the face and from this point turn rapidly
+in a complete circle backwards from right to left until you are again on
+the face. Pause several times and say to yourself rapidly "I cannot sleep
+in this position." The result of the experiment is practically uniform. The
+rapid movement and the suggestion prevent sleep.
+
+To demonstrate the effect of bodily relaxation combined with correct
+suggestion, in promoting sleep try--
+
+EXPERIMENT II.--Start in the same position as Experiment I. Traverse the
+same circle, prolonging each pause with body relaxed, and substituting at
+each pause the suggestion, "I can sleep in any position," repeated a number
+of times deliberately and as if you meant it. The restful pose and the
+suggestion generally induce sleep long before the circle is completed.
+
+Next comes the compulsive thought that we cannot sleep until everything is
+"squared up" and all mental pictures completed. The story is told that a
+gentleman took a room in the hotel next another who was notoriously fussy.
+He remembered this fact after dropping one boot carelessly to the floor,
+and laid the other gently down. After a pause he heard a rap on the door
+and a querulous, "For heaven's sake, drop the other boot, or I can't get to
+sleep."
+
+Many find themselves unable to sleep until the whole household is accounted
+for and the house locked up for the night, until certain news is received,
+and the like. The same tendency postpones sleep until all affairs are
+straightened out in the mind, as well as in reality. A little reflection
+shows how indefinite must be the postponement of sleep under such
+conditions.
+
+No training is more important for the victim of compulsive tendencies
+than the practice of trusting something to chance and the morrow, and
+reconciling himself to the fact that at no time, in this world, will all
+things be finally adjusted to his satisfaction.
+
+The habit of dismissing, at will, disagreeable thoughts is a difficult but
+not impossible acquisition. Arthur Benson in "The Thread of Gold" relates
+the following anecdotes:
+
+"When Gladstone was asked, 'But don't you find you lie awake at night,
+thinking how you ought to act, and how you ought to have acted?' he
+answered, 'No, I don't; where would be the use of that?'"
+
+"Canon Beadon [who lived to be over one hundred] said to a friend that
+the secret of long life in his own case was that he had never thought of
+anything unpleasant after ten o'clock at night."
+
+The insistent desire to sleep in a certain bed, with a certain degree of
+light or darkness, heat or cold, air or absence of air, is detrimental.
+This is in line with the desire to eat certain foods only, at a certain
+table, and at a certain time. The man who loses his appetite if dinner
+is half an hour late is unable again to sleep if once waked up. This
+individual must say to himself, "Anyone can stand what he likes; it takes a
+philosopher to stand what he does not like," and try at being a philosopher
+instead of a sensitive plant.
+
+Inability to sleep while certain noises are continued must be similarly
+combated. If one goes from place to place in search of the quiet spot for
+sleep, he may finally find _quiet itself_ oppressive, or worse yet, may be
+kept awake by hearing his own circulation, from which escape is out of
+the question. He who finds himself persistently out of joint with
+his surroundings will do well to ponder the language of the Chinese
+philosopher:
+
+"The legs of the stork are long, the legs of the duck are short: you cannot
+make the legs of the stork short, neither can you make the legs of the duck
+long. Why worry?"
+
+With regard to the character of sleep itself, the attitude of our mind in
+sleep is dominated, to a degree, at least, by its attitude in the waking
+hours. It is probable that during profound sleep the mind is inactive, and
+that dreams occur only during the transition-state from profound sleep to
+wakefulness. It is conceivable that in the ideal sleep there is only one
+such period, but ordinarily there occur many such periods during the night;
+for the uneasy sleeper the night may furnish a succession of such periods,
+with comparatively little undisturbed rest, hence his dreams seem to him
+continuous. The character of the pictures and suggestions of dreams, though
+in new combinations, are largely dependent on our daily experiences. Is it
+not, then, worth while to encourage, during our waking hours, as far as is
+consistent with our duties, such thoughts as are restful and useful, rather
+than those which serve no purpose but annoyance.
+
+If we will, we can select our thoughts as we do our companions.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+OCCUPATION NEUROSIS
+
+Be not ashamed, to be helped; for it is thy business to do thy duty like a
+soldier in the assault on a town. How, then, if being lame thou canst
+not mount up on the battlement alone, but with the help of another it is
+possible?
+
+_Marcus Aurelius_.
+
+
+The insistent and over-conscientious habit of mind plays so large a part in
+the so-called occupation neuroses that a brief discussion of their nature
+may here be in place.
+
+The best-known form of this distressing malady is "writer's cramp." Upon
+this subject the proverbially dangerous little knowledge has been already
+acquired; a fuller knowledge may give comfort rather than alarm, and may
+even lead to the avoidance of this and allied nervous disorders.
+
+The term "writer's cramp" has unduly emphasized a feature, namely, the
+cramp, which is neither the most common nor the most troublesome among the
+symptoms resulting from over-use of a part. In occupation neuroses, other
+than those produced by the use of the pen, pain, weakness, and numbness are
+at least equally prominent, and even in writer's cramp the "neuralgic" form
+is common.
+
+The fact is generally realized that this type of disorder is particularly
+frequent among persons of nervous temperament. The reason is twofold,
+first, the resistance of such individuals is less than the average, second,
+the insistent habit of mind leads them to overdo. It is against the latter
+factor that our efforts may to advantage be directed.
+
+I have in mind the case of a lady who complained of severe pain in the
+right arm with no apparent physical cause. The pain, at first appearing
+only when the arm was placed in a certain position, finally became almost
+constant. She denied excessive use of the arm, but her husband stated that
+she plied the needle to such an extent that it caused the family distress.
+This she indignantly denied, and fortified her position by the statement
+that she only took short stitches! Further inquiry elicited the
+acknowledgment that she did so because she could no longer take long ones.
+This is a fair example of an occupation neurosis.
+
+Some time ago, after long continued and over-conscientious effort to
+satisfy the requirements of an athletic instructor, I acquired what is
+known as a "golf arm." Efforts at its relief were unavailing. A vigorous
+course of massage only increased the pain. I finally asked a friend what
+they did in England when a golf player suffered this annoyance. He replied
+that no golf player ever did so; when it occurred among others the arm was
+placed in wool for three months, at the end of which time a single movement
+of swinging the club was made; if this movement caused pain the treatment
+was renewed for another three months. I did not suppose he intended the
+advice to be taken literally, but followed it, except as regarded the wool,
+and I verily believe that I should otherwise have been experimenting with
+the treatment of golf arm to-day.
+
+My friend's advice indicates the general experience with occupation
+neuroses including writer's cramp, for which every imaginable measure has
+been tried, only to be replaced by protracted abstinence from the use
+of the pen. The attempt to use the left hand proves, as a rule, only
+temporarily efficacious. The speedy appearance of symptoms in the left hand
+emphasizes the fact that it is tired brain, as well as the tired muscle,
+that rebels.
+
+The ranks of every profession, and of every trade, are daily depleted
+of the most promising among their members, whose zeal has outrun their
+discretion; their over-worked brains and hands have succumbed under the
+incessant strain of tasks, often self-imposed.
+
+It is hard, but essential, for the sufferer from an occupation neurosis to
+abandon frantic efforts at combining treatment with continuance of labor.
+He must bring all his philosophy to bear on the temporary, but complete,
+abandonment of his chosen occupation, at whatever loss to himself or
+others.
+
+To avoid this contingency the over-conscientious worker will do well to
+modify his ambition, and lower his pride if needful, consoling himself
+with the reflection that an occasional interruption of his labor, even at
+material loss, may be replaced by years of future usefulness. Cowper says:
+
+  "'Tis thus the understanding takes repose
+    In indolent vacuity of thought,
+  And rests, and is refreshed."
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+THE WORRIER AT HOME
+
+  Small habits, well pursued betimes,
+  May reach the dignity of crimes.
+
+  _Hannah More_.
+
+
+More than one "sunbeam" and "life of the party" in society is the "cross
+patch" and "fuss budget" of the home. His gracious smiles and quips abroad
+are matched at home by darkened brows and moody silence, only broken by
+conversation of the italicized variety: "_Will_ it ever stop raining?"
+"_Can't_ you see that I am busy?" "What _are_ you doing?" and the like.
+Whatever banner is exhibited to the outside world, the motto at home seems
+to be "Whatever is, is wrong." Defects in the ménage, carefully overlooked
+when dining out, are called with peculiar unction to the attention of the
+housekeeper of the home, whose worry to please is only matched by the
+"sunbeam's" fear that she shall think him satisfied with what is placed
+before him.
+
+  "There's something kind of pitiful about a man that growls
+  Because the sun beats down too hot, because the wild wind howls,
+  Who never eats a meal but that the cream ain't thick enough,
+  The coffee ain't been settled right, or else the meat's too tough--
+
+  Poor chap! He's just the victim of Fate's oldest, meanest trick,
+  You'll see by watching mules and men, they don't need brains to kick."
+
+  _Chicago Interocean_.
+
+Add to the "kicking habit" the insistence that each member of the family
+must be reminded at frequent intervals of his peculiar weaknesses, and that
+the discussion of uncomfortable topics, long since worn threadbare, must be
+reopened at every available opportunity, and the adage is justified, "be it
+ever so humble, there's no place like home."
+
+Try the following suggestion on approaching the house after a hard
+day's work. Say to yourself, "Why tired and cross? Why not tired and
+good-natured?" The result may startle the family and cause inquiries for
+your health, but "Don't Worry," if it does; console yourself with the
+thought they will like you none the less for giving them a glimpse of that
+sunny nature of which they have often heard.
+
+As a further preparation for the evening meal, and the evening, by way of
+alleviating the mental and physical discomfort following a trying day, one
+is surprised by the effectiveness of taking a bath and changing all the
+clothing. This treatment, in fact, almost offers a sure cure, but the
+person who would be most benefited thereby, is the person so obsessed to
+pursue the miserable tenor of his way that he scouts the suggestion that
+he thus bestir himself, instead of sinking into the easy chair. He may,
+however, accept the suggestion that simply changing the shoes and stockings
+is extremely restful, when reminded that if he had worn kid gloves all day
+he would be relieved to free his hands from the incubus, and, if gloves
+must still be worn, to put on a cool pair.
+
+It is a further aid to physical, and indirectly to mental, comfort, if one
+can learn to wear low shoes and the thinnest of underwear the year
+round; the former offer a panacea for fidgets; the latter lessens the
+perspiration, which increases the susceptibility to drafts, and to even
+moderate lowering of temperature. The prevailing belief that this procedure
+is dangerous is disproved by the experience of the many who have given it a
+thorough trial. The insistent belief of the neurotic that he cannot acquire
+this habit is touched upon in the chapter on Worry and Obsession. If he
+thinks he is "taking cold," let him throw back his shoulders and take a few
+deep breaths, or if convenient, a few exercises, instead of doubling the
+weight of his underwear, and in the long run he will find that he has not
+only increased his comfort, but has lessened, rather than increased, the
+number of his colds.
+
+Much of the worry of the home is retrospective. "If I had only made
+Mary wear her rubbers,"--"If we had only invested in Calumet & Hecla at
+25,"--"If we had only sent John to college," represent a fruitful source of
+family discomfort. The morbid rhyme is familiar to all:
+
+  "Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
+    The saddest these, 'It might have been.'"
+
+I should be glad to learn of any advantage accruing from the indulgence of
+this attitude toward the bygone. A happier and more sensible habit of mind
+may be attained by equal familiarity with the following:
+
+  "Add this suggestion to the verse,
+    'It might have been a great deal worse.'"
+
+A fruitful source of discomfort for the worrier at home is the absence of
+occupation. He looks forward to mental rest after using his brain all day,
+but there is no rest for him unless in sleep. The most valuable rest he
+could give his mind would be to occupy it with something worth while, yet
+not so strenuous as to cause solicitude. As Saleeby points out, the mock
+worry of a game is a good antidote for the real worry of life, and a game
+is far better than nothing, unless the player make, in turn, a work of his
+play, in which case worry continues.
+
+The hardest task for the worrier at home is to get away from home. With
+advancing years the temptation grows upon us to spend our evenings by the
+fireside, to make no new friends and seek no new enjoyments. But this
+unbroken habit is neither the best preparation for a happy old age, nor the
+best method of counteracting present worry. Nor should one stop to decide
+whether the special entertainment in question will be worthwhile--he must
+depend rather on the realization that if he accepts most opportunities he
+will be, on the whole, the gainer.
+
+The man whose occupation keeps him in-doors all day should make special
+effort to pass some time in the open air, if possible walking or driving
+to and from his place of business, and taking at least a stroll in the
+evening.
+
+As more than one writer has suggested, the best resource is the _fad_. The
+fad will prove an inestimable boon after withdrawing from active work, but
+it should be commenced long before one discontinues business, else the
+chances are that he will never take it up, but will fret away his time like
+the average man who retires from an occupation which has engrossed his
+attention.
+
+The fad should not be pursued too strenuously, or its charm is lost. A lady
+once told me that she had given up studying flowers because she found she
+could not master botany in the time at her disposal. Another sees no use in
+taking up history unless he can become an authority on some epoch. Another
+declines to study because he can never overtake the college graduate. But
+one of the best informed men of my acquaintance had no college education.
+One of his fads was history, with which he was far more familiar than any
+but the exceptional college man, outside the teachers of that branch of
+learning.
+
+The usefulness of the fad does not depend upon the perfection attained in
+its pursuit, but upon the pleasure in its pursuit, and upon the diversion
+of the mind from its accustomed channels. The more completely one learns
+to concentrate his thoughts on an _avocation_, the more enthusiasm and
+effectiveness he can bring to bear on his _vocation_ in its turn. A fad
+that occupies the hands, such as carpentering, turning, or photography, is
+peculiarly useful if one's taste runs in that direction.
+
+One handicap in cultivating the fad is the lack of interest on the part of
+our associates, but if we become genuinely interested in any fad that is at
+all worth while, we shall inevitably add new acquaintances likely to prove
+at least as interesting as those of our present friends, who have no
+thoughts outside their daily round of toil. The more fads one cultivates,
+so long as he avoids the obsession to obtrude them at all times and places,
+the more interesting he will, in his turn, become to others.
+
+The over-solicitude that defeats its own end, in the case of a parent,
+has been admirably portrayed by Arthur Benson in "Beside Still
+Waters,"--"there was nothing in the world that he more desired than the
+company and the sympathy of his children; but he had, beside this, an
+intense and tremulous sense of his responsibility toward them. He
+attached an undue importance to small indications of character, and thus
+the children were seldom at ease with their father, because he rebuked
+them constantly, and found frequent fault, doing almost violence to his
+tenderness, not from any pleasure in censoriousness, but from a terror,
+that was almost morbid, of the consequences of the unchecked development
+of minute tendencies."
+
+Something must be left to natural growth, and to fortune, even in such
+important matters as the rearing of children.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+THE WORRIER ON HIS TRAVELS
+
+After all, is it not a part of the fine art of living to take the enjoyment
+of the moment as it comes without lamenting that it is not something else?
+
+LILIAN WHITING: _Land of Enchantment_.
+
+
+In no phase of life is the worrying and the "fussy" habit more
+noticeable than in travel. This is, perhaps, partly because the lack of
+self-confidence, which so often unsettles the worrier, is peculiarly
+effective when he has relinquished the security of his accustomed
+anchorage. This applies surely to the over-solicitous attention paid by
+the traveler to the possible dangers of rail and sea. Here is a verse from
+Wallace Irwin:
+
+  "'Suppose that this here vessel,' says the skipper with a groan,
+  'Should lose 'er bearin's, run away and bump upon a stone;
+  Suppose she'd shiver and go down when save ourselves we could'nt.'
+  The mate replies,
+  'Oh, blow me eyes!
+  Suppose agin she shouldn't?'"
+
+A common direction taken by the worrying habit, in the traveler, is that
+of taking in advance each step of the journey, preparing for every
+contingency, and suffering beforehand every imaginable hardship and
+inconvenience. I do not vouch for the story (though I can match it without
+going far afield) of the gentleman who abandoned his trip from Paris to
+Budapesth because he found he would be delayed in Vienna six hours, "too
+long time to wait in the station, and not long enough to go to the hotel."
+It is the imperative duty of every traveler to discover interests which
+shall tide him over a few hours' delay wherever it may occur.
+
+It is by no means a waste of time to familiarize ourselves with the
+geography at least of our own country; to know the situation and appearance
+of every city of importance, and to know something about the different
+railroads besides their initials, and their rating in the stock market.
+Again, if we take up the study of the trees, flowers and birds, with the
+aid of the admirable popular works now available, we shall not only view
+the scenery with new eyes, but shall welcome, rather than be driven to
+despair, by a breakdown in the woods.
+
+It is a mistake to shun our fellow-travelers, from whom we should rather
+try to learn something. This is a solace in traveling alone, for the boon
+companion may handicap us in cultivating new acquaintances and gaining new
+impressions. Though the main object of recreation is diversion from the
+daily round of thought, the fact need not be lost sight of that the busy
+man will find his practical interests furthered, rather than hindered, by
+a little widening of the horizon. Nor should he forget, meantime, the
+admonition of Seneca that if he would wish his travels delightful he must
+first make himself delightful.
+
+It is inevitable that uncomfortable, as well as agreeable, experiences
+occur in travel. But the man who spends his time and thought in avoiding
+the one and seeking the other is steadily forging chains whose gall shall
+one day surpass the discomforts of a journey around the world. Arthur
+Benson in "Beside Still Waters" says that Hugh learned one thing at school,
+namely, that the disagreeable was not necessarily the intolerable. Some of
+us would do well to go back to school and learn this over again. I know of
+only two ways by which the discomforts of travel can be avoided. One is to
+ignore them, the other to stay at home.
+
+A fellow traveler told me that on one occasion, in the presence of a
+beautiful bit of mountain scenery, he overheard two ladies in anxious
+consultation comparing, article by article, the corresponding _menus_ of
+two rival hotels. The fact that three varieties of fish were offered
+at one, while only two were offered at the other, opened so animated a
+discussion of quantity as opposed to probable quality that the listener
+discretely withdrew.
+
+A lady on the Florida express, after reading a novel all day with an
+occasional interim, during which she gazed through her lorgnette with bored
+and anxious air, finally said to her companion, "I have not seen a single
+estate which compares to those in Brookline."
+
+Among the varieties of needless worry imposed upon the traveler by the
+insistent habit, none is more common, or more easily overcome, than the
+refusal to sleep unless noise and light are quite shut out. If the sufferer
+make of his insistent habit a servant, rather than a master, and instead of
+reiterating "I must have quiet and darkness," will confidently assert, "I
+must get over this nonsense," he will speedily learn that freedom from
+resentment, and a good circulation of air, are more conducive to sleep than
+either darkness or silence.
+
+The best drug for the sleepless traveler is the _ęquo animo_ of Cicero.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+THE WORRIER AT THE TABLE
+
+These little things are great to little man.
+
+GOLDSMITH: _The Traveller_.
+
+
+The insistent habit of mind is nowhere more noticeable than in connection
+with the food. I have seen a hotel _habitué_, apparently sane, who
+invariably cut, or broke, his bread into minute particles, and minutely
+inspected each before placing it in his mouth. If this were a book of
+confessions, I should have myself to plead guilty, among worse things,
+to having avoided mince pie for weeks after encountering among other
+ingredients of this delicacy, a piece of broken glass.
+
+Not infrequently the obsessive diner so long hesitates before giving his
+final order that the waiter brings the wrong dish. The insistent thought
+now replaces the doubting folly, and the diner would as soon think of
+eating grass as the article offered. I have known him impatiently to leave
+the table under these circumstances, and to play the ostentatious martyr,
+rather than partake of the food he had at the outset given weighty
+consideration. I have seen another omit his lunch because water had been
+spilled upon the cloth, and still another leave the dining-car, with
+the announcement that he would forego his meal because informed by the
+conductor that men's shirt waists without coats were taboo.
+
+The obsessive of this type may by training even reach the point of seeing
+the amusing instead of the pathetic side of the picture when, in the course
+of his travels, his request for "a nice bit of chicken, cut thin," is
+transmitted to the kitchen as--"One chick."
+
+One day, with pride, I called the attention of my easy-going friend to the
+fact that I was eating a dish I had not ordered. He quietly remarked that
+the next step was to eat it and say nothing! Another friend has this motto
+in his dining-room: "Eat what is set before you and be thankful." His
+children will open their eyes when they find others, less reasonably
+reared, demanding that the potatoes be changed because they are sprinkled
+with parsley, that a plate be replaced because it has had a piece of cheese
+upon it, or that the salad of lettuce and tomato be removed in favor of one
+with tomato alone.
+
+A lady recently told me of breakfasting with a foreign sojourner in
+America, who upon being offered the contents of an egg broken into a glass,
+was not satisfied with declining it, but felt impelled also to express his
+extreme disgust at this method of serving it, fortunately to the amusement,
+rather than to the annoyance of his hostess.
+
+"After this, know likewise," says Epictetus, "that you are a brother too;
+and that to this character it belongs to make concessions, to be easily
+persuaded, to use gentle language, never to claim for yourself any
+non-essential thing, but cheerfully to give up these to be repaid by a
+larger share of things essential. For consider what it is, instead of a
+lettuce, for instance, or a chair, to procure for yourself a good temper.
+How great an advantage gained!"
+
+The insistent desire to have a certain degree and character of appetite not
+infrequently leads to consulting the physician. Still more common is the
+obsession that the appetite must be gratified, the supposition being that
+the desire for food is, in the growing child or in the adult, an infallible
+guide to the amount needed, though it is a matter of common knowledge that
+this is not true of infants or of domestic animals. If one leaves the table
+hungry he soon forgets it unless inordinately self-centered, and he has
+no more desire to return than to go back to bed and finish the nap so
+reluctantly discontinued in the morning.
+
+I have heard the theory advanced by an anxious forecaster of future ills,
+that all unnecessary food, if packed away as adipose tissue, serves to
+nourish the body in periods of starvation. Assuming that the average
+individual need consider this stress of circumstance, I am strongly of the
+impression that the best preparation for enforced abstinence will prove,
+not a layer of fat, but the habit of abstinence. The nursery poet says:
+
+  "The worry cow would have lived till now
+  If she'd only saved her breath.
+  She feared the hay wouldn't last all day
+  So choked herself to death."
+
+The quantity of food proved by experiment to suffice for the best work,
+physical or mental, is surprisingly small. A feeling of emptiness, even, is
+better preparation for active exercise than one of satiety.
+
+It is a national obsession with us that no meal is complete without meat.
+Order fruit, a cereal, rolls and coffee, at the hotel some morning, and the
+chances are ten to one that the waiter will ask what you are going to have
+for _breakfast_, though you have already ordered more than is absolutely
+necessary for that meal, as demonstrated by the custom upon the Continent,
+where the sense of fitness is as much violated by the consumption of an
+enormous breakfast as it is with us by the omission of a single detail.
+
+It may be asked if it is not subversive of discipline for the hotel
+_habitué_ to become too easy-going. There is doubtless a limit to the
+virtue of allowing ourselves to be imposed upon, but there is little fear
+that the individual who opens the question will err in this direction. It
+behooves him rather to consider the danger of his occupying the unenviable
+position of the "fuss-budget."
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+THE FEAR OF BECOMING INSANE
+
+We must be steadfast, Julian! Satan is very busy in all of us.
+
+IBSEN: _Emperor and Galilean_.
+
+
+Few, perhaps, among the high-strung and delicately organized can truly say
+that this fear has never occurred to them. It affects even children, at an
+age when their minds are supposed to be taken up with the pleasures and
+pursuits appropriate to their years. This fear is generally dispelled by
+the serious occupations of life, but in certain cases it persists as an
+insistent and compelling thought.
+
+It may afford consolation to know that insanity results, in the majority
+of cases, from physical disease of the brain, and that it is ordinarily
+unanticipated, unsuspected and uncredited by the patient. There is no more
+danger of insanity attacking the worrier and the delicate than the robust
+and the indifferent. In fact, the temperament which produces the faulty
+habits we are considering rarely culminates in insanity. It seems worth
+while, however, to replace the vague fear of insanity by a knowledge of the
+variety of mental unbalance remotely threatening the person who lacks the
+desire or the will, to place a check upon these faulty habits of mind. We
+may thus, in the worrier whose fears have taken this direction, substitute
+effort for foreboding.
+
+It is our _conduct_ rather than our thoughts that determines the question
+of insanity. The most practical definition of insanity I know is that of
+Spitzka, the gist of which is that a person is insane who can no longer
+correctly register impressions from the outside world, or can no longer act
+upon those impressions so as to formulate and carry out a line of conduct
+consistent with his age, education and station.
+
+The banker may repeat the process of locking and unlocking, even to
+the point of doubting his own sensations, but he may still be able to
+formulate, and carry out, a line of conduct consistent with his position,
+though at the expense of intense mental suffering.
+
+In the realm of morbid fears, the person obsessed by fear of contamination
+shows no sign of insanity in using tissue paper to turn the door-knob, or
+in avoiding objects that have been touched by others. Up to this point
+his phobia has led merely to eccentricity, but suppose his fear so far
+dominates him that he can no longer pursue his occupation for fear of
+handling tools or pen, and that he persistently refuses to eat through fear
+of poison, he has then reached the point where he can no longer formulate
+lines of conduct, and he is insane.
+
+It is, then, important to foresee the tendency of phobias, and to accustom
+one's self to the point of view that the worst possible harm, for example
+from contamination by ordinary objects, is no worse than mental unbalance,
+and that the probable consequences thereof (_nil_) are infinitely
+preferable.
+
+Even with regard to more tangible fears, as of elevators, fires, tunnels,
+thunder-storms, and the like, a certain tranquility may be gradually
+attained by a similar philosophy. Suppose instead of dwelling on the
+possibility of frightful disaster the sufferer practices saying: "The worst
+that can happen to me is no worse than for me to let these fears gradually
+lessen my sphere of operations till I finally shut myself up in my chamber
+and become a confirmed hypochondriac." One should also remember that many
+another shares his fears, but shows no sign because he keeps a "stiff upper
+lip," an example he will do well to follow, not only for his own eventual
+comfort, but for the sake of his influence on others, particularly on those
+younger than himself. The pursuance of this line of thought may result in
+the former coward seeking instead of avoiding, opportunities to ride in
+elevators and tunnels, and even to occupy an inside seat at the theatre,
+just to try his new-found power, and to rejoice in doing as others do
+instead of being set apart as a hopeless crank.
+
+These fears bear directly on the question of hypochondria. We have already
+seen how the sphere of the hypochondriac is narrowed. His work and his play
+are alike impeded by his fear of drafts, of wet feet, of loud noises, of
+palpitation, of exhaustion, of pain, and eventually of serious disease. Is
+he insane? Not so long as he can carry out a line of conduct consistent
+with his station and surroundings.
+
+It is remarkable how many obsessions we may harbor without causing us to
+swerve from our accustomed line of conduct. Whatever our thoughts, our
+conduct may be such that we attract little attention beyond the passing
+observation that we are a little odd. We may break down, it is true, under
+the double load we carry, but we are in little danger of insanity. Those
+established in the conviction that they cannot stand noises or other
+sources of discomfort, rarely reach the point of a certain poor old lady
+who used to wander from clinic to clinic, able to think of nothing else,
+and to talk of nothing else, than the ringing in her ears, and to attend to
+no other business than efforts for its relief. She was counselled again and
+again that since nothing was to be found in the ears she should endeavor
+to reconcile herself to the inevitable, and turn her thoughts in other
+directions. Unfortunately, she had become peculiarly adept in the detection
+of disagreeable sights, sounds, and other sources of irritation, and had
+for a long term of years practiced quite the opposite of control. She had
+hitherto either insisted on discontinuance of all sources of irritation,
+fled their neighborhood, or put on blue glasses and stopped her ears with
+cotton. When, finally, her sharpened sense caught the sound of her own
+circulation, she could think of nothing but this unavoidable source of
+discomfort, which was prepared to follow her to the uttermost parts of the
+earth.
+
+A well-known author has said that the difference between sanity and
+insanity depends only on the power to conceal the emotions. While this
+definition will hardly pass in law or medicine, it surely offers food for
+thought. Suppose for a moment that we were dominated by the impulse to
+externalize all our thoughts and all our emotions, there would be some
+basis for the common, but inaccurate, saying that everyone is insane.
+
+This brings us to a form of insanity which the obsessive may well bear in
+mind, namely, that known as manic-depressive. This disorder, in its typical
+form, is shown by recurring outbursts of uncontrollable mental and
+physical activity (mania), alternating with attacks of profound depression
+(melancholia). This form of insanity represents the inability to control an
+extreme degree of the varied moods to which we all are subject. Long before
+the modern classification of mental disorders, Burton, in his introduction
+to the "Anatomy of Melancholy," expressed this alternation of moods thus:
+
+ "When I go musing all alone,
+  Thinking of divers things foreknown,
+    When I build castles in the ayr,
+    Void of sorrow and void of feare,
+  Pleasing myself with phantasms sweet,
+  Me thinks the time runs very fleet.
+    All my joyes to this are folly,
+    Naught so sweet as melancholy.
+
+ "When I lie waking all alone,
+  Recounting what I have ill done,
+    My thoughts on me they tyrannize,
+    Feare and sorrow me surprise,
+  Whether I tarry still or go,
+  Me thinks the time moves very slow.
+    All my griefs to this are jolly,
+    Naught so sad as melancholy."
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+ "I'll not change my life with any King,
+  I ravisht am: can the world bring
+    More joy, than still to laugh and smile,
+    In pleasant toyes time to beguile?
+  Do not, O do not trouble me,
+  So sweet content I feel and see.
+    All my joyes to this are folly,
+    None so divine as melancholy.
+
+ "I'll change my state with any wretch
+  Thou canst from goale or dunghill fetch:
+    My pain's past cure, another hell,
+    I may not in this torment dwell,
+  Now desperate I hate my life,
+  Lend me a halter or a knife;
+    All my griefs to this are jolly,
+    None so damn'd as melancholy."
+
+The depressed stage of this disorder is commonly shown by retardation
+of thought and motion, the excited stage by pressure of activity and
+acceleration of thought. In the so-called "flight of ideas" words succeed
+each other with incredible rapidity, without goal idea, but each word
+suggesting the next by sound or other association, thus:
+
+"Are you blue?"
+
+"Blue, true blue, red white and blue, one flag and one nation, one kingdom,
+one king, no not one king, one president, we are going to have a president
+first, cursed, the worst."
+
+Who does not recognize the modest prototype of this elaborate rigmarole
+chasing itself through his mind as he walks the street in jaunty mood, and
+who of us would not surprise and alarm his friends if he should suddenly
+let go his habitual control, express his every thought and materialize his
+every passing impulse to action? Who can doubt that the person who has
+trained himself for years to repress his obsessions is less likely to
+give way to this form of insanity than one who has never practiced such
+training? Let us then endeavor to pursue "the even tenor of our way"
+without giving way to the obsession that we must inflict our feelings upon
+our associates. We may in this way maintain a mental balance that shall
+stand us in good stead in time of stress.
+
+The autumnal tendency to melancholy is recognized by Thoreau. The
+characteristic suggestion of this nature-lover is that the melancholic go
+to the woods and study the _symplocarpus foetidus_ (skunk cabbage), whose
+English name savors of contempt, but whose courage is such that it is
+already in the autumn jauntily thrusting forth its buds for the coming
+year.
+
+An admirable reflection for the victim of moods, as for many another, is
+the old saying in which Abraham Lincoln is said to have taken peculiar
+comfort, namely, "This also will pass."
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+RECAPITULATORY
+
+And found no end in wandering mazes lost.
+
+_Paradise Lost_.
+
+
+We have reviewed the various phases of worry and the elements out of which
+worry is assembled. It has been seen that exaggerated self-consciousness
+blocks effort through fear of criticism, ridicule or comment. The insistent
+habit of mind in the worrier has been found to permeate the content of
+thought, and unfavorably to influence action. The fact has been pointed
+out that the obsession to do the right thing may be carried so far as to
+produce querulous doubt and chronic indecision--hence worry.
+
+It has been pointed out that over-anxiety on the score of health
+(hypochondria) aggravates existing symptoms, and itself develops symptoms;
+that these symptoms in turn increase the solicitude which gave them birth.
+Attention has been called to the influence of over-anxious and fretful
+days in precluding the restful state of mind that favors sleep, and to the
+influence of the loss of sleep upon the anxieties of the following day; in
+other words, worry prevents sleep, and inability to sleep adds to worry.
+
+We have seen that doubts of fitness lead to unfitness, and that the worry
+of such doubts, combined with futile regrets for the past and forebodings
+for the future, hamper the mind which should be cleared for present action.
+
+The injurious effect upon the nervous system of these faulty mental states
+has been emphasized, together with their influence as potent underlying
+causes of so-called nervous prostration, preparing the worrier for
+breakdown from an amount of work which, if undertaken with tranquil mind,
+could have been accomplished with comparative ease.
+
+The question is, will the possessor of these faulty mental tendencies grasp
+the importance of giving thought to the training that shall free him
+from the incubus? He certainly has the intelligence, for it is among the
+intelligent that these states are mostly found; he certainly has the
+will-power, for lack of will-power is not a failing of the obsessed. The
+question is, can he bring himself to make, at the suggestion of another,
+a fundamental change of attitude, and will he take these suggestions on
+faith, though many seem trivial, others, perhaps, unreasonable, and will he
+at least give them a trial? I hope so.
+
+In the next sections will be summed up such commonplace and simple
+suggestions as may aid emergence from the maze of worry. Many of the
+suggestions have been scattered through preceding sections. The worrier and
+folly-doubter is more likely to be benefited by trying them than by arguing
+about them, and it is within the realms of possibility that some may come
+to realize the truth of the paradox that he who loses himself shall find
+himself.
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+MAXIMS MISAPPLIED
+
+  "Beware! yet once again beware!
+    Ere round thy inexperienced mind,
+  With voice and semblance falsely fair,
+    A chain Thessalian magic bind,--"
+
+_Thomas Love Peacock_.
+
+
+A friend of mine has a highbred Boston terrier named "Betty." Betty is a
+bundle of nerves, has a well-developed "New-England Conscience," and among
+other deviative (not degenerative) signs is possessed of an insatiate
+desire to climb trees. More than once I have watched her frantic efforts to
+achieve this end, and she really almost succeeds--at least she can reach
+a higher point on the trunk of a tree than any other dog of her size I
+know--say six feet; if the bark is rough, perhaps seven feet would not be
+an overestimate. Her attempts are unremitting--once the frenzy is on it
+is with the greatest difficulty that she can be separated, panting and
+exhausted, from her task.
+
+Betty's case furnishes an illustration of an inborn tendency, fostered
+neither by precept nor example, persistently to attempt the impossible,
+and to fret and fume when forced to discontinue. Some children are by
+inheritance similarly endowed. Imagine Betty a child. It is safe to assume
+that the mental trait which prompts this expenditure of tireless and
+misdirected energy has sifted down through her ancestry; the chances are,
+of course, against its having skipped the generation immediately preceding;
+in other words, one or both her parents are probably obsessive. It follows
+almost as a matter of course that the "indomitable will" of the child is
+viewed with pride by the parent. Instead of being kept within reasonable
+bounds, and directed into proper channels, it is encouraged in every
+direction, and fostered by every available means. Prominent among the
+incentives to renewed activity furnished by the solicitous parent, possibly
+by the undiscriminating teacher, will be found such precepts as: "In the
+bright lexicon of youth there's no such word as fail," "Never give up the
+ship," "Never say die," "There's always room at the top."
+
+Excellent maxims these, for the average child, particularly for the child
+who is under average as regards ambition to excel. But what of their effect
+upon the already over-conscientious and self-exacting child? Simply to
+tighten fetters which should rather be relaxed.
+
+Life becomes a serious problem to a child of this kind at a much earlier
+age than is generally realized. I have been surprised to learn at what
+tender years such children have been borne down by a weight of self-imposed
+responsibility quite as heavy as can burden an adult, without the power
+of the adult to carry it. Such, for example, are anxieties regarding the
+health or the financial status of the parents, matters freely discussed
+without a thought that the child will make these cares his own.
+
+I realize that this line of thought will seem to some revolutionary. A
+friend to whom I submitted the proposition that it did harm rather than
+good to encourage a child of this kind to attempt the impossible answered,
+"Nothing is impossible," and he said it as if he more than half believed
+it. Here we have the ambitious maxim challenging truth itself. It is
+certainly not impossible that Mozart wrote a difficult concerto at the age
+of five; nor is it impossible that, in precocious children of a different
+type, worry from failure to accomplish the desired may cause profound
+despair productive of disastrous results.
+
+Nor are such children either geniuses or freaks--they are merely inheritors
+of the "New England Conscience," so named, I suppose, because the trait
+has multiplied in this section more rapidly even than the furniture and
+fittings of the Mayflower. Without underrating the sterling qualities of
+the devoted band who founded this community it may safely be suggested that
+neither the effectiveness nor the staying qualities of their descendants
+will be lessened by a certain modification of the querulous insistence
+which dominates the overtrained adult in the rearing of the nervously
+precocious child.
+
+The maxim "What is worth doing at all is worth doing well," if carried to
+its ultimate conclusion by the over-careful, would justify the expenditure
+of a quarter of an hour in sharpening a lead-pencil. This maxim, while
+losing in sententiousness would gain in reason if it ran thus: "What is
+worth doing at all is worth doing as well as the situation demands." "Never
+put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day," an excellent maxim for
+the shiftless, must not be taken too literally by the individual already
+obsessed to do to-day twice what he can and quadruple what he ought.
+
+Neither the chronic doubter nor the prematurely thoughtful need be
+admonished, "Look before you leap," or "Be sure you're right, then go
+ahead." Such guides to conduct, however effective in the case of three
+individuals, in the fourth hinder accomplishment by encouraging querulous
+doubt;--it is for the benefit of the fourth that these pages are written. A
+revolutionary effort must be made before the worrier and the folly-doubter
+can throw off his shackles.
+
+It may be questioned whether this sort of philosophy does not savor of
+_laissez-faire_, and tend to produce indifference; but the worry against
+which these efforts are directed is a state of _undue_ solicitude,--_due_
+solicitude is not discouraged. Fortunately, as partial offset to the many
+maxims stirring to increased activity, there exist certain maxims of less
+strenuous, but not unreasonable, trend, thus:--"What can't be cured must be
+endured," "Patient waiters are no losers." Such maxims are quite as worthy
+of consideration by the obsessive as any of those previously cited.
+While they modify overzeal, they detract in no way from effective, even
+strenuous, endeavor.
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+THE FAD
+
+"Fads may be said to constitute a perfect mental antitoxin for the poison
+generated by cerebral acuity."
+
+_Courtney_.
+
+
+There is nothing occult in the suggestion that the worrier cultivate a fad.
+Its object is to interest him in something outside of himself and of the
+monotony of his accustomed round. If it seems to him too much trouble to
+enter upon the details of the fad there is all the more reason for freeing
+himself from such mental inertia.
+
+How shall we set to work to acquire a fad, without special opportunity or
+education, and with but little time at our disposal? Suppose we take the
+study of botany as an illustration, not necessitating class instruction.
+This useful study may be made also a charming fad, and one not beneath the
+notice of so learned and busy a man as Sir Francis Bacon, who found time
+and inclination to write an essay "Of Gardens," in which he mentions by
+name and shows intimate acquaintance with, over one hundred distinct
+varieties of plant life.
+
+Sir John Lubbock (the Right Honourable Lord Avebury) in "The Pleasures of
+Life," says:
+
+"The botanist, on the contrary--nay, I will not say the botanist, but one
+with even a slight knowledge of that delightful science--when he goes
+out into the woods, or out into one of those fairy forests which we call
+fields, finds himself welcomed by a glad company of friends, every one with
+something interesting to tell."
+
+There are two ways of cultivating botanical as well as other knowledge;
+namely, the passive and the active. The passive method is to let someone
+inform us; the active is to find out something for ourselves. The latter is
+the only effective method. Suppose we start with the wild flowers:
+
+The first step is to purchase a popular illustrated book on this subject,
+preferably one in which the flowers are arranged according to color. We
+first learn, in the introduction, the principal parts of the flower, as
+the calyx, the corolla, the stamen and the pistil. We find that the
+arrangements of leaves and flowers are quite constant, that the leaves of
+some plants are opposite, of others alternate; of still others from the
+root only, that flowers are solitary, in raceme, head, spike or otherwise
+clustered.
+
+It now behooves us to take a walk upon a country road with our eyes open
+and our book under our arm. Along the roadsides passing vehicles have
+scattered the seeds of many flowering plants. We decide to pick and learn
+the first white blossom we see. This blossom appears, we will say, upon a
+plant about a foot high. We notice that its leaves are opposite, that its
+corolla has five petals and that its calyx is inflated. We now look through
+the section on white flowers. The first plant described has leaves from
+the root only; the second is a tall shrub, these we pass, therefore, and
+continue until we find one answering the description, leaves opposite,
+calyx inflated, corolla of five petals. When we reach it we have identified
+the plant; we now feel a sense of ownership in the _Bladder Campion_, and
+are quite shocked when our friend calls it only "a weed." Meantime we have
+noted many familiar names and some familiar illustrations which we must
+identify on our next ramble.
+
+On consulting our timepiece we find that we have absolutely spent a couple
+of hours in complete forgetfulness of the daily grind, to say nothing of
+having filled our lungs with comparatively fresh air, and having taken a
+little exercise. Best of all, we have started a new set of associations; we
+have paved the way for new acquaintances, Linnaeus, Gray, Dioscorides and
+Theophrastus, to say nothing of our friend _so-and-so_ whom we always
+thought rather tiresome but with whom we now have something in common.
+We shall take up our daily grind to-morrow with a new zest for having
+forgotten it for a few hours, and find it less of a grind than usual;
+moreover, we now have an object to encourage another stroll in the country.
+
+If we continue as we have begun we shall soon find ourselves prying into
+the more scientific works on botany, and perhaps eventually extending our
+interest to the birds, the beasts and the boulders. One of these days we
+may become quite proficient amateur naturalists, but this is only by the
+way; the real advantage to us has been the externalizing of our interests.
+
+This is the most desultory way possible of cultivating the fad. One may go
+a step further and transplant the wild flowers and the weeds. A busy and
+successful professional friend of mine, besides having a cabinet shop in
+his stable, finds (or makes) time to go to the woods with his trowel.
+He has quite a wild-flower bank in his garden. I cannot give definite
+directions as to their setting out--I think he just throws them down
+anywhere--a fair percentage seem to thrive,--I can remember the
+larger bur-marigold, the red and white bane-berry, rattlesnake-weed,
+rattlesnake-plantain, blood root, live-for-ever, wood betony, pale
+corydalis, and fern-leaved foxglove, and there are many more.
+
+Mushrooms and ferns offer fertile fields for special study. If the worrier
+has an altruistic turn he will find satisfaction in bestowing duplicates
+upon his friends, thus still further externalizing his interests. He will
+be surprised to find how many things there are in the world that he never
+noticed.
+
+Whether our tastes lead us in the direction of photography, pottery,
+mechanics, collecting china, books and old furniture, of philosophy or
+a foreign language, we need not aim to pursue these avocations too
+profoundly. We must not compare our acquisitions with those of the savant
+or the skilled laborer, but must console ourselves with the reflection that
+we at least know more, or can do more, than yesterday. If our fads, now
+and then, make us do something that gives us a little trouble, so much the
+better, if it is only to go to the library for a book,--the worrier whose
+idea of rest and recuperation is to remain forever glued to an easy-chair
+is indeed to be pitied.
+
+Collecting old prints, stamps, and coins, is by no means a waste of time.
+Fads of this nature offer the additional inducement of an asset which may
+serve, in a material way, to banish worry in time of stress. To reap the
+full advantage of the collection fads one should take pains to acquire a
+knowledge of the geography and history with which they are associated. Few
+are so unfortunately placed that they have no access to information on
+these subjects. The encyclopędia, at least, is within general reach, though
+rarely consulted by those who most need its aid.
+
+Suppose one takes up history for an indoor fad. How shall he start in?
+Since he pursues this study only as a fad, he can commence almost anywhere.
+Let him decide to become familiar with the fifteenth century. The first
+step is to familiarize himself with the principal rulers and the principal
+battles of that time. Suppose he spends half an hour every evening upon the
+life of one or another ruler, as given in the encyclopędia or elsewhere.
+If he is sufficiently inventive to construct a pictorial or other plan in
+which to give each his place, so much the better. Having thus constructed a
+framework he can begin to fill in the details, and now the study begins to
+interest him. At any public library he can find a catalogue of historical
+fiction arranged according to centuries. Under the fifteenth century
+he will find Quentin Durward, The Broad Arrow, Anne of Geierstein, The
+Cloister and the Hearth, Every Inch a King, Marietta, The Dove in the
+Eagle's Nest, and other standard works, all of which he may have read
+before, but every page of which will have for him a new interest since he
+can now place the characters, appreciate the customs, and form a consistent
+picture of what was doing in different countries at this time.
+
+The next step is to acquire, in the same way, equal familiarity with the
+preceding and succeeding centuries, particularly with the interrelations of
+the different countries, old and new.
+
+The reader who has followed to this point will need no further hint. If he
+continues as he has begun, he will be surprised to find how soon he will
+be able to instruct, on one subject at least, the college graduate, unless
+that graduate has happily continued as a fad what he once perfunctorily
+acquired.
+
+Another way of commencing this study, and the one, I confess, which appeals
+more to me, is first to establish a framework which shall cover a long
+period of time, then study special epochs. An interesting way to start
+this method is to purchase Creasy's "Decisive Battles of the World," and
+familiarize one's self with its contents. This will furnish pegs on which
+to hang further items of information, and will impart a running familiarity
+with different nations involved in war from the time of the supremacy of
+Greece, down to the battle of Manila, in the recent edition,--in earlier
+editions to the time of Napoleon.
+
+The only absolutely essential reference book for this study is Ploetz's
+"Epitome of Universal History."
+
+To make this fad interesting, the mere commitment to memory of facts and
+dates will not suffice. Items of history thus acquired will inevitably
+fade. The conscientious but ill-advised student who attempts to commit
+the "Epitome" to memory will fall by the way-side. Time is not wasted in
+dwelling sufficiently long on one subject to feel a sense of ownership in
+it, and there is opportunity for the exercise of individual ingenuity in
+devising means to accomplish this end. If one has the knack, for
+example, of writing nonsense verse (and this is a talent all too easy of
+cultivation) it will aid him in fixing by rhyme names and dates otherwise
+difficult to master, thus:
+
+"Ten sixty-six is a date you must fix;" or "Drake was not late in fifteen
+eighty-eight."
+
+The study of music, history, trees, flowers, or birds doubtless seems of
+trivial interest to one who occupies his leisure hours with such weighty
+problems as figuring out how rich he would have been to-day if he had
+bought Bell Telephone at 15, but such study is far more restful, and in the
+long run quite as useful for the over-busy man.
+
+It is not necessary to devote an enormous amount of time to such pursuits.
+One has only to purchase Miss Huntington's "Studies of Trees in Winter"
+and learn the trees in his own doorway, or upon his street, to awaken an
+interest that will serve him in good stead upon a railroad journey, or
+during an otherwise monotonous sojourn in the country. A walk around the
+block before dinner with such an object in view is more restful than
+pondering in one's easy-chair over the fluctuations of the stock market,
+and the man who is "too busy" for such mental relaxation is paving the way
+for ultimate, perhaps early, breakdown.
+
+Once started on the trees, the man who did not even know that their buds
+were visible in the winter, after absorbing the contents of the popular
+tree-books may find himself looking for something more elaborate. He
+may even look forward to his next western trip with pleasure instead of
+disgust, now that he anticipates seeing at close hand the eucalyptus, the
+Monterey cypress, and the _pinus ponderosa_.
+
+Courtney says "to all this will undoubtedly be objected the plea of lack of
+time. The answer to arguments formed on such flimsy basis is that all the
+time which is spent in preparing one's self as a candidate for a sanitarium
+is like the proverbial edged tool in the hands of children and fools."
+
+A little time spent in such simple pursuits as I have indicated, and a few
+weeks' vacation _before exhaustion appears_, may prevent a year's enforced
+abstinence from work on account of nervous invalidism. I am tempted here to
+say "A stitch in time saves nine," but adages are sometimes dangerous. Thus
+the adage, "If you want a thing well done you must do it yourself," has
+caused many a business and professional man to burden himself with details
+which in the long run he might better have intrusted to subordinates, even
+at the risk of an occasional blunder.
+
+It is not wise to specialize too much in the pursuit of the fad. Suppose
+the busy man, having conceded the value of some out-of-door study, decides
+that he will learn the lumber industry, but take no interest in the shade
+trees. He will not materially broaden his interests in this way. He will
+rather add to his burdens another business. If he applies to this new
+business the same conscientious methods which are wearing him out in his
+present one, the value of the fad is gone, the new study has done him more
+harm than good, and when on his vacation, unless there is a sawmill in
+the neighborhood, he finds himself stranded with only worry for company.
+Similarly, if the study of history is taken up in the way a fad should be
+taken up, anything in the way of a book will now interest the worrier,
+for hardly a book worth reading fails to contain either a bit of travel,
+geography, biography, law, or something on manners and customs.
+
+Permanent freedom from worry involves a change in one's whole view of
+life and method of thought. But the means by which introspection may be
+_temporarily_ alleviated are by no means to be despised. Among these comes
+the pursuit of the golf-ball. Many a business and professional man who
+thinks he has no time for golf can easily escape for an hour's play at the
+end of the day, twice a week, and in the long run it will prove to be time
+well expended. In point of fact, most are hindered rather by the notion
+that it is not worth while to visit the links unless one can play eighteen
+holes, or that it is not worth while to take up the game at all unless
+one can excel. But the exercise is the same, and the air equally bracing
+whether we win or lose; the shower-bath will refresh us just the same
+whether we have played nine holes or twenty-seven.
+
+The automobile ride, the drive, and, best of all, the ride on horseback,
+will often serve to banish the vapors. Many neglect these methods, not from
+lack of time or money, but from indisposition.
+
+A busy professional man recently assured me that he had renewed his youth
+by going three times a week to the gymnasium and joining the "old man's
+class." Here is an opportunity open to practically everyone; it is a
+desirable practice if continued. The drawback is the lack of incentive when
+the novelty has passed. Such incentive is furnished by the fad, in
+the satisfaction of gaining new knowledge and broadening the
+thought-associations.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+HOME TREATMENT
+
+Submit to what is unavoidable, banish the impossible from the mind, and
+look around for some new object of interest in life.
+
+_Goethe_.
+
+
+In the treatment of faulty mental habits the chief reliance is the training
+of the mind; physical measures are merely supplementary. This fact has
+always been recognized in a general way. The need of such training was
+emphasized by Epictetus thus:
+
+"Not to be disappointed of our desire, nor incur our aversion. To this
+ought our training be directed. For without vigorous and steady training,
+it is not possible to preserve our desire undisappointed and our aversion
+unincurred."
+
+But there has always been an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with purely
+mental treatment, and a desire for the drug, which has more than once,
+doubtless, been prescribed for the purpose of "suggestion" only.
+
+The movement for psychic treatment on scientific principles, of faulty
+mental disorders, not of organic nature, is well under way. That the
+American profession takes an active interest in this movement is shown by
+the exhaustive paper on psycho-therapy by Dr. E. W. Taylor, recently read
+at a combined meeting held in Boston and discussed by such representative
+neurologists as Drs. Mills, Dercum, J. K. Mitchell, and Sinkler, of
+Philadelphia; Drs. Dana, Sachs, Collins, Hunt, Meacham, and Jelliffe, of
+New York; Dr. White of Washington, and Drs. Putnam and Prince, of Boston.
+
+Such faulty mental habits as worry and obsession, doubting folly, and
+hypochondria, are no more amenable to physical treatment than the habit
+of swearing, or of over-indulgence in food and drink. Even the psychic
+treatment, by another, of such disorders, as of such habits, labors under
+the disadvantage that all attempts to influence another by exhortation,
+ridicule, or reproach are met by active or passive resistance on the part
+of the individual toward whom these efforts are directed. A conscientious
+resolve on the part of the individual himself, whether started by a casual
+hint or by a new line of thought, is often more effective than any amount
+of outside pressure, however well directed.
+
+It is my hope and belief that the over-solicitous individual will be
+influenced by reading these descriptions to adopt, of his own initiative,
+some of these suggestions. His most striking peculiarity is his conviction
+that he cannot take the chances others do, that the criticisms he receives
+are peculiarly annoying, and that his sources of worry are something set
+apart from the experience of ordinary mortals. This conviction leads him to
+meet argument by argument, reproach and ridicule by indignant protest or
+brooding silence. The perusal of these sections may lead him to alter his
+ideals. Suggestions for home treatment have been scattered through the
+various pages; it only remains to sum them up.
+
+We have traced worry back to exaggerated self-consciousness and obsession;
+it is against these two faulty tendencies that training may be directed.
+
+The first step is the initiation of a new attitude, namely, the
+commonplace. The establishment of this attitude involves the sacrifice
+of self-love, and of the melancholy pleasure of playing the martyr. The
+oversensitive individual must recognize the fact that if people do not want
+him round it may be because he inflicts his _ego_ too obtrusively upon his
+associates. He must realize that others are more interested in their own
+affairs than in his, and that however cutting their comments and unjust
+their criticisms, and however deeply these may sink into his soul, they are
+only passing incidents with them.
+
+He must realize that if two people whisper they are not necessarily
+whispering about him, and if they are it is of no consequence, and merely
+shows their lack of breeding. On public occasions he must remember that
+others are thinking of themselves, or of the subject in hand, quite as much
+as they are of him and how he behaves. He must realize that even if he does
+something foolish it will only make a passing impression on others, and
+that they will like him none the less for it.
+
+He must practice externalizing his thoughts. If criticised, he must ask
+himself whether the criticism is just or unjust. If just, he must learn to
+accept and act upon it; if unjust, he must learn to classify the critic,
+as unreasonable, thoughtless, or ill-natured, place him in the appropriate
+mental compartment, throw the criticism into the intellectual waste-basket,
+and proceed upon his way. This practice, difficult at first, will, if
+assiduously cultivated, become more and more automatic, and will materially
+modify a fruitful source of worry.
+
+The next step is to practice the control of the dominating impulses
+(obsessions). If one finds himself impelled continually to drum, or walk
+the floor, he will find the habit cannot be dropped at once, but if he can
+refrain from it for a few moments once or twice in the day, no matter how
+lost he feels without it, and sit for a few minutes relaxed and motionless,
+the intervals can be gradually increased. Even the chronic doubter may
+appreciate the fact that this practice aids in preparing one for taking and
+keeping, at night, the quiet and immobile position which favors sleep. The
+bearing of this training upon worry may not be immediately obvious, but if
+one cannot overcome these simple physical compulsions he will find it still
+harder to overcome the doubts, the fears, and the scruples which underlie
+his worry.
+
+It is hard to give up the idea that we are so peculiarly constituted that
+it produces a special disgust in our case if another constantly clears his
+throat, and a peculiar annoyance if he rocks. It is difficult to relinquish
+the belief that, however callous others may be, our nervous system is so
+delicately adjusted that we cannot work when others make unnecessary
+noise, and we cannot sleep if a clock ticks in our hearing. But if one
+persistently cultivates the commonplace, he will at last find himself
+seeking instead of avoiding the objects of his former torture, merely to
+exercise his new-found mastery of himself, and to realize that "He that
+ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city."
+
+It is the imperative duty of every sufferer from doubting folly to say to
+himself, "I will perform this act once with my whole attention, then leave
+it and turn my mind in other channels before I have dulled my perception by
+repetition."
+
+If one is prone to chronic indecision, he must remind himself that it is
+better to do the wrong thing with single mind, than to work himself into
+a frenzy of anxious doubt. In case the choice is not an important one, he
+must learn to _pounce_ upon either task, and waste no further time. If
+the doubt concerns an important matter, he must learn to devote only that
+attention to the matter which is commensurate with its importance, then
+decide it one way or the other, realizing that it is better to make a
+mistake, even in an important matter than to worry one's self into utter
+helplessness by conflicting emotions.
+
+If insistent fear attacks one, he must remind himself that the worst that
+can happen to him is not so bad as the state of the chronic coward and the
+hypochondriac. He must practice taking the chances that others do, and must
+learn to go through the dreaded experiences, not with his nervous system
+stimulated into undue tension, but with body and mind relaxed by such
+considerations as I have indicated.
+
+The maxim is a useful aid in suggestion, but it should be carefully
+selected. Most children seem to be brought up on maxims which presuppose
+mental deficiency and constitutional carelessness. But the naturally
+over-thoughtful and too-conscientious child, the child to whom applies Sir
+John Lubbock's observation that the term "happy childhood" is sometimes a
+misnomer, needs no admonition to "Try, try again," and to "Never weary of
+well doing."
+
+Among other sayings, whether of home manufacture or acquired, I have often
+found comfort in a suggestion first called to my attention by my friend,
+Dr. Maurice Richardson, who carries, I believe, Epictetus in his bag, but
+who does not despise the lesser prophets. One day when I was borrowing
+trouble about some prospective calamity, he said he always drew consolation
+from the old farmer's observation:
+
+"Mebbe 'taint so!"
+
+Much unintentional self-suggestion is conveyed in one's habitual method of
+expressing his attitude toward annoyances, thus: "That simply drives me
+wild." Suppose, now, one should try a little substitution; for example:
+
+
+  That    \
+            drives me wild.
+  Nothing /
+
+
+                       (but that).
+  I can stand anything
+                       (at all).
+
+
+        (not)          (this)
+  I can       sleep in        position.
+        (---)           (any)
+
+
+The quieting effect is immediately perceptible.
+
+Nor is the injurious effect of the explosive habit of speech limited to
+the person who indulges it. The other day a lady, apparently in no haste,
+sauntered into a station of the "Elevated" ahead of me, holding by the hand
+a small boy. The boy was enjoying himself immensely, gazing about him
+with the wide-awake, but calmly contemplative air peculiar to childhood.
+Suddenly the lady saw that a train was about to leave the station, and was
+seized by the not uncommon compulsion to take the last train instead of the
+next one. She hurried the boy across the platform only to meet the closed
+door of the departing train.
+
+"_Isn't_ that _provoking_!" she exclaimed. And the boy began to whimper.
+
+Although the main object of this book is to call attention to the mental
+rather than the physical treatment of these states, I cannot forbear
+reminding the reader of certain routine measures which facilitate the
+desired improvement in mental attitude.
+
+It is well to start the day with a quick plunge in cold water, that is, in
+water of the natural temperature excepting in the cold season, when the
+extreme chill may be taken off to advantage. A brisk rub with rough towels
+should follow. One should proceed immediately from the warm bed to the
+bath, and should not first "cool off." A few setting-up exercises (bending
+the trunk forward and back, sidewise, and with a twist) may precede the
+bath, and a few simple arm exercises follow it. A few deep breaths will
+inevitably accompany these procedures. When one returns to his room he
+no longer notices the chill in the air, and he has made a start toward
+accustoming himself to, and really enjoying, lower temperatures than he
+fancied he could stand at all.
+
+Every healthy adult should walk at least two miles daily in the open. We
+have been forced to readjust our ideas as to the distance even an elderly
+person can walk without harm since a pedestrian of sixty-nine has, without
+apparent injury, covered over one thousand miles, over ordinary roads, at
+an average of fifty miles a day.
+
+The day's work should be started with the resolution that every task shall
+be taken up in its turn, without doubts and without forebodings, that
+bridges shall not be crossed until they are reached, that the vagaries of
+others shall amuse and interest, not distress us, and that we will live in
+the present, not in the past or the future. We must avoid undertaking too
+much, and whatever we do undertake we must try not to worry as to whether
+we shall succeed. This only prevents our succeeding. We should devote all
+our efforts to the task itself, and remember that even failure under these
+circumstances may be better than success at the expense of prolonged
+nervous agitation.
+
+"Rest must be complete when taken and must balance the effort in work--rest
+meaning often some form of recreation as well as the passive rest of sleep.
+Economy of effort should be gained through normal concentration--that is,
+the power of erasing all previous impressions and allowing a subject to
+hold and carry us, by dropping every thought or effort that interferes
+with it, in muscle, nerve, and mind." (Annie Payson Call, "Power Through
+Repose.")
+
+The over-scrupulous and methodical individual who can neither sleep nor
+take a vacation until all the affairs of his life are arranged must remind
+himself that this happy consummation will not be attained in his lifetime.
+It behooves him, therefore, if he is ever to sleep, or if he is ever to
+take a vacation, to do it now, nor need he postpone indefinitely
+
+    "That blessed mood
+  In which the burden of the mystery,
+  In which the heavy and the weary weight
+  Of all this unintelligible world
+  Is lightened."
+
+
+
+
+XIX.
+
+HOME TREATMENT (CONTINUED)
+
+Happiness and success in life do not depend on circumstances, but on
+ourselves.
+
+_Sir John Lubbock_.
+
+
+The obsession to "arrive" is a fertile source of fret and worry. This habit
+of mind leads to frantic and impatient labor and blocks our pleasure at
+every point. The person who plays a game only to see who wins loses half
+the benefit of the recreation. Here are two ways of walking the half-mile
+to and from my office:
+
+Suppose I start out with my mind on my destination, thinking only of what I
+shall do when I get there, and how I shall do it. This thought influences
+my whole body. I am all "keyed up," my muscles are tense, my breathing,
+even, is constricted and the walk does me comparatively little good.
+
+Suppose, now, I decide I am making a mistake, and determine to live in the
+present. General relaxation follows, I take a deep breath, and begin to
+notice my surroundings. I may even observe the sky-line of the buildings I
+have passed daily for years without knowing they had a sky-line; my gait
+becomes free and life takes on a different aspect. I have taken a long step
+toward mental tranquility as well as gaining "power through repose."
+
+One of the hardest obsessions to overcome is the _unduly_ insistent habit
+of mind regarding orderliness and cleanliness. It is not undue to desire
+and practice a reasonable degree of these virtues, but when it gives one a
+"fit" to see a picture slightly off the level, and drives one "wild" to see
+a speck of dust, it is time to modify the ideal. This is the frame of mind
+which encourages worry over trifles. If one really wishes to lessen worry
+he must cultivate a certain degree of tolerance for what does not square
+with his ideas, even if it does violence to a pet virtue.
+
+The careful housekeeper may object that so long as she can regulate her
+household to her liking, the habit of orderliness, even though extreme,
+causes her no worry. But it is only the hermit housekeeper who can entirely
+control her household. And further, the possessor of the over-orderly
+temperament, whether applied to housekeeping, business, or play (if he ever
+plays), is bound sooner or later to impinge his ideas of orderliness
+upon the domain of other peoples' affairs, in which his wishes cannot be
+paramount. In this event, at least, he will experience a worry only to be
+allayed by learning to stand something he does not like.
+
+Worry about the mental condition is disastrous. The habit should be
+cultivated of taking the mind for what it is, and using it, wasting no
+time in vain regrets that it is not nimbler or more profound. Just as the
+digestion is impeded by solicitude, so the working of the brain is hampered
+by using the energy in worry which should be devoted directly to the task
+in hand. Children frequently worry because their memory is poor. It should
+be explained to them that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred apparent
+lack of memory is only lack of attention, and they should be urged to cease
+distracting the attention by wandering in the fields of idle speculation or
+in making frantic leaps to surmount imaginary obstacles.
+
+It is important for parents of morbidly sensitive and over-scrupulous
+children, with acute likes and dislikes, to discourage the tendency of the
+child to become more and more peculiar. Sensitive children are inclined to
+worry because they think others do not care for them or want them round. If
+such children can be led to take a bird's-eye view of themselves, they may
+be made to realize that others crave their society according as they are
+helpful, entertaining, sympathetic, or tactful, because they instil courage
+and give comfort. They should be urged, therefore, to cultivate these
+qualities instead of wasting their energy in tears and recriminations; and
+they should be encouraged to practice such of these traits as they can
+master instead of becoming moody in society, or withdrawing to brood in
+solitude, either of which errors may result in producing on the part of
+others a genuine dislike. In other words, teach them to avoid enforcing too
+far their _ego_ on themselves or their environment.
+
+Parents must also remember that over-solicitous attention on their part
+is bound to react to the disadvantage of the child. The story is told of
+Phillips Brooks that, when a child, he put a newly sharpened pencil into
+his mouth further and further until it slipped down his throat. He asked
+his mother what would happen if anyone should swallow a pencil. She
+answered that she supposed it would kill him. Phillips kept silence, and
+his mother made no further inquiry.
+
+This incident would indicate that Phillips Brooks had already, as a child,
+attained a mental equipoise which the average individual hardly achieves in
+a lifetime. The story appeals to me no less as evidence of self-control
+on the part of the mother; and I like to imagine that she suppressed the
+question a startled parent naturally would ask, realizing that no amount of
+worry would recall the pencil if he had swallowed it, and that nothing was
+to be gained by overturning the household, or by giving the boy an example
+of agitation sure to react to the detriment of the mind unfolding under
+her supervision. Unless, therefore, the facts of this story have become
+distorted by imagery, it shows exceptional heredity and unusual training.
+
+Not every one can claim such heredity, and not every one can look back on
+such training; but it is not too much to say that every one can so direct
+his thoughts and so order his actions as gradually to attain a somewhat
+higher level of self-control than either his mental endowment or his early
+training would have promised. For mental training is no more limited to
+feats of memory, and to practice in the solution of difficult problems,
+than is physical training comprised in the lifting of heavy weights in
+harness. In fact, such exercises are always in danger of leaving the mental
+athlete intellectually muscle-bound, if I may use such an expression;
+whereas the kind of training I have in mind tends to establish mental
+poise, to improve the disposition, to fit the mind (and indirectly the
+body) better to meet the varied exigencies of daily life, and to help the
+individual to react in every way more comfortably to his surroundings.
+
+I have only hinted at the detailed suggestions by which the worry habit and
+allied faulty mental tendencies may be combated. The obsessive who is able
+to alter his ideals and systematically pursue the line of thought here
+sketched will himself find other directions in which control can be
+exercised. It is true that no one is likely to reach any of the extreme
+degrees of incapacity we have considered unless he is naturally endowed
+with a mind predestined to unbalance. At the same time any of us who have a
+nervous temperament ever so slightly above the average of intensity will
+do well to check these tendencies as far as possible in their incipiency,
+realizing that no physical evil we may dread can be worse than the lot of
+the confirmed hypochondriac or the compulsively insane.
+
+Perhaps I have dwelt too much upon the extreme results of morbid mental
+tendencies, and too little upon the ideal for which we should strive.
+This ideal I shall not attempt to portray, but leave it rather to the
+imagination. Suffice it to say that the ladder by which self-control is
+attained is so long that there is ample room to ascend and descend without
+reaching either end. Some of us are started high on the ladder, some low;
+but it is certainly within the power of each to alter somewhat his level.
+We can slide down, but must climb up; and that such commonplaces as are
+here presented may help some of my fellow worriers to gain a rung or two is
+my earnest wish. Even when we slip back we can appreciate the sentiment of
+Ironsides:
+
+  "Night after night the cards were fairly shuffled
+    And fairly dealt, but still I got no hand.
+  The morning came, but I with mind unruffled
+    Did simply say, 'I do not understand.'
+
+  "Life is a game of whist; from unseen sources
+    The cards are shuffled and the hands are dealt.
+  Vain are our efforts to control the forces,
+    Which, though unseen, are no less strongly felt.
+
+  "I do not like the way the cards are shuffled,
+    But still I like the game and want to play,
+  And through the long, long night with mind unruffled,
+    Play what I get until the dawn of day."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Why Worry?, by George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>
+      Why Worry?, by George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
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+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
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+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Why Worry?, by George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Why Worry?
+
+Author: George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
+
+Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8554]
+This file was first posted on July 22, 2003
+Last Updated: May 14, 2013
+
+Language: English
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHY WORRY? ***
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+</pre>
+
+    <div style="height: 8em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h1>
+      WHY WORRY?
+    </h1>
+    <h2>
+      By George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+    </h2>
+    <h4>
+      Consulting Neurologist To The Massachusetts General Hospital
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <div class="middle">
+      <p>
+        The legs of the stork are long, the legs of the duck are short; you
+        cannot make the legs of the stork short, neither can you make the legs
+        of the duck long. Why worry?&mdash;<i>Chwang Tsze</i>.
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        TO MY LONG-SUFFERING FAMILY AND CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, WHOSE PATIENCE HAS
+        BEEN TRIED BY MY EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE WORRY, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY
+        DEDICATED.
+      </p>
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <b>CONTENTS</b>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> DEFINITIONS. </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> I. INTRODUCTORY </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II. EPICURUS AS A MENTAL HEALER </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III. MARCUS AURELIUS </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> IV. ANALYSIS OF WORRY </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> V. WORRY AND OBSESSION </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VI. THE DOUBTING FOLLY </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VII. HYPOCHONDRIA </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VIII. NEURASTHENIA </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> IX. SLEEPLESSNESS </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> X. OCCUPATION NEUROSIS </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XI. THE WORRIER AT HOME </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XII. THE WORRIER ON HIS TRAVELS </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> XIII. THE WORRIER AT THE TABLE </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> XIV. THE FEAR OF BECOMING INSANE </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> XV. RECAPITULATORY </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> XVI. MAXIMS MISAPPLIED </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> XVII. THE FAD </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> XVIII. HOME TREATMENT </a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="toc">
+      <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> XIX. HOME TREATMENT (CONTINUED) </a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PREFACE.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      No apology is needed for adding another to the treatises on a subject
+      whose importance is evidenced by the number already offered the public.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The habit of worry is not to be overcome by unaided resolution. It is
+      hoped that the victim of this unfortunate tendency may find, among the
+      homely illustrations and commonplace suggestions here offered, something
+      to turn his mind into more healthy channels. It is not the aim of the
+      writer to transform the busy man into a philosopher of the indolent and
+      contemplative type, but rather to enable him to do his work more
+      effectively by eliminating undue solicitude. This elimination is
+      consistent even with the "strenuous life."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One writer has distinguished between normal and abnormal worry, and
+      directed his efforts against the latter. Webster's definition of worry (A
+      state of undue solicitude) obviates the necessity of deciding what degree
+      and kind of worry is abnormal, and directs attention rather to deciding
+      what degree of solicitude may be fairly adjudged undue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the treatment of a subject of this character a certain amount of
+      repetition is unavoidable. But it is hoped that the reiteration of
+      fundamental principles and of practical hints will aid in the application
+      of the latter. The aim is the gradual establishment of a <i>frame of mind</i>.
+      The reader who looks for the annihilation of individual worries, or who
+      hopes to influence another by the direct application of the suggestions,
+      may prepare, in the first instance for disappointment, in the second, for
+      trouble.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The thanks of the writer are due to Miss Amy Morris Homans, Director of
+      the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics, for requesting him to make to her
+      students the address which forms the nucleus of these pages.
+    </p>
+    <h3>
+      GEORGE L. WALTON.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      BOSTON, April, 1908.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      DEFINITIONS.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      WORRY. A state of undue solicitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      HYPOCHONDRIA. A morbid mental condition characterized by undue solicitude
+      regarding the health, and undue attention to matters thereto pertaining.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      OBSESSION. An unduly insistent and compulsive thought, habit of mind, or
+      tendency to action.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      DOUBTING FOLLY (<i>Folie du doute</i>.) A state of mind characterized by a
+      tendency unduly to question, argue and speculate upon ordinary matters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      NEURASTHENIA. A form of nervous disturbance characterized by exhaustion
+      and irritability.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      PHOBIA. An insistent and engrossing fear without adequate cause, as judged
+      by ordinary standards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      OCCUPATION NEUROSIS. A nervous disorder in which pain, sometimes with
+      weakness and cramp, results from continued use of a part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      PSYCHO-THERAPY. Treatment through the mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No other technical terms are used.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      I. INTRODUCTORY
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Thales was asked what was difficult he said, "To know oneself"; and
+      what was easy, "To advise another."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Marcus Aurelius counselled, "Let another pray, 'Save Thou my child,' but
+      do thou pray, 'Let me not fear to lose him.'"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Few of us are likely to attain this level; few, perhaps, aspire to do so.
+      Nevertheless, the training which falls short of producing complete
+      self-control may yet accomplish something in the way of fitting us, by
+      taking the edge off our worry, to react more comfortably to our
+      surroundings, thus not only rendering us more desirable companions, but
+      contributing directly to our own health and happiness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Under the ills produced by faulty mental tendencies I do not include
+      cancer and the like. This inclusion seems to me as subversive of the laws
+      of nature as the cure of such disease by mental treatment would be
+      miraculous. At the same time, serious disorders surely result from faulty
+      mental tendencies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this category we must include, for example, hypochondria, a disturbance
+      shown by undue anxiety concerning one's own physical and mental condition.
+      This disorder, with the allied fears resulting from the urgent desire to
+      be always absolutely safe, absolutely well, and absolutely comfortable, is
+      capable, in extreme cases, of so narrowing the circle of pleasure and of
+      usefulness that the sufferer might almost as well have organic disease.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Neurasthenia (nervous prostration) has for its immediate exciting cause
+      some overwork or stress of circumstance, but the sufferer not infrequently
+      was already so far handicapped by regrets for the past, doubts for the
+      present, and anxieties for the future, by attention to minute details and
+      by unwillingness to delegate responsibilities to others, that he was
+      exhausted by his own mental travail before commencing upon the overwork
+      which precipitated his breakdown. In such cases the occasion of the
+      collapse may have been his work, but the underlying cause was deeper. Many
+      neurasthenics who think they are "all run down" are really "all wound up."
+      They carry their stress with them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the serious results of faulty mental habit must be included also the
+      doubting folly (<i>folie du doute</i>). The victim of this disorder is so
+      querulously anxious to make no mistake that he is forever returning to see
+      if he has turned out the gas, locked the door, and the like; in extreme
+      cases he finally doubts the actuality of his own sensations, and so far
+      succumbs to chronic indecision as seriously to handicap his efforts. This
+      condition has been aptly termed a "spasm of the attention."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The apprehensive and fretful may show, in varying degree, signs of either
+      or all these conditions, according as circumstances may direct their
+      attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Passing from serious disorders to minor sources of daily discomfort, there
+      are few individuals so mentally gifted that they are impervious to the
+      distress occasioned by variations of temperature and of weather; to the
+      annoyance caused by criticism, neglect, and lack of appreciation on the
+      part of their associates; to active resentment, even anger, upon moderate
+      provocation; to loss of temper when exhausted; to embarrassment in unusual
+      situations; to chronic indecision; to the sleeplessness resulting from
+      mental preoccupation; and above all, to the futile regrets, the querulous
+      doubts, and the undue anxiety included under the term <i>worry</i>,
+      designated by a recent author "the disease of the age."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Something may be accomplished in the way of lessening all these ills by
+      continuous, properly directed effort on the part of the individual. Every
+      inroad upon one faulty habit strengthens the attack upon all, and each
+      gain means a step toward the acquisition of a mental poise that shall give
+      its possessor comparative immunity from the petty annoyances of daily
+      life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In modern psycho-therapy the <i>suggestion</i>, whether on the part of the
+      physician or of the patient, plays a prominent part, and it is in this
+      direction, aside from the advice regarding occupation and relaxation, that
+      my propositions will trend. I shall not include, however, suggestions
+      depending for their efficacy upon self-deceit, such as might spring, for
+      example, from the proposition that if we think there is a fire in the
+      stove it warms us, or that if we break a pane in the bookcase thinking it
+      a window, we inhale with pleasure the resulting change of air. The
+      suggestions are intended to appeal to the reason, rather than to the
+      imagination.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The special aim will be to pay attention to the different varieties of
+      worry, and to offer easily understood and commonplace suggestions which
+      any one may practice daily and continuously, at last automatically,
+      without interfering with his routine work or recreation. Indeed the
+      tranquil mind aids, rather than hinders, efficient work, by enabling its
+      possessor to pass from duty to duty without the hindrance of undue
+      solicitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In advising the constitutional worrier the chief trouble the physician
+      finds is an active opposition on the part of the patient. Instead of
+      accepting another's estimate of his condition, and another's suggestions
+      for its relief, he comes with a preconceived notion of his own
+      difficulties, and with an insistent demand for their instant relief by
+      drug or otherwise. He uses up his mental energy, and loses his temper, in
+      the effort to convince his physician that he is <i>not</i> argumentative.
+      In a less unreasonable, but equally difficult class, come those who
+      recognize the likeness in the portrait painted by the consultant, but who
+      say they have tried everything he suggests, but simply "can't."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is my hope that some of the argumentative class may recognize, in my
+      description, their own case instead of their neighbor's, and may of their
+      own initiative adopt some of the suggestions; moreover, that some of the
+      acquiescent, but despairing class will renew their efforts in a different
+      spirit. The aim is, not to accomplish a complete and sudden cure, but to
+      gain something every day, or if losing a little to-day, to gain a little
+      to-morrow, and ultimately to find one's self on a somewhat higher plane,
+      without discouragement though not completely freed from the trammels
+      entailed by faulty mental habit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      II. EPICURUS AS A MENTAL HEALER
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      'Tis to believe what men inspired of old, Faithful, and faithfully
+      informed, unfold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Cowper</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The suggestions offered in the following pages are not new. Many of them
+      were voiced by Epicurus three hundred years before Christ, and even then
+      were ancient history. Unfortunately Epicurus had his detractors. One,
+      Timocrates, in particular, a renegade from his school, spread malicious
+      and unfounded reports of his doings and sayings, reports too easily
+      credited then, and starting, perhaps, the misconception which to-day
+      prevails regarding the aims of this philosopher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But when Marcus Aurelius, nearly five centuries later, decided to endow a
+      philosophical professoriate he established the Epicurean as one of the
+      four standard schools. The endorsement of such a one should surely
+      predispose us to believe the authentic commentators of Epicurus, and to
+      discredit the popular notion which makes his cult synonymous with the
+      gratification of the appetites, instead of with the mental tranquility to
+      which he regarded sensual pleasures so detrimental that he practically
+      limited his diet, and that of his disciples, to bread and water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is of special encouragement to such of us as painfully realize our
+      meagre equipment for reaching a high plane of self-control, to learn that
+      Epicurus was by nature delicate and sensitive. At seven years of age, we
+      are told, he could not support himself on tiptoe, and called himself the
+      feeblest of boys. It is said that in his boyhood he had to be lifted from
+      his chair, that he could not look on the sun or a fire, and that his skin
+      was so tender as to prevent his wearing any dress beyond a simple tunic.
+      These physical characteristics suggest the makings of a first class "fuss"
+      and inveterate worrier. In this event his emancipation from such
+      tendencies must have been due to the practice of his own philosophy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As an antidote for the fear of death and the miraculous in the heavens
+      Epicurus urges the study of Nature, showing his appreciation of the fact
+      that one thought can only be driven out by another, as well as of the
+      importance of the open air treatment of depressing fears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That he recognized the doubting folly and its evils is shown by the
+      following Maxim for the Wise man:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He shall be steady in his opinion and not wavering and doubtful in
+      everything."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To the hypochondriac he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Health in the opinion of some is a precious thing; others rank it among
+      the indifferent." Again:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If the body be attacked by a violent pain the evil soon has an end; if,
+      on the contrary, the pain be languishing and of long duration it is
+      sensible beyond all doubt of some pleasure therefrom. Thus, most chronical
+      distempers have intervals that afford us more satisfaction and ease than
+      the distempers we labor under cause pain." And further:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Wise man takes care to preserve the unequivocable blessing of an
+      undisturbed and quiet mind even amidst the groans and complaints which
+      excess of pain extorts from him." He states, again, that one can be happy
+      though blind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Regarding insomnia, he recognized the futility of expecting restful sleep
+      to follow a day of fret and worry. He says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "He shall enjoy the same tranquility in his sleep as when awake."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Epicurus realized that the apparent inability of the old to acquire new
+      habits is due rather to lack of attention, and to indifference or
+      preoccupation, than to lack of aptitude. He placed, in fact, no limit to
+      the age for learning new methods, stating in his letter to Meneceus,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Youth is no obstacle to the study of philosophy&mdash;neither ought we to
+      be ashamed to concentrate our later years to the labor of speculation. Man
+      has no time limit for learning, and ought never to want strength to cure
+      his mind of all the evils that afflict it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Epicurus does not counsel seclusion for the cultivation of tranquility,
+      but holds that mental equipoise "may be maintained though one mingles with
+      the world, provided he keeps within the bounds of temperance, and limits
+      his desires to what is easily obtained."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Curiously enough, in view of the idea of epicureanism which has become
+      proverbial, Epicurus regards the avoidance of excess a logical and
+      necessary step toward the tranquil life, and among other admonitions is
+      found the following Maxim:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The Wise man ought never to drink to excess, neither must he spend the
+      nights revelling and feasting."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We may conclude our selection from the Maxims of Epicurus by one which
+      strikes a body-blow at worry and the allied faulty mental habits:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "That being who is happy and immortal is in no way solicitous or uneasy on
+      any account, neither does he torment or tease others; anger is unworthy of
+      his greatness ... for all these things are the property of weakness."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such then, was the real Epicurus, not a seeker after effeminate luxury,
+      but a chaste and frugal philosopher, serene of mien, and of gentle
+      disposition, firm in his friendships, but sacrificing to them none of the
+      high ideals which characterized his thought. He erred, doubtless, in the
+      avoidance of responsibilities and in narrowing his efforts to promoting
+      the happiness of his own immediate circle, but he was fearless in the
+      defence of his principles and steadfast in the pursuit of the tranquility
+      which for him included truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      III. MARCUS AURELIUS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Such a body of teachers distinguished by their acquirements and character
+      will hardly be collected again; and as to the pupil, we have not had
+      another like him since.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Long</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the philosopher-Emperor, showed by practice as
+      well as by precept that the tranquil mind is not incompatible with a life
+      of action. Destined from birth to stand at the head of a great empire
+      engaged in distant wars, threatened by barbaric invasion, and not without
+      internal dissention, he was prepared not only to command armies but to
+      govern himself. Fortunately we are not without a clue to his methods&mdash;he
+      not only had the best of teachers, but continued his training all through
+      his life. When we consider his labors, the claim of the busy man of to-day
+      that he has "no time" seems almost frivolous.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The thoughts of Marcus Aurelius (of which the following citations are from
+      Long's translation) were written, not for self exploration, nor from
+      delight in rounded periods, but for his own guidance. That he was in fact
+      guided by his principles no better illustration offers than his
+      magnanimity toward the adherents of one who would have usurped the throne
+      of the Cęsars. The observation of Long that fine thoughts and moral
+      dissertations from men who have not worked and suffered may be read, but
+      will be forgotten, seems to have been exemplified in the comparative
+      oblivion into which the philosophy of Epicurus has fallen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is with the ethical side of the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius that we
+      are concerned, and with that portion only which bears on the question of
+      mental equipoise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Begin the morning," he says, "by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the
+      busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All
+      these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good
+      and evil."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to the habit of seclusion common among the self-conscious, he
+      says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "If thou didst ever see a hand cut off, or a foot, or a head, lying
+      anywhere apart from the rest of the body, such does a man make himself, as
+      far as he can, who is not content with what happens, and separates himself
+      from others, or does any thing unsocial. Suppose that thou hast detached
+      thyself from the natural unity&mdash;for thou wast made by nature a part,
+      but now thou hast cut thyself off&mdash;yet here there is this beautiful
+      provision, that it is in thy power again to unite thyself. God has allowed
+      this to no other part, after it has been separated and cut asunder, to
+      come together again. But consider the kindness by which he has
+      distinguished man, for he has put it in his power not to be separated at
+      all from the universal; and when he has been separated, he has allowed him
+      to return and to resume his place as a part."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the futile foreboding which plays so large a part in the tribulation of
+      the worrier, he says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life. Let not thy
+      thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which thou mayest expect
+      to befall thee; but on every occasion ask thyself, What is there in this
+      which is intolerable and past bearing? for thou wilt be ashamed to
+      confess. In the next place remember that neither the future nor the past
+      pains thee, but only the present. But this is reduced to a very little, if
+      thou only circumscribest it, and chidest thy mind, if it is unable to hold
+      out against even this." Again: "Let not future things disturb thee, for
+      thou wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the
+      same reason which now thou usest for present things."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the dismissal of useless fret, and concentration upon the work in hand,
+      he says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Labor not as one who is wretched, nor yet as one who would be pitied or
+      admired; but direct thy will to one thing only, to put thyself in motion
+      and to check thyself, as the social reason requires."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Regarding senseless fears he counsels:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "What need is there of suspicious fear, since it is in thy power to
+      inquire what ought to be done? And if thou seest clear, go by this way
+      content, without turning back: but if thou dost not see clear, stop and
+      take the best advisers. But if any other things oppose thee, go on
+      according to thy powers with due consideration, keeping to that which
+      appears to be just. For it is best to reach this object, and if thou dost
+      fail, let thy failure be in attempting this. He who follows reason in all
+      things is both tranquil and active at the same time, and also cheerful and
+      collected."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On irritation at the conduct of others:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When thou art offended with any man's shameless conduct, immediately ask
+      thyself, Is it possible, then, that shameless men should not be in the
+      world? It is not possible. Do not, then, require what is impossible. For
+      this man also is one of those shameless men who must of necessity be in
+      the world. Let the same considerations be present in thy mind in the case
+      of the knave and the faithless man, and of every man who does wrong in any
+      way."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Regarding the hypochondriacal tendency he reverts to Epicurus, thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Epicurus says, In my sickness my conversation was not about my bodily
+      sufferings, nor did I talk on such subjects to those who visited me; but I
+      continued to discourse on the nature of things as before, keeping to this
+      main point, how the mind, while participating in such movements as go on
+      in the poor flesh, shall be free from perturbations and maintain its
+      proper good.... Do, then, the same that he did both in sickness, if thou
+      art sick, and in any other circumstances;... but to be intent only on that
+      which thou art now doing and on the instrument by which thou doest it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These quotations will serve to show the trend of the reflections of this
+      remarkable man. After reviewing this epitome of ethical philosophy I might
+      stop and counsel the worrier to study the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius and
+      other philosophers, whose practical suggestions are similar,
+      notwithstanding their diversity of views regarding the ultimate object of
+      the training. I shall venture, however, to elaborate the subject from the
+      present view-point, even though the principles of Marcus Aurelius are as
+      applicable now as they were in the days of the Roman Empire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No reminder is needed of the wealth and efficacy of suggestion in the Book
+      which contains the statement that "the Kingdom of God is within you," and
+      that "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth
+      the bones." One of its suggestions was paralleled by the philosopher-poet
+      when he wrote:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "Latius regnes avidum domando
+  Spiritum, quam si Libyam remotis
+  Gadibus iungas et uterque Poenus
+    Serviat uni."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IV. ANALYSIS OF WORRY
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Of these points the principal and most urgent is that which reaches the
+      passions; for passion is produced no otherwise than by a disappointment of
+      one's desires and an incurring of one's aversions. It is this which
+      introduces perturbations, tumults, misfortunes, and calamities; this is
+      the spring of sorrow, lamentation and envy; this renders us envious and
+      emulous, and incapable of hearing reason.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Epictetus</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Under this rather pretentious title an attempt is made to indicate certain
+      elements of worry. No claim is made that the treatment of the subject is
+      exhaustive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The motto "Don't Worry" has inspired many homilies. But the mere resolve
+      to follow this guide to happiness will no more instantaneously free one
+      from the meshes of worry than the resolve to perform a difficult gymnastic
+      feat will insure its immediate accomplishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The evils of worry as well as of its frequent associate, anger, have been
+      dwelt upon by writers philosophical, religious, and medical. "Worry," says
+      one author, "is the root of all cowardly passions,&mdash;jealousy, fear,
+      the belittling of self, and all the introspective forms of depression are
+      the children of worry." The symptoms and the evil results seem to receive
+      more elaborate and detailed attention than the treatment. "Eliminate it,"
+      counsels this writer; "Don't worry," advises another. "Such advice is
+      superficial," says their critic, "it can only be subdued by our ascending
+      into a higher atmosphere, where we are able to look down and comprehend
+      the just proportions of life." "Cultivate a quiet and peaceful frame of
+      mind," urges another; and still another advises us to "occupy the mind
+      with better things, and the best&mdash;is a habit of confidence and
+      repose."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From such counsel the average individual succeeds in extracting nothing
+      tangible. The last writer of those I have quoted comes perhaps the nearest
+      to something definite in directing us to occupy the mind with better
+      things; in the suggestions I have to offer the important feature is the
+      effort to replace one thought by another, though not necessarily by a
+      better one. If we succeed in doing this, we are making a step toward
+      acquiring the habit of confidence and repose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The simple admonition not to worry is like advising one not to walk
+      awkwardly who has never learned to walk otherwise. If we can find some of
+      the simpler elements out of which worry is constructed, and can learn to
+      direct our attack against these, the proposition "Don't worry" will begin
+      to assume a tangible form.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We can at least go back one step, and realize that it is by way of the <i>unduly
+      insistent thought</i> that most of these faulty mental habits become
+      established. It might be claimed that fear deserves first mention, but the
+      insistent thought in a way includes fear, and in many cases is independent
+      of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The insistent thought magnifies by concentration of attention, and by
+      repetition, the origin of the worry. If my thoughts dwell on my desire for
+      an automobile this subject finally excludes all others, and the automobile
+      becomes, for the time being, the most important thing in the world, hence
+      I worry. Into this worry comes no suggestion of fear&mdash;this emotion
+      would be more appropriate, perhaps, if I acquired the automobile and
+      attempted to run it. If, now, I have trained myself to concentrate my
+      attention elsewhere before such thoughts become coercive, the automobile
+      quickly assumes its proper relation to other things, and there is no
+      occasion for worry. This habit of mind once acquired regarding the
+      unessentials of life, it is remarkable how quickly it adapts itself to
+      really important matters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Take a somewhat more serious question. I fear I may make a blunder. If I
+      harbor the thought, my mind is so filled with the disastrous consequences
+      of the possible blunder that I finally either abandon the undertaking or
+      approach it with a trepidation that invites failure. If, on the other
+      hand, I have learned to say that even if I make a blunder it will only add
+      to my experience, then apply myself whole-minded to the task, I have made
+      a direct attack on worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The qualification <i>unduly</i> is not to be forgotten; a certain
+      discrimination must be exercised before entirely condemning the insistent
+      thought. The insistent thought that one's family must be fed is not a
+      morbid sign. In fact, he also errs who can eliminate this thought and
+      enjoy the ball game. It is not for the deviate of this type that I am
+      writing. Nevertheless, the over-solicitous victim of the "New England
+      Conscience" can almost afford to take a few lessons from the
+      ne'er-do-weel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The practical bearing of this attempt to analyze worry is obvious. If it
+      is through the insistent desire for an automobile that I worry, I must
+      bring my training to bear, not on the worry, which is elusive, but on the
+      desire, which is definite. I must fortify myself with what philosophy I
+      can acquire, and must console myself with such compensations as my
+      situation may offer; and above all, I must <i>get busy</i>, and occupy
+      hands and brain with something else. If, on my travels, I worry over the
+      sluggish movement of the train, it is because of the insistent thought
+      that I must arrive on time. In this event I should practice subduing the
+      insistent thought, rather than vaguely direct my efforts against the
+      worry. In the majority of cases I can bring myself to realize that the
+      question of my arrival is not vital. Even in case I am missing an
+      important engagement I may modify the dominance of the thought by
+      reflecting that I cannot expect to be wholly immune from the misfortunes
+      of mankind; it is due me, at least once in a lifetime, to miss an
+      important engagement,&mdash;why fret because this happens to be the
+      appointed time? Why not occupy my thoughts more profitably than in
+      rehearsing the varied features of this unavoidable annoyance?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If we fret about the weather it is because of an insistent desire that the
+      weather shall conform to our idea of its seasonableness. If we complain of
+      the chill of May it is not because the cold is really unbearable, but
+      because we wonder if spring will ever come. If we fume on a hot day in
+      July it is because the weather is altogether <i>too</i> seasonable to suit
+      us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We spend far too much thought on the weather, a subject that really
+      deserves little attention except by those whose livelihood and safety
+      depend upon it. Suppose a runaway passes the window at which we are
+      sitting, with collar off, handkerchief to our heated brow, squirming to
+      escape our moist and clinging garments, and being generally miserable. We
+      rush out of doors to watch his course, and for the next few minutes we do
+      not know whether it is hot or cold, perspiring less during our exertions,
+      I strongly suspect, than we did while sitting in the chair. At all events,
+      it is obvious that our thoughts played quite as great a part in our
+      discomfort as did the heat of the day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suppose now, instead of devoting all our attention to the weather we
+      should reason somewhat as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As long as I live on this particular planet, I shall be subject perhaps
+      three days out of four, to atmospheric conditions which do not suit me. Is
+      it worth my while to fret during those three days and to make it up by
+      being elated on the fourth? Why not occupy myself with something else and
+      leave the weather for those who have no other resource? Or, as someone has
+      said, why not "make friends with the weather?" If one will cultivate this
+      frame of mind he will be surprised to find that a certain physical relief
+      will follow. In the first place, he will lessen the excessive perspiration
+      which is the invariable accompaniment of fret, and which in its turn
+      produces more discomfort than the heat itself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We have selected, so far, the comparatively unimportant sources of mental
+      discomfort, fret, and worry. The reader who can truthfully say that such
+      annoyances play no part in his mental tribulations may pass them and
+      accept congratulations. The reader who cannot be thus congratulated, but
+      who is impatient to attack the major sources of worry, must be reminded at
+      this point that he must practice on the little worries before he can
+      accomplish anything with the great. The method is the same. The philosophy
+      that will make us content with the weather will do something toward
+      establishing the mental poise which shall enable us to withstand with
+      comparative equanimity the most tragic of misfortunes that may fall to our
+      lot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To draw an example from the more serious disorders, let us consider the
+      hypochondriac, who harbors the insistent thought that he must be always
+      perfectly well, that each of his sensations must conform to his ideal, and
+      that each function must follow regulations imposed by himself. If he can
+      learn to ignore this thought by realizing that an acute illness is
+      preferable to life-long mental captivity; if he can learn to do what
+      others do, and to concentrate his energies on outside affairs which shall
+      displace the question of health; if he can learn to say "What I am <i>doing</i>
+      is more important than how I am <i>feeling</i>;" he will have cured his
+      hypochondria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the foundation of the structure we are studying is found <i>exaggerated
+      self-consciousness</i>. Whatever is said, done, or left undone, by others
+      is analyzed by the worrier with reference to its bearing on himself. If
+      others are indifferent it depresses him, if they appear interested they
+      have an ulterior motive, if they look serious he must have displeased
+      them, if they smile it is because he is ridiculous. That they are thinking
+      of their own affairs is the last thought to enter his mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I suppose it would be an affectation for any of us to deny that, as far as
+      we are concerned, we are the centre of the universe. This conceit does us
+      no harm so long as we remember that there are as many centres of the
+      universe as there are people, cats, mice and other thinking animals. When
+      we forget this our troubles begin. If I enter a strange shop and find they
+      desire security, need I take this as a reflection on <i>my</i> credit?
+      Need I expect to be invited to every entertainment I should like to
+      attend, and to be excused from those that bore me, and shall I make no
+      allowance for the attitude of my host? Is it not rather egotistic for me
+      to suppose that others are vitally interested in the fact that I blush,
+      tremble, or am awkward? Why then should I allow my conduct to be
+      influenced by such trivial matters?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The order of training is, then, generally, to modify our
+      self-consciousness by externalizing our thoughts and broadening our
+      interests; specifically, to eliminate the unduly insistent habit of
+      thought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This analysis of worry and allied mental states may facilitate such
+      training, but the practical value of the suggestions does not depend upon
+      the acceptance of these theoretical considerations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      V. WORRY AND OBSESSION
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      So much are men enured in their miserable estate, that no condition is so
+      poore, but they will accept; so they may continue in the same.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Florio's Montaigne</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You may as well be eaten by the fishes as by the worms," said the
+      daughter of a naval commander to me one day, when discussing the perils of
+      the sea. Such philosophy, applied to each of the vexatious and dangerous
+      situations of daily life, would go far toward casting out worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We have already referred to two important elements at the foundation, and
+      in the framework, of the elaborate superstructures we rear with such
+      material as worry, doubts, fears and scruples. The first is <i>exaggerated
+      self-consciousness</i>, the second the tendency to succumb to the
+      compelling thought or impulse, technically termed <i>obsession</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to self-consciousness, the worrier will generally realize that
+      even as a child he was exceptionally sensitive to criticism, censure,
+      ridicule and neglect. He was prone to brood over his wrongs, to play the
+      martyr, and to suffer with peculiar keenness the "slings and arrows of
+      outrageous fortune." I remember once leaving the table on account of some
+      censure or careless remark. I fancied I had thrown the whole family into a
+      panic of contrition. On the first opportunity, I asked what they had said
+      about it, and was told that they had apparently not noticed my departure.
+      This salutary lesson prevented repetition of the act.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To the self-conscious person the mere entrance into a public vehicle may
+      prove an ordeal. It is hard for him to realize that the general gaze has
+      no peculiar relation to himself, and that if the gaze is prolonged this is
+      due to no peculiarity of his beyond the blush or the trepidation that
+      betrays his feeling. If he can acquire indifference to this feature of his
+      case, through the reflection that to others it is only a passing incident,
+      the blush and the trepidation will promptly disappear, and a step will
+      have been taken towards gaining the self-control for which he aims.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The usual cause of stage-fright is exaggerated self-consciousness. The
+      sufferer from stage-fright can hardly fail to be a worrier. A certain
+      shyness, it would seem, may also result from too acute a consciousness of
+      one's audience, as in the case of Tennyson, whom Benson quotes thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I am never the least shy before great men. Each of them has a personality
+      for which he or she is responsible; but before a crowd which consists of
+      many personalities, of which I know nothing, I am infinitely shy. The
+      great orator cares nothing about all this. I think of the good man, and
+      the bad man, and the mad man, that may be among them, and can say nothing.
+      <i>He</i> takes them all as one man. <i>He</i> sways them as one man."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This, I take it, hardly spelled stage-fright. At the same time, it is
+      improbable that one so sensitive to criticism meant to convey the
+      impression that it was of his audience alone he thought in shrinking from
+      the effort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It appears that Washington Irving suffered from actual stage-fright.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the Library edition of Irving's works appears the following anecdote
+      from the reminiscences of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, then a young woman of
+      twenty-three:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I was present, with other ladies, at a public dinner given in honor of
+      Charles Dickens by prominent citizens of New York. The ladies were not
+      bidden to the feast, but were allowed to occupy a small ante-room which,
+      through an open door, commanded a view of the tables. When the speaking
+      was about to begin, a message came suggesting that we take possession of
+      some vacant seats at the great table. This we were glad to do. Washington
+      Irving was president of the evening, and upon him devolved the duty of
+      inaugurating the proceedings by an address of welcome to the distinguished
+      guest. People who sat near me whispered, 'He'll break down,&mdash;he
+      always does.' Mr. Irving rose and uttered a sentence or two. His friends
+      interrupted him by applause, which was intended to encourage him, but
+      which entirely overthrew his self-possession. He hesitated, stammered, and
+      sat down, saying, 'I cannot go on.'"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cavendish, the chemist, suffered from a constitutional shyness
+      attributable only to self-consciousness. He is said to have carried so far
+      his aversion to contact with others, outside of his colleagues, that his
+      dinner was always ordered by means of a note, and instant dismissal
+      awaited the female domestic who should venture within his range of vision.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lombroso cites, among his "Men of Genius," quite a list&mdash;Corneille,
+      Descartes, Virgil, Addison, La Fontaine, Dryden, Manzoni, and Newton&mdash;of
+      those who could not express themselves in public. Whatever part
+      self-consciousness played in the individual case, we must class the
+      peculiarity among the defects, not signs, of genius. "A tender heel makes
+      no man an Achilles."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To the second faulty habit, obsession, I wish to devote special attention.
+      This word we have already defined as an unduly insistent and compulsive
+      thought, habit of mind, or tendency to action. The person so burdened is
+      said to be obsessed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Few children are quite free from obsession. Some must step on stones;
+      others must walk on, or avoid, cracks; some must ascend the stairs with
+      the right foot first; many must kick posts or touch objects a certain
+      number of times. Some must count the windows, pictures, and figures on the
+      wallpaper; some must bite the nails or pull the eye-winkers. Consider the
+      nail-biter. It cannot be said that he toils not, but to what end? Merely
+      to gratify an obsession. He nibbles a little here and a little there, he
+      frowns, elevates his elbow, and inverts his finger to reach an otherwise
+      inaccessible corner. Does he enjoy it? No, not exactly; but he would be
+      miserable if he discontinued.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An unusual, but characteristic obsession is told by a lady in describing
+      her own childhood. She thought that on retiring she must touch nothing
+      with her hands, after she had washed them, until she touched the inside of
+      the sheets. In case she failed she must return and wash the hands again.
+      The resulting manoeuvres are still fresh in her mind, particularly when
+      her sister had preceded her to bed and she had to climb the footboard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is during childhood that we form most of the automatic habits which are
+      to save time and thought in later life, and it is not surprising that some
+      foolish habits creep in. As a rule, children drop these tendencies at
+      need, just as they drop the rōles assumed in play, though they are
+      sometimes so absorbing as to cause inconvenience. An interesting instance
+      was that of the boy who had to touch every one wearing anything red. On
+      one occasion his whole family lost their train because of the prevalence
+      of this color among those waiting in the station.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The longer these tendencies are retained in adult life, the greater the
+      danger of their becoming coercive; and so far as the well-established case
+      is concerned the obsessive act must be performed, though the business,
+      social, and political world should come to a stand-still. Among the
+      stories told in illustration of compulsive tendency in the great, may be
+      instanced the touching of posts, and the placing of a certain foot first,
+      in the case of Dr. Johnson, who, it appears, would actually retrace his
+      steps and repeat the act which failed to satisfy his requirements, with
+      the air of one with something off his mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A child who must kick posts is father to the man who cannot eat an egg
+      which has been boiled either more or less than four minutes; who cannot
+      work without absolute silence; who cannot sleep if steam-pipes crackle;
+      and who must straighten out all the tangles of his life, past, present,
+      and future, before he can close his eyes in slumber or take a vacation.
+      The boy Carlyle, proud, shy, sensitive, and pugnacious, was father to the
+      man who made war upon the neighbor's poultry, and had a room, proof
+      against sound, specially constructed for his literary labors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The passive obsessions are peculiarly provocative of worry. Such are
+      extreme aversions to certain animals, foods, smells, sounds, and sights,
+      or insistent discomfort if affairs are not ordered to our liking. A
+      gentleman once told me that at the concert he did not mind if his neighbor
+      followed the score, but when he consulted his programme during the
+      performance it distressed him greatly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such instances illustrate the fact that when our obsessions rule us it is
+      not the noise or the sight, but our idea of the fitness of things, that
+      determines the degree of our annoyance. A person who cannot endure the
+      crackling of the steam-pipe can listen with pleasure to the crackling of
+      an open fire or the noise of a running brook.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is said that the sensitive and emotional Erasmus had so delicate a
+      digestion that he could neither eat fish nor endure the smell of it; but
+      we are led to suspect that obsession played a part in his troubles when we
+      further learn that he could not bear an iron stove in the room in which he
+      worked, but had to have either a porcelain stove or an open fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If we can trust the sources from which Charles Reade drew his deductions
+      regarding the character of the parental stock, Erasmus came fairly by his
+      sensitive disposition. In "The Cloister and the Hearth" we find the father
+      of Erasmus, fleeing from his native land, in fear of his life on account
+      of a crime he thought he had committed, frozen, famished and exhausted,
+      unable to enter the door of a friendly inn on account of his aversion to
+      the issuing odors. Forced by his sufferings at last to enter the inn, he
+      visits each corner in turn, analyzing its peculiar smell and choosing
+      finally the one which seems to him the least obnoxious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I have heard somewhere, but cannot place, the story of a prominent writer
+      who was so disturbed by the mechanical lawn-mower of his neighbor that he
+      insisted upon the privilege of defraying the expense of its replacement by
+      the scythe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Peculiar sensitiveness to sights, sounds and smells seems to be a common
+      attribute of genius. This sort of sensitiveness has even been credited
+      with being the main-spring of genius, but it is improbable that the
+      curbing of such aversions would in any way endanger it. However this may
+      be, such supersensitiveness ill becomes the rest of us, and these extreme
+      aversions surely clog, rather than accelerate, our efforts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The natural tendency of the healthy mind is to accustom itself to new
+      sensations, as the ring on the finger, or the spectacles on the nose. The
+      obsessive individual resists this tendency; he starts with the fixed idea
+      that he cannot stand the annoyance, his resentment increases, and his
+      sensations become more, instead of less, acute. His reaction to criticism,
+      slight, and ridicule is similar; he is prepared to start, blush, and show
+      anger on moderate provocation, and can often reproduce both the sensation
+      and its accompanying physical signs by merely recalling the circumstance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The passive as well as the active obsessions can be overcome by
+      cultivating the commonplace, or average normal, attitude, and resolving
+      gradually to accustom one's self to the disagreeable. This change of
+      attitude can be made in adult life as well as in youth. "You cannot teach
+      an old dog new tricks," we are told. The reason is not that the old dog
+      cannot learn them, but that he does not want to. I met in Germany a
+      British matron who was obsessed with the belief that she could not learn
+      the language. At the end of four years' sojourn she entered a store and
+      asked the price of an article.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Four marks," was the answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How much in English money?" she inquired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Why, madam, a mark is the same as a shilling."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I don't know anything about that; how much is it in English?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Four shillings."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ah, quite so; you might have told me at once."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Experience has shown that no time in life precludes the acquirement of new
+      knowledge and new habits by one who thinks it worth while to make the
+      attempt. The elderly person will be surprised at his progress if he will
+      bring to bear upon a new subject a mind free from doubts of its
+      usefulness, doubts of his own ability, worry lest he is wasting valuable
+      time, regrets for the past and plans for the future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is not always possible to say just where useful habit merges into
+      obsession. A certain individual, we will say, invariably puts on the left
+      shoe before the right. This is a useful habit, fixed by constant
+      repetition, useful because it relieves the brain of conscious effort. But
+      suppose he decides some morning to put on the right shoe before the left;
+      this new order so offends his sense of the fitness of things that he finds
+      it hard to proceed; if he perseveres, his feet feel wrong to him; the
+      discomfort grows until finally he is impelled to remove the shoes and
+      replace them in the usual order. In this case an act which started as a
+      useful habit has been replaced by an obsession.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suppose, again, a person obsessed by the fear of poison is prevented from
+      washing his hands before eating. He sits down, perhaps, fully intending to
+      proceed as if nothing had happened, but the thought occurs to him that he
+      may have touched something poisonous, though his reason tells him this is
+      most improbable. He reviews the events of the day and can find no
+      suggestion of poison; still the thought of poison obtrudes itself, and he
+      finds it impossible to put anything which he touches into his mouth. He
+      next wonders if he has not already put something into his mouth. This
+      thought produces a mental panic, the blood mounts to his head, he becomes
+      incapable of coherent thought or speech, and the task of finishing his
+      dinner would now be beyond his power even if he had not lost all taste for
+      it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such illustrations of obsession in daily life, by no means rare, could be
+      multiplied indefinitely, and may be perhaps better appreciated than the
+      text-book illustration of the man who neglected to flick off with his whip
+      a certain stone from the top of a wall, and who could not sleep until he
+      had returned to the spot and performed the act.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suppose a man has always worn high boots and is accustomed to a feeling of
+      warmth about the ankles. The desire for warm ankles may finally so
+      dominate him that he not only cannot wear low shoes in mid-summer, but he
+      cannot wear slippers, even in a warm room; and finally, perhaps, finds
+      that he must wear woollen socks to bed. By this time the desire for a
+      certain sensation is in a fair way to become an obsession. When you assure
+      him that many wear low shoes throughout the winter, he asks if their
+      ankles really feel warm. That is not the question. The question is, can
+      one accustom himself to the ankles feeling cool, just as he accustoms
+      himself to his face feeling cool. If he can, he has conquered a sensory
+      obsession, and has made a step toward fitting himself to meet more serious
+      vicissitudes with equanimity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Similar instances can be adduced in all realms of sensation, both general
+      and special. One person cannot bear the light, and wears blue glasses;
+      another cannot breathe out-door air, and wears a respirator; another
+      cannot bear to see a person rock or to hear a person drum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If a family or circle of friends is so constituted that some are obsessed
+      to <i>do</i> certain things and others are obsessed <i>not to stand them</i>
+      the foundation is laid for a degree of irritability inconsistent with
+      mental health. Mrs. X. simply cannot stand hearing Mr. X. tap the floor,
+      and if he continues, her discomfort becomes acute; the sound so dominates
+      her that she can think of nothing else and can accomplish nothing until
+      the sound is stopped. She can stand <i>anything</i> but <i>that</i>. The
+      daughter, Miss X., hardly hears the tapping, and is irritated and
+      impatient to the last degree on account of her mother's "silly" notion.
+      What Miss X. simply cannot bear is hearing her brother continually clear
+      his throat, and if he does not stop she must leave the room or "go wild."
+      Unfortunately, meantime, Mr. X. is so obsessed to tap the floor that he
+      cannot follow his task without it, and Master X. <i>must</i> clear his
+      throat every few moments with a peculiar note because he "has catarrh."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here we have a common starting-point for family discomfort, and here we
+      have a clue to the advice of the physician who advises isolation as a step
+      toward the cure of the member of the family who first breaks down, not
+      simply under the stress of occupation, but of occupation plus the wear and
+      tear of minor but constant sources of irritation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is said that the victim of jiu jitsu, by breaking one hold, places
+      himself in the greater danger from the next. Similarly, after having
+      conquered a few obsessions, one is overwhelmed with the obsession to set
+      every one straight. Soukanhoff was right in warning the obsessive to
+      beware of pedantry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The question here presents itself whether this line of thought does not
+      foster, rather than lessen, the pedantry and the self-study which it is
+      intended to combat. Why not simply drop the worry and the doubt without
+      further argument? The difficulty is that the mental processes of the
+      over-scrupulous person are such that he cannot summarily drop a habit of
+      thought. He must reason himself out of it. There is no limit to his
+      ability if properly directed; he can gradually modify all his faulty
+      tendencies, and may even finally acquire the habit of automatically
+      dismissing worry, but it would be too much to expect that he suddenly
+      change his very nature at command.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soukanhoff's description of obsessives is peculiarly apt:
+      "over-scrupulous, disquieted over trifles, indecisive in action, and
+      anxious about their affairs. They are given early to morbid introspection,
+      and are easily worried about their own indispositions or the illnesses of
+      their friends. They are often timorous and apprehensive, and prone to
+      pedantism. The moral sentiments are pronounced in most cases, and if they
+      are, as a rule, somewhat exigent and egotistic, they have a lively sense
+      of their own defects."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A common obsession is the compulsion to dwell upon the past, to reproduce
+      the circumstances, and painfully to retrace the steps which we took in
+      coming to an erroneous decision which led to a foolish, unnecessary, or
+      perhaps even a wrong decision. One of my earliest impressions in golf was
+      the remark of a veteran who was good enough to make a round with me. "If I
+      had only approached better, I should have made that hole in five," I
+      remarked, after taking seven strokes for a hole.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Perhaps not," he replied; "if you had <i>approached better</i>, perhaps
+      you would have <i>putted worse</i> and taken <i>eight</i> strokes for the
+      hole. At all events, that hole is ancient history now, and you will play
+      this one better if you leave that one alone."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He little realized how many times his advice would recur to me elsewhere
+      than on the links. Retrospective worry can be absolutely eliminated from
+      the most obsessive mind by the practice of the veteran's philosophy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mercier says the greatest intellectual gift is the ability to forget.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conscientious self-analyst spends too much time in weighing his
+      ability or inability to perform some task. Between his fear, his worry
+      over the past, and his indecision whether the task should be attempted, he
+      starts with an overwhelming handicap. If he learns to say, "Other people
+      fail; it will not matter if I do this time," he will find the task already
+      half accomplished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Rev. Francis Tiffany has observed that if a ship could think, and
+      should imagine itself submerged by all the waves between here and Europe,
+      it would dread to leave its moorings; but in reality it has to meet but
+      one wave at a time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The tendency of the average American in this bustling age, whether he is
+      obsessive or not, is to live at least several hours in advance. On the
+      train he takes no comfort and makes no observations, for his mind is upon
+      his destination rather than on his journey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Though the immediate object of these chapters is the promotion of the
+      mental, and indirectly the physical, health of the individual, I cannot
+      forbear referring to the effect of this training on the position of the
+      individual in society and his relation toward his surroundings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The endeavor to overcome obsessions is likely to be ignored by two
+      classes: the self-centered individuals who see no reason for learning what
+      they do not want to learn, and the individuals who have no time for, or
+      interest in, self-training because of absorption in subjects of wider
+      relation, as art, or science, or reform. The philosophy of Haeckel applies
+      to both:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Man belongs to the social vertebrates, and has, therefore, like all
+      social animals, two sets of duties&mdash;first to himself, and secondly to
+      the society to which he belongs. The former are the behests of self-love,
+      or egoism, the latter love for one's fellows, or altruism. The two sets of
+      precepts are equally just, equally natural, and equally indispensable. If
+      a man desires to have the advantage of living in an organized community,
+      he has to consult not only his own fortune, but also that of the society,
+      and of the 'neighbors' who form the society. He must realize that its
+      prosperity is his own prosperity, and that it cannot suffer without his
+      own injury."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The individual who is ruled by his obsessions not only paves the way for
+      needless and ultimate breakdown, but is in danger of gradually narrowing
+      his field of usefulness and pleasure until he is in little better case
+      than Simeon Stylites, who spent nearly half a century on the top of a
+      monument. Nor has he even Simeon's consolation that he could come down if
+      he chose; for it seems that the authorities sent messengers demanding his
+      return, with orders to let him stay if he showed willingness to come down&mdash;and
+      he stayed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      VI. THE DOUBTING FOLLY
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <i>Jatgeir</i>. I needed sorrow; others there may be who need faith, or
+      joy&mdash;or doubt&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>King Skule</i>. Doubt as well?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Jatgeir</i>. Ay; but then must the doubter be strong and sound.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>King Skule</i>. And whom call you the unsound doubter?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Jatgeir</i>. He who doubts of his own doubt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>King Skule</i> (slowly). That methinks were death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Jatgeir</i>. 'T is worse; 't is neither day nor night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>King Skule</i> (quickly, as if shaking off his thoughts). Where are my
+      weapons? I will fight and act, not think.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      IBSEN: <i>The Pretenders</i>, Act iv.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A gentleman once told me that he rarely passed another in the street
+      without wondering if he had not accosted him in an improper manner. He
+      knew very well that he had not, but the more he dwelt upon the
+      possibility, the more doubtful he became, until the impulse to settle the
+      question became so strong that he would retrace his steps and inquire. He
+      asked if <i>nux vomica</i> would help this trouble! I told him he needed
+      mental training.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I have tried that," he answered. "I keep saying to myself, 'I will not
+      think of it,' but it is no use; my head becomes hot, my sight blurred, my
+      thoughts confused, and the only relief I find is to settle the question."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I tried to point out the direction in which he was tending, and told him
+      he must remind himself that even if he had accosted another improperly, it
+      was a trifling matter compared to the injury to himself of giving way to
+      this compulsion; moreover, the impression he would make upon the other by
+      going back would be even worse than that of having so accosted him; and,
+      finally, he must dwell upon the <i>probability</i> that he had not
+      offended the man, instead of the <i>possibility</i> that he had. Having
+      pursued this line of thought, he must force himself to think of something
+      else until the besetting impulse was obliterated. I suggested that if a
+      baseball player should become incapacitated for the game, he would not
+      lessen his disappointment by reiterating, "I will not think of baseball,"
+      but if he persistently turned his thoughts and his practice to billiards
+      he might in time forget baseball.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I never played baseball," he replied, "and don't even know the rules."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This represents an extreme case of "doubting folly" a case in which the
+      victim could no longer concentrate his thoughts on the simplest
+      proposition outside the narrow circle to which his doubts had restricted
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If we once allow ourselves to wonder whether we have turned off the water,
+      enclosed the check, or mailed the letter, it is but a step to an
+      uncomfortable frame of mind which can be relieved only by investigating
+      the matter. This compulsion once acceded to, it becomes more and more easy
+      to succumb. The next step is to blur, by constant repetition, the mental
+      image of the act. In extreme cases the doubter, after turning the gas on
+      and off a dozen times, is finally in doubt whether he can trust his own
+      senses. A certain officer in a bank never succeeded in reaching home after
+      closing hours without returning to try the door of the bank. Upon finding
+      it locked, he would unlock it and disappear within, to open the vault,
+      inspect the securities, and lock them up again. I once saw a victim of
+      this form of doubt spend at least ten minutes in writing a check, and ten
+      minutes more inspecting it, and, after all, he had spelled his own name
+      wrong!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Constant supervision only impairs acts which should have become automatic.
+      We have all heard of the centipede who could no longer proceed upon his
+      journey when it occurred to him to question which foot he should next
+      advance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To other doubts are often added the doubt of one's own mental balance; but
+      it is a long step from these faulty habits of mind to real mental
+      unbalance, which involves an inability to plan and carry out a line of
+      conduct consistent with one's station.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It took a young man at least fifteen minutes, in my presence, to button
+      his waistcoat. He felt the lower button to reassure himself, then
+      proceeded to the next. He then returned to the lower one, either
+      distrusting his previous observation, or fearing it had become unbuttoned.
+      He then held the lower two with one hand while he buttoned the third with
+      the other. When this point was reached he called his sight to the aid of
+      his feeling, and glued his eyes to the lower while he buttoned the upper,
+      unbuttoning many meantime, to assure himself that he had buttoned them.
+      This young man said he would sometimes stop on his way to the store in
+      doubt whether he was on the right street, a doubt not quieted either by
+      reading the sign or by asking a stranger, because the doubt would obtrude
+      itself whether he could trust his sight and his hearing, indeed, whether
+      he was really there or dreaming. Even this victim of extreme doubting
+      folly conducted his business successfully so long as I knew him, and so
+      comported himself in general as to attract no further comment than that he
+      was "fussy."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These doubts lead to chronic indecision. How often, in deciding which of
+      two tasks to take up, we waste the time which would have sufficed for the
+      accomplishment of one, if not both.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The doubt and the indecision result directly from over-conscientiousness.
+      It is because of an undue anxiety to do the right thing, even in trivial
+      matters, that the doubter ponders indefinitely over the proper sequence of
+      two equally important (or unimportant) tasks. In the majority of instances
+      it is the right thing for <i>him</i> to pounce upon <i>either</i>. If he
+      pounces upon the wrong one, and completes it without misgiving, he has at
+      least accomplished something in the way of mental training. The chances
+      are, moreover, that the harm done by doing the wrong thing first was not
+      to be compared to the harm of giving way to his doubt, and either drifting
+      into a state of ineffective revery or fretting himself into a frenzy of
+      anxious uncertainty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A gentleman once told me that after mailing a letter he would often linger
+      about the box until the postman arrived, and ask permission to inspect his
+      letter, ostensibly to see if he had put on the stamp, but in fact to
+      reassure himself that he had really mailed the missive, although he knew
+      perfectly well that he had done so. The life of the chronic doubter is
+      full of these small deceits, though in most matters such persons are
+      exceptionally conscientious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This form of over-solicitude is peculiarly liable to attack those in whose
+      hands are important affairs affecting the finances, the lives, or the
+      health of others. I have known more than one case of the abandonment of a
+      chosen occupation on account of the constant anxiety entailed by doubts of
+      this nature. Nor are these doubts limited to the question whether one has
+      done or left undone some particular act. An equally insistent doubt is
+      that regarding one's general fitness for the undertaking. <i>The doubter
+      may spend upon this question more time than it would take to acquire the
+      needed facility and experience</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some one has said there are two things that no one should worry about:
+      first, the thing that can't be helped; second, the thing that can. This is
+      peculiarly true of the former.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Reflection upon the past is wise; solicitude concerning it is an
+      anachronism. Suppose one has accepted a certain position and finds himself
+      in doubt of his fitness for that position. Nothing can be more important
+      than for him to decide upon his next line of conduct. Shall he resign or
+      continue? Is he fit for the position, or, if not, can he acquire the
+      fitness without detriment to the office? These are legitimate doubts. But
+      the doubter who finds himself in this predicament adds to these legitimate
+      doubts the question, "Ought I to have accepted the office?" This is the
+      doubt he must learn to eliminate. He must remind himself that he has
+      accepted the position, whether rightly or wrongly, and that the acceptance
+      is ancient history. The question what shall he do next is sufficiently
+      weighty to occupy all his attention without loading his mind with anxious
+      doubts regarding the irrevocable past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suppose, in fact, the doubter has made a mistake; how shall he banish the
+      worry? By reminding himself that others have made mistakes, why should not
+      he, and that it is somewhat egotistic on his part to insist that, whatever
+      others may do, <i>he</i> must do everything right. If this line of
+      reasoning fails to console him, let him think of the greater mistakes he
+      might have made. A financial magnate was once asked how he succeeded in
+      keeping his mind free from worry. He replied, by contemplating the two
+      worst things that could happen to him: losing all his property and going
+      to jail. He had learned the lesson that <i>one thought can be driven out
+      only by another</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to immediate doubts. If the over-scrupulous business or
+      professional man, worn out after an exacting day's work, will stop and
+      reflect, he will realize that much of his exhaustion is due to his having
+      filled the day with such doubts as whether he is doing the wrong thing, or
+      the right thing at the wrong time, whether he or someone else will miss an
+      appointment or fail to meet obligations, and whether he or his assistants
+      may make blunders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Let him resolve some morning that he will proceed that day from task to
+      task without allowing such thoughts to intrude. If he does so he will find
+      that he has succeeded in his work at least as well as usual, and that he
+      is comparatively fresh in the evening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Why not try this every day?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So far we have only considered the most obvious and simple among the
+      evidences of doubting folly. A still more obstinate tendency of the
+      doubter is the insistent habit interminably to argue over the simplest
+      proposition, particularly regarding matters pertaining to the health,
+      comfort, and life of the individual himself. A certain patient, of this
+      type, attempts to describe to his physician a peculiar, hitherto
+      undescribed, and even now indescribable sensation "through his right
+      lung." He traces this sensation to what he believes to have been the
+      absorption of a poison some years ago. His line of reasoning is somewhat
+      as follows: 1. The drug was a poison. 2. If he absorbed it he must have
+      been poisoned. 3. If he was poisoned then, he is poisoned now. 4. There is
+      no proof that such a poison cannot produce such a sensation. 5. He has the
+      sensation. Conclusion: He is suffering from poison. In support of this
+      proposition he will spend hours with anyone who will listen. The physician
+      who allows himself to be drawn into the controversy speedily finds
+      himself, instead of giving advice to listening ears, involved in a battle
+      of wits in which he is quite likely to come off second best. He assures
+      the patient, for example, that, as far as scientific methods can establish
+      the fact, the lung is sound.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But has science established everything? And if it had, is such negative
+      evidence to be weighed against the positive evidence of the sensation in
+      my lung?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But the sensation may not be in your lung."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Can you prove that it is <i>not</i> in my lung?" Folly scores!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On being urged to direct his attention to some other part of his body, he
+      promptly inquires,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "How can I direct my thoughts elsewhere, when the sensation is there to
+      occupy my attention?" Obviously he can not without changing his mental
+      attitude, so folly scores again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He is assured that if the poison had been absorbed the effects would have
+      passed away long before this time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "But do the effects of poison <i>always</i> pass away? And can you <i>prove</i>
+      that they have passed away in my case? Is not the sensation positive
+      evidence, since you have allowed that you cannot prove that the sensation
+      does <i>not</i> come from the poison?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Folly scores again, but the victory is an empty one. The vicious circle
+      continues: Attention magnifies sensation&mdash;sensation produces fear&mdash;fear
+      increases attention; and throughout runs the insistent thought that his
+      sensations shall conform to his ideal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If the discussion of such comparatively tangible matters can occupy a
+      large part of one's attention, imagine the result of the insistent desire,
+      on the part of the doubter, to solve such problems as "What is thought?"
+      "What is existence?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If the windings of this intellectual labyrinth have not too far involved
+      us, we have only to recognize the futility of such arguments, and exercise
+      our will-power in the right direction. If we can bring ourselves to take
+      the initiative, it is as easy to step out of the vicious circle, as for
+      the squirrel to leave his wheel. But unless we grasp the logic of the
+      situation, and take this initiative, no amount of abuse, persuasion, or
+      ridicule will effect our freedom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A word may be in place regarding the anthropological status of the
+      doubting folly and allied mental states. Men of genius have suffered from
+      them all. A long list may be found in Lombroso's "Man of Genius." Under <i>folie
+      du doute</i> we find, for example, Tolstoi, Manzoni, Flaubert and Amiel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lombroso regards genius as degenerative, and places among the signs of
+      degeneration, deviations from the average normal, whether physical or
+      mental. This plan has been quite generally followed. The nomenclature
+      seems to me unfortunate and hardly justified by the facts. I can think of
+      no more potent objection to such inclusive use of the term degenerate,
+      than the fact that Lombroso includes, under the signs of degeneration, the
+      enormous development of the cerebral speech-area in the case of an
+      accomplished orator. If such evolutional spurts are to be deemed
+      degenerative, the fate of the four-leaved clover is sealed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The application of the term degeneration may be, and should be, it seems
+      to me, limited to the signs, whether physical or mental, which indicate an
+      obviously downward tendency. I have elsewhere suggested, and the
+      suggestion has already found some acceptance, that when the variation is
+      not definitely downward, <i>deviation</i> and <i>deviate</i> be
+      substituted for the unnecessarily opprobrious and often inappropriate
+      terms, <i>degeneration</i> and <i>degenerate</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      VII. HYPOCHONDRIA
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Il marche, dort, mange et boit comme tous les autres; mais cela n'empeche
+      pas qu'il soit fort malade.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      MOLIERE: <i>Le Malade imaginaire</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The victim of hypochondria may present the picture of health, or may have
+      some real ill regarding which he is unduly anxious. His consultation with
+      a physician is likely to be preceded by letters explaining his exact
+      condition, naming his various consultants and describing the various
+      remedies he has taken. At the time of his visit notes are consulted, lest
+      some detail be omitted. In his description anatomical terms abound; thus,
+      he has pain in his lungs, heart, or kidney, not in his chest or back.
+      Demonstration by the physician of the soundness of these organs is met by
+      argument, at which the hypochondriac is generally adept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The suggestion that the hypochondriac devotes undue attention to his own
+      condition is met by him with indignant denial. Proposals that he should
+      exercise, travel, engage in games, or otherwise occupy himself, fall on
+      deaf ears, but he is always ready to try a new drug. If a medicine is
+      found with whose ingredients the patient is not already familiar, its use
+      is likely to produce a beneficial effect for a few days, after which the
+      old complaint returns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The case has come to my attention of a young man who, for fear of taking
+      cold, remains in bed, with the windows of the room tightly closed and a
+      fire constantly burning. He has allowed his hair to grow until it reaches
+      his waist, he is covered with several blankets, wears underclothing under
+      his nightshirt, and refuses to extend his wrist from under the bed-clothes
+      to have his pulse taken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such faulty mental habits in minor degree are common. There are those who
+      will not drink from a bottle without first inspecting its mouth for flakes
+      of glass; some will not smoke a cigar which has been touched by another
+      since leaving the factory; some will not shake hands if it can possibly be
+      avoided; another pads his clothing lest he injure himself in falling. Many
+      decline to share the occupations and pleasures of others through fear of
+      possible wet feet, drafts of air, exhaustion, or other calamity. Such
+      tendencies, though falling short of hypochondria, pave the way for it,
+      and, in any event, gradually narrow the sphere of usefulness and pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No part of the body is exempt from the fears of the hypochondriac, but he
+      is prone to centre his attention upon the obscure and inaccessible organs.
+      The anecdote is told of a physician who had a patient of this type&mdash;a
+      robust woman who was never without a long list of ailments. The last time
+      she sent for the doctor, he lost patience with her. As she was telling him
+      how she was suffering from rheumatism, sore throat, nervous indigestion,
+      heart-burn, pains in the back of the head, and what not, he interrupted
+      her:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ah," he said in an admiring tone, "what splendid health you must have in
+      order to be able to stand all these complaints!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The phobias are so closely allied to hypochondria that it will not be out
+      of place to discuss them here. A phobia is an insistent and engrossing
+      fear, without adequate cause as judged by ordinary standards. Familiar
+      instances are fear of open places (agoraphobia), fear of closed places
+      (claustrophobia), and fear of contamination (mysophobia).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sufferer from agoraphobia cannot bring himself to cross alone an open
+      field or square. The sufferer from claustrophobia will invent any excuse
+      to avoid an elevator or the theatre. When a certain lady was asked if she
+      disliked to go to the theatre or church, she answered, "Not at all, but of
+      course I like to have one foot in the aisle; I suppose everyone does
+      that."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The victim of mysophobia will wash the hands after touching any object,
+      and will, so far as possible, avoid touching objects which he thinks may
+      possibly convey infection. Some use tissue paper to turn the door-knob,
+      some extract coins from the pocket-book with pincers. I have seen a lady
+      in a public conveyance carefully open a piece of paper containing her
+      fare, pour the money into the conductor's hand, carefully fold up the
+      paper so that she should not touch the inside, and afterwards drop it from
+      the tips of her fingers into a rubbish barrel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The case of a nurse who was dominated by fear of infection has come to my
+      attention. If her handkerchief touched the table it was discarded. She
+      became very adept at moving objects about with her elbows, was finally
+      reduced to helplessness and had to be cared for by others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Unreasoning fear of one or another mode of conveyance is not rare. It is
+      said that Rossini found it impossible to travel by rail, and that the
+      attempt of a friend to accustom him to it resulted in an attack of
+      faintness (Lombroso).
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sufferer himself realizes, in such cases, that there is no reason in
+      his fear&mdash;he knows he can undergo greater dangers with equanimity.
+      Even doubting folly finds no answer to the question why should this danger
+      be shunned and that accepted. The nearest approach to an answer is "I
+      can't," which really means "I haven't."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The origin of the phobia is not always clear, but given the necessary
+      susceptibility, circumstances doubtless dictate the direction the phobia
+      shall take. A startling personal experience, or even reading or hearing of
+      such an experience may start the fear which the insistent thought finally
+      moulds into a fixed habit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To the hypochondriac who concentrates his attention upon the digestive
+      tract, this part of his body occupies the foreground of all his thoughts.
+      He exaggerates its delicacy of structure and the serious consequences of
+      disturbing it even by an attack of indigestion. A patient to whom a
+      certain fruit was suggested said he could not eat it. Asked what the
+      effect would be, he answered that he did not know, he had not eaten any
+      for twenty years and dared not risk the experiment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Extreme antipathies to various foods are fostered among this class. A lady
+      told me that she perfectly abominated cereals, that she could not stand
+      vegetables, that she could not bear anything in the shape of an apple,
+      that she could not abide spinach, and that baked beans made her sick at
+      the stomach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The heart is perhaps the organ most often the object of solicitude on the
+      part of the hypochondriac. When we realize that the pulse may vary in the
+      healthy individual from 60 to over 100, according to circumstances, and
+      that mere excitement may send it to the latter figure, we may appreciate
+      the feelings of one who counts his pulse at frequent intervals and is
+      alarmed if it varies from a given figure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Inspection of the tongue is a common occupation of the hypochondriac, who
+      is generally more familiar than his medical attendant with the anatomy of
+      this organ.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Insistent desire regarding the temperature is common not only among
+      hypochondriacs, but among others. I do not allude to the internal
+      temperature (though I have been surprised to learn how many people carry a
+      clinical thermometer and use it on themselves from time to time); I refer
+      to the temperature of the room or of the outside air. The wish to feel a
+      certain degree of warmth is so overpowering in some cases that neither
+      work nor play can be carried on unless the thermometer registers the
+      desired figure. A person with this tendency does not venture to mail a
+      letter without donning hat and overcoat; the mere thought of a cold bath
+      causes him to shudder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Golf has cured many a victim of this obsession. It takes only a few games
+      to teach the most delicately constructed that he can remain for hours in
+      his shirt-sleeves on quite a cold day, and that the cold shower
+      (preferably preceded by a warm one) invigorates instead of depresses him.
+      Further experiment will convince him that he can wear thin underwear and
+      low shoes all winter. Such experiences may encourage him to risk a cold
+      plunge in the morning, followed by a brisk rub and a few simple exercises
+      before dressing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Morbid fears in themselves produce physical manifestations which add to
+      the discomfort and alarm of the hypochondriac. I allude to the rush of
+      blood to the head, the chill, the mental confusion, and the palpitation.
+      These symptoms are perfectly harmless, and denote only normal circulatory
+      changes. It is true that one cannot at will materially alter his
+      circulation, but he can do so gradually by habit of thought. To convince
+      ourselves of this fact, we need only remember to what a degree blushing
+      becomes modified by change of mental attitude. Similarly, the person who
+      has practiced mental and physical relaxation will find that the blood no
+      longer rushes to his head upon hearing a criticism or remembering a
+      possible source of worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The automatic processes of the body are in general performed best when the
+      attention is directed elsewhere. After ordinary care is taken, too minute
+      attention to the digestive apparatus, for example, may retard rather than
+      aid it. Watching the digestion too closely is like pulling up seeds to see
+      if they are growing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The more attention is paid to the sensations, the more they demand. Nor
+      can the degree of attention they deserve be measured by their own
+      insistence. If one tries the experiment of thinking intently of the end of
+      his thumb, and imagines it is going to sleep, the chances are ten to one
+      that in five minutes it will have all the sensations of going to sleep. If
+      this is true of the healthy-minded individual, how much more must it be so
+      in the person who allows his thoughts to dwell with anxious attention on
+      such parts of his body as may be the immediate seat of his fears. The next
+      step is for various sensations (boring, burning, prickling, stabbing, and
+      the like) to appear spontaneously, and, if attention is paid to them,
+      rapidly to increase in intensity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is probable that the mere pressure of part upon part in the body, even
+      the ordinary activity of its organs, would give rise to sensations if we
+      encouraged them. Given an anomalous sensation, or even a pain, for which
+      the physician finds no physical basis, and which, after a term of years,
+      has produced no further appreciable effect than to make one nervous, it is
+      always in place to ask one's self whether the sensation or the pain may
+      not be of this nature.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Medical instructors are continually consulted by students who fear that
+      they have the diseases they are studying. The knowledge that pneumonia
+      produces pain in a certain spot leads to a concentration of attention upon
+      that region which causes any sensation there to give alarm. The mere
+      knowledge of the location of the appendix transforms the most harmless
+      sensations in that region into symptoms of serious menace. The sensible
+      student learns to quiet these fears, but the victim of "hypos" returns
+      again and again for examination, and perhaps finally reaches the point of
+      imparting, instead of obtaining, information, like the patient in a recent
+      anecdote from the <i>Youth's Companion</i>:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It seems that a man who was constantly changing physicians at last called
+      in a young doctor who was just beginning his practice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I lose my breath when I climb a hill or a steep flight of stairs," said
+      the patient. "If I hurry, I often get a sharp pain in my side. Those are
+      the symptoms of a serious heart trouble."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not necessarily, sir," began the physician, but he was interrupted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I beg your pardon!" said the patient irritably. "It isn't for a young
+      physician like you to disagree with an old and experienced invalid like
+      me, sir!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There is no absolute standard for the proper degree of solicitude
+      regarding one's health, but if the habitual invalid possess a physique
+      which would not preclude the average normal individual from being out and
+      about, even at the expense of a pain, a stomach ache, or a cold, there is
+      probably a hypochondriacal element in the case. It is a question of
+      adjustment of effect to cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The term "imaginary" is too loosely applied to the sensations of the
+      hypochondriac. This designation is unjustified, and only irritates the
+      sufferer, rouses his antagonism, and undermines his confidence in the
+      judgment of his adviser. He knows that the sensations are there. To call
+      them imaginary is like telling one who inspects an insect through a
+      microscope that the claws do not look enormous; they <i>do</i> look
+      enormous&mdash;through the microscope&mdash;but this does not make them
+      so. The worrier must learn to realize that he is looking at his
+      sensations, as he does everything else, <i>through a microscope</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If a person living near a waterfall ignores the sound, he soon ceases to
+      notice it, but if he listens for it, it increases, and becomes finally
+      unbearable. Common sense teaches him to concentrate his attention
+      elsewhere; similarly, it demands that the victim of "hypos" disregard his
+      various sensations and devote his attention to outside affairs, unless the
+      sensations are accompanied by obvious physical signs. Instead of running
+      to the doctor, let him <i>do</i> something&mdash;ride horseback, play
+      golf, anything requiring exercise out of doors. Let him devote his entire
+      energy to the exercise, and thus substitute the healthy sensations of
+      fatigue and hunger for the exaggerated pains and the anomalous sensations
+      which are fostered by self-study. Let him remember moreover, that nature
+      will stand an enormous amount of outside abuse, but resents being kept
+      under close surveillance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In practicing the neglect of the sensations, one should not allow his mind
+      to dwell on the possibility that he is overlooking something serious, but
+      rather on the danger of his becoming "hipped," a prey to his own doubts
+      and fears, and unable to accomplish anything in life beyond catering to
+      his own morbid fancies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Turning now to the bibliographic study of hypochondria, an interesting and
+      characteristic contrast is offered between Huxley, who called himself a
+      hypochondriac, but apparently was not, and Carlyle, who resented the
+      imputation, though it apparently had some justification in fact.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to Huxley,&mdash;the only basis for the diagnosis hypochondria
+      in a given case, is undoubted evidence, by letter or conversation, that
+      the question of health is given undue prominence. I have looked carefully
+      through the volume of Huxley's letters (published by his son), without
+      definitely establishing this diagnosis. The state of his health and the
+      question of his personal comfort received comparatively little attention.
+      Whatever suffering Huxley endured he seems to have accepted in a
+      philosophical and happy spirit, thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "It is a bore to be converted into a troublesome invalid even for a few
+      weeks, but I comfort myself with my usual reflection on the chances of
+      life, 'Lucky it is no worse.' Any impatience would have been checked by
+      what I heard about ... this morning ... that he has sunk into hopeless
+      idiocy. A man in the prime of life!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to Carlyle,&mdash;it is true, as claimed by Gould (<i>Biographic
+      Clinics</i>, 1903) that he showed every evidence of eyestrain with
+      resulting symptoms, particularly headache. This does not, however,
+      preclude his having had hypochondria also, and in view of the violent and
+      reiterated complaints running through his letters it seems quite credible
+      that Froude's estimate of his condition was not far wrong. Surely, unless
+      Carlyle was merely trying his pen without intending to be taken seriously,
+      he devoted to the question of health a degree of attention which may be
+      fairly adjudged undue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first letter I quote (from those cited by Gould in fortifying his
+      position) is of special interest as presenting in rather lurid terms
+      Carlyle's ideal of health. After reading this letter one cannot help
+      suspecting that the discomforts so vividly described in his other letters
+      were compared by him with this ideal rather than with those of the average
+      individual.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In the midst of your zeal and ardor,... remember the care of health....
+      It would have been a very great thing for me if I had been able to
+      consider that health is a thing to be attended to continually, that you
+      are to regard that as the very highest of all temporal things for you.
+      There is no kind of achievement you could make in the world that is equal
+      to perfect health. What to it are nuggets and millions'? The French
+      financier said 'Why is there no sleep to be sold!' Sleep was not in the
+      market at any quotation.... I find that you could not get any better
+      definition of what 'holy' really is than 'healthy.' Completely healthy; <i>mens
+      sana in corpore sano</i>. A man all lucid, and in equilibrium. His
+      intellect a clear mirror geometrically plane, brilliantly sensitive to all
+      objects and impressions made on it and imaging all things in their correct
+      proportions; not twisted up into convex or concave, and distorting
+      everything so that he cannot see the truth of the matter, without endless
+      groping and manipulation: healthy, clear, and free and discerning truly
+      all around him."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The following extracts illustrate his attitude toward his physical
+      shortcomings, whatever they may have been.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      ... "A prey to nameless struggles and miseries, which have yet a kind of
+      horror in them to my thoughts, three weeks without any kind of sleep, from
+      impossibility to be free from noise."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "I sleep irregularly here, and feel a little, very little, more than my
+      usual share of torture every day. What the cause is would puzzle me to
+      explain. I take exercise sufficient daily; I attend with rigorous
+      minuteness to the quality of my food; I take all the precautions that I
+      can, yet still the disease abates not."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ill-health, the most terrific of all miseries."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Grown sicker and sicker.... I want health, health, health! On this
+      subject I am becoming quite furious.... If I do not soon recover, I am
+      miserable forever and ever. They talk of the benefit of health from a
+      moral point of view. I declare solemnly, without exaggeration, that I
+      impute nine-tenths of my present wretchedness, and rather more than
+      nine-tenths of all my faults, to this infernal disorder in the stomach."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Bilious, too, in these smothering windless days."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Broke down in the park; <i>konnte</i> <i>nichts mehr</i>, being sick and
+      weak beyond measure."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Many days of suffering, of darkness, of despondency.... Ill-health has
+      much to do with it."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Occasionally sharp pain (something cutting hard, grasping me around the
+      heart).... Something from time to time tying me tight as it were, all
+      around the region of the heart, and strange dreams haunting me."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "There is a shivering precipitancy in me, which makes <i>emotion</i> of
+      any kind a thing to be shunned. It is my nerves, my nerves.... Such a
+      nervous system as I have.... Thomas feeling in his breast for comfort and
+      finding bilious fever.... All palpitating, fluttered with sleeplessness
+      and drug-taking, etc.... Weary and worn with dull blockheadism, chagrin
+      (next to no sleep the night before)."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A head <i>full of air</i>; you know that wretched physical feeling; I had
+      been concerned with drugs, had awakened at five, etc. It is absolute
+      martyrdom."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A huge nightmare of indigestion, insomnia, and fits of black impatience
+      with myself and others,&mdash;self chiefly.... I am heartily sick of my
+      dyspeptic bewilderment and imprisonment."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Alas! Alas! I ought to be wrapped in cotton wool, and laid in a locked
+      drawer at present. I can stand nothing. I am really ashamed of the figure
+      I cut."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Froude's statements regarding Carlyle's condition are as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "... The simple natural life, the 'wholesome air, the daily rides or
+      drives, the poor food,... had restored completely the functions of a
+      stomach never so far wrong as he had imagined.... Afterwards he was always
+      impatient, moody, irritable, violent. These humours were in his nature,
+      and he could no more be separated from them than his body could leap off
+      its shadow.... He looked back to it as the happiest and wholesomest home
+      that he had ever known. He could do fully twice as much work there, he
+      said, as he could ever do afterwards in London."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "... If his liver occasionally troubled him, livers trouble most of us as
+      we advance in life, and his actual constitution was a great deal stronger
+      than that of ordinary men.... Why could not Carlyle, with fame and honor
+      and troops of friends, and the gates of a great career flung open before
+      him, and a great intellect and a conscience untroubled by a single act
+      which he need regret, bear and forget too? Why indeed! The only answer is
+      that Carlyle was Carlyle."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These observations carry weight as representing the impartial and judicial
+      estimate of a careful observer desiring only accurately to picture Carlyle
+      as he was. The only logical conclusion, it seems to me, was that Carlyle,
+      in addition to ocular defect with its legitimate consequences, was weighed
+      down by worry over the failure to realize his own exaggerated ideal of
+      health, that he devoted an undue degree of attention to this subject and
+      was unduly anxious about it&mdash;in other words, that he had decided
+      hypochondriacal tendencies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      VIII. NEURASTHENIA
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was a common saying of Myson that men ought not to investigate things
+      from words, but words from things; for that things are not made for the
+      sake of words, but words for things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Diogenes Laertius</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This term (properly, though not commonly, accented upon the penult), was
+      introduced by Beard to designate the large class of over-worked and
+      worried who crowded his consulting room. The word is derived from the
+      Greek <i>neuron</i> nerve, and <i>astheneia</i> weakness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the symptoms of this disorder have been included disorders of
+      digestion and circulation, muscular weakness, pains, flushes and chills,
+      and anomalous sensations of every variety. It has been especially applied
+      to cases showing such mental peculiarities as morbid self-study, fear of
+      insanity and the various other phobias, scruples, and doubts with which we
+      have become familiar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The "American Disease" has been adopted abroad, and volumes have been
+      devoted to it. Neurasthenia has been divided into cerebral, spinal, and
+      otherwise, according as the fears and sensations of the patient are
+      referred to one or another part of his body. While the term neurasthenia
+      is becoming daily more familiar to the general public, it is being, on the
+      whole, used, except as a convenient handle, rather less among
+      neurologists. [Footnote: In substantiation of this statement I need only
+      cite the recent contribution of my friend, Dr. Dana, on the "Partial
+      Passing of Neurasthenia."] The question has arisen whether the symptoms of
+      neurasthenia are always due to simple exhaustion. Advice regarding method,
+      as well as amount, of work, is coming into vogue. Peterson, in a letter
+      published in <i>Collier's Weekly</i> (November 9, 1907) thus arraigns a
+      patient who has told him he is a practical business man, and that his mind
+      has been so occupied with serious matters that he has been unable to
+      attend to his health.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "You, practical! you, a business man! Why, you never had a serious thought
+      in your life until now&mdash;at least not since you were a lad in the
+      country.... Since boyhood you have never given a serious thought to
+      health, home, wife, children, education, art, science, racial progress, or
+      to the high destiny of man. You are simply a collector of money for its
+      own sake, with no appreciation of what it might represent if you were
+      really serious and really a business man or man of affairs. There are many
+      like you in our asylum wards, where they are known as chronic maniacs.
+      Here is one who collects bits of glass, old corks, and pieces of string.
+      There sits another with a lap full of pebbles, twigs and straws."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Courtney (in Pyle's "Personal Hygiene") says, "The brain is an organ
+      which, under proper training, is capable of performing an immense amount
+      of work, provided only that the work is of a varied character and does not
+      produce a corresponding amount of mental disquietude. The importance of
+      the emotions, especially the depressing emotions such as grief, anxiety,
+      and worry, as factors in the brain exhaustion, cannot easily be
+      overestimated."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The obvious corollary to this proposition is that the constitutional
+      worrier is likely to break down under an amount of work which produces no
+      such effect upon the average normal individual.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The only quarrel I have with the name neurasthenia is that it diverts
+      attention from the real condition oftenest to be treated, namely, the
+      faulty mental tendency, and directs attention to an assumed debility which
+      may or may not exist. Misdirected energy, rather than weakness, is the
+      difficulty with one who is ready and anxious to walk miles to satisfy a
+      doubt, or to avoid crossing an open square, and who will climb a dozen
+      flights of stairs rather than be shut up in an elevator. Even the
+      exhaustion that follows long attention to business is quite as often due
+      to worry and allied faulty mental habits as to the work itself. In most
+      cases the phobias, the doubts, and the scruples, instead of being the
+      result of breakdown, must be counted among its principal causes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This is why simple rest and abstinence from work so often fail to
+      accomplish the cure that should follow if the exhaustion were due simply
+      to overwork. In the "neurasthenic" rest from work only redoubles the
+      worries, the doubts and the scruples, and the obsession to improve his
+      time only adds to his nervous exhaustion. If a European trip is
+      undertaken, the temperament responsible for the original breakdown causes
+      him to rush from gallery to gallery, from cathedral to cathedral, so that
+      no moment may be lost. Not infrequently it so happens that the patient
+      returns more jaded than ever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The neurasthenic is not infrequently a confirmed obsessive, with all the
+      faulty mental habits of this temperament. If he cannot make up his mind it
+      is not because he is tired, but because this is his natural mental trend.
+      If he drums, twitches, and walks the floor, these movements are not always
+      due to exhaustion, but are habits peculiar to the temperament, habits well
+      worth an effort to eliminate while in health, since they doubtless,
+      through precluding bodily repose, contribute their mite toward the very
+      exhaustion of which they are supposed to be the result. If he cannot sleep
+      it is not simply because he is tired, but because he is so constituted
+      that he cannot bring himself to let go his hold on consciousness until he
+      has straightened out his tangles. If, in addition, one has the
+      hypochondriacal tendency, he may worry himself into complete wakefulness
+      by the thought that he has already irreparably injured himself by missing
+      something of the mystic number, eight or nine, or whatever he may deem the
+      number of hours' sleep essential to health.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is important that the overwrought business or professional man realize
+      the importance of undertaking no more than he can accomplish without fret
+      and worry; the importance of taking proper vacations before he is tired
+      out; the importance of learning to divert his mind, while he can still do
+      so, into channels other than those connected with his business; above all,
+      the importance of cultivating the faculty of relaxing, and of dismissing
+      doubts, indecisions and fears. He must cultivate what my colleague Dr.
+      Paul succinctly terms "the art of living with yourself as you are." If he
+      would "last out" he must learn to proceed with single mind upon whatever
+      work he undertakes, and with equal singleness of mind apply himself, out
+      of hours, to other occupation or diversion, preferably in the open air.
+      For the most effective work, as well as for peace of mind, it is essential
+      that every thought of one's office be shut out by other interests when
+      there is no actual business requiring attention. Mental relaxation is
+      materially hampered by such persistent thoughts of one's place of business
+      as those cited by Dr. Knapp:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A striking instance of the sort was related to me by a friend remarkably
+      free from any psychopathic taint. It often happens that he does scientific
+      work in the evening at the Agassiz Museum. When he leaves for the night he
+      puts out the gas and then stands and counts slowly up to a given number
+      until his eyes are used to the darkness, in order that he may detect any
+      spark of fire that may have started while he was at work. This is his
+      invariable custom, but it sometimes happens that when he goes back home so
+      strong a feeling of doubt comes over him lest he may that once have
+      omitted to do this, that he is uncomfortable until he returns to the
+      museum to make sure."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the predisposing causes for nervous breakdown none is more potent
+      than the inability of the obsessive to adapt himself to change of plan,
+      and to reconcile himself to criticism, opposition, and the various
+      annoyances incident to his occupation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In dealing with others the following suggestion of Marcus Aurelius may
+      come in play:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what
+      opinion about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen
+      this, thou wilt pity him, and neither wonder nor be angry." Again, in this
+      connection the lines of Cowper are pertinent:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "The modest, sensible and well-bred man
+  Will not affront me, and no other can."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Pope, also, who is said not always to have followed his own good counsel,
+      contributes a verse which may serve a turn:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "At ev'ry trifle scorn to take offense,
+  That always shows great pride, or little sense."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The practice of such commonplace philosophy (which, to be effective,
+      should be ready for immediate use, not stored away for later reflection),
+      together with training against faulty mental states studied in these
+      pages, will go far toward relieving the mental perturbation that unfits
+      for effective work, and contributes to "neurasthenia."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During an hour's delay, caused by the failure of another to keep an
+      appointment, I formulated the following maxim:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "These are the annoyances incident to my business; to fret when they occur
+      means that I cannot manage my business without friction."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This may not appeal to the reader, but for me it has proved as good an
+      hour's work as I ever did. Since that time, on the occurrence of similar
+      sources of provocation, I have found it necessary to go no farther than
+      "These are the annoyances," to restore the needful balance. When we allow
+      our gorge to rise at ordinary sources of discomfort, it implies that we
+      are prepared only for our affairs to run with perfect smoothness. This
+      represents the insistent idea carried to an absurdity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the risk of losing caste with the critical I cannot forbear sharing
+      with the reader an inelegant maxim which has more than once prevented an
+      access of rage upon the blunder of a subordinate: "If he had our brains
+      he'd have our job."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Spinoza says: "The powerlessness of man to govern and restrain his
+      emotions I call servitude. For a man who is controlled by his emotions is
+      not his own master but is mastered by fortune, under whose power he is
+      often compelled, though he sees the better, to follow the worse." The same
+      philosopher in counselling self-restraint adds:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The mind's power over the emotions consists, first, in the actual
+      knowledge of the emotions." Again: "An emotion which is a passion ceases
+      to be a passion as soon as we form a clear and distinct idea of it." The
+      meaning of this dictum I first realized on experiencing the magical effect
+      of the line of thought suggested by the delayed appointment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Communion with Nature has a peculiarly soothing effect on tired and
+      jangled nerves. My friend, Dr. Harold Williams, tells me that among his
+      main reliances for tired and overwrought women are the <i>reading of
+      children's books</i>, and <i>working in the garden</i>. Peterson thus
+      advises his busy patient:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "A small farm in a simple community would be for you an asset of
+      immeasurable value from the standpoint of health and spiritual
+      rejuvenation. But true simplicity should be the rigorous order of that
+      country life. A chateau by the sea, with a corps of gardeners, a retinue
+      of servants, and yachts and automobiles, would prove a disastrous
+      expedient.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "In that quiet retreat you should personally and tenderly learn to know
+      each rosebud, shrub, vine, creeper, tree, rock, glade, dell, of your own
+      estate. You should yourself design the planting, paths, roads, the
+      flower-garden, the water-garden, the wood-garden, the fernery, the
+      lily-pond, the wild-garden, and the kitchen garden."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Not everyone is so happily situated as to be able to follow this advice in
+      its entirety, but many can make a modest effort in this direction: the
+      kitchen-garden may appeal to some who have no appreciation for the wild
+      flowers, and who scorn to cultivate such tastes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One warning is, however, here in order: The cultivation of the garden or
+      the field for utilitarian purposes is inevitably associated with the
+      maxim, "Hoe out your row"&mdash;an excellent maxim for the idle and
+      disorderly, but not to be taken too literally by the over-exacting and
+      methodical business man who is trying to make the radical change in his
+      view of life necessary to free his mind from the incubus of worry. Nor
+      must the amateur husbandman scan with too anxious eye the weather map and
+      the clouds. If he mind these warnings he may learn to say,&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "For me kind Nature wakes her genial pow'r,
+    Suckles each herb, and spreads out ev'ry flower,
+  Annual for me, the grape, the rose renew,
+    The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The over-conscientious individual may object that it is selfish to
+      consider his own comfort when he has work to do for others. But expending
+      too freely of our nervous energies, even in a good cause, is like giving
+      to charity so much of our substance that we in turn are obliged to lean on
+      others for support.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In properly conserving our own energy we may be lightening the ultimate
+      burden of others. There is no place for selfishness in Haeckel's
+      philosophy regarding the proper balance between duty to one's self and
+      duty to others. Nor was selfishness a failing of the Quaker poet who
+      idealized
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "The flawless symmetry of man,
+  The poise of heart and mind."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      IX. SLEEPLESSNESS
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      He shall enjoy the same tranquility in his sleep as when awake.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      <i>Digby's Epicurus</i>, Maxim xl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sleeplessness is due, in the majority of cases, to a faulty habit of mind.
+      The preparation for a sleepless night begins with the waking hours, is
+      continued through the day, and reaches its maximum when we cease from the
+      occupations which have in some degree diverted our attention from
+      harassing thoughts, and retire, to struggle, in darkness and solitude,
+      with the worries, doubts, regrets, and forebodings, which now assume
+      gigantic and fantastic shapes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He who would sleep at night must regulate his day, first, by not
+      undertaking more than he can accomplish without undue stress, and, second,
+      by carrying through what he does undertake, as far as he may, without the
+      running accompaniment of undue solicitude, anxious doubts, and morbid
+      fears discussed in the preceding sections. It is futile to expect that a
+      fretful, impatient, and over-anxious frame of mind, continuing through the
+      day and every day, will be suddenly replaced at night by the placid and
+      comfortable mental state which shall insure a restful sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before proceeding, then, to the immediate measures for inducing sleep, let
+      us consider the suitable preparatory measures.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The nervous breakdown which precludes sleep is oftener due to worry than
+      to work. Nor should the sufferer jump too quickly to the conclusion that
+      it is the loss of sleep rather than the worry that makes him wretched. It
+      is astonishing how much sleep can be lost without harm, provided its loss
+      is forgotten, and how much work can be carried on without extreme fatigue,
+      provided it be undertaken with confidence and pursued without impatience.
+      It is, however, essential that the work be varied and, at due intervals,
+      broken. Trainers for athletic contests know that increasing practice
+      without diversion defeats its end, and particularly insist upon cessation
+      of violent effort directly before the final test. Why should we not treat
+      our minds as well as our bodies?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The active and over-scrupulous business or professional man who allows no
+      time for rest or recreation, who can confer no responsibility upon his
+      subordinates, who cultivates no fad, and is impatient of every moment
+      spent away from his occupation, is in danger of eventually "going stale,"
+      and having to spend a longer and less profitable vacation in a sanitarium
+      than would have sufficed to avert the disaster. Nor will he find it easy
+      to change his sleep-habit with the change of residence. It behooves him to
+      change that habit while still at work, as a step toward averting
+      breakdown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It will harm few of us to take a bird's eye view of our affairs at stated
+      intervals, and ask ourselves if the time has not arrived when it will be a
+      saving of time and money as well as worry for us to delegate more of the
+      details, and more even of the responsibilities, to others, concentrating
+      our own energies upon such tasks as we are now peculiarly qualified to
+      undertake. To the man determined to accomplish a lifetime of work before
+      he rests, there is food for thought in the following anecdote:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Pyrrhus was about to sail for Italy, Cineas, a wise and good man,
+      asked him what were his intentions and expectations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "To conquer Rome," said Pyrrhus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And what will you do next, my lord?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Next I will conquer Italy."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And after that?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "We will subdue Carthage, Macedonia, all Africa, and all Greece."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "And when we have conquered all we can, what shall we do?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Do? Why, then we will sit down and spend our time in peace and comfort."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ah, my lord," said the wise Cineas, "what prevents our being in peace and
+      comfort now?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The time to take a vacation is before one is exhausted. If one is
+      discontented during his vacation, he should take it, none the less, as a
+      matter of duty, not expecting to enjoy every moment of it, but contenting
+      himself with the anticipation of greater pleasure in the resumption of his
+      duties. He should cultivate an interest in out-door occupation or some
+      study that carries him into the fields or woods. Aside from the time on
+      shipboard, the worst possible vacation for the over-worked business or
+      professional man is the trip to Europe, if spent in crowding into the
+      shortest possible time the greatest possible amount of information on
+      matters artistic, architectural, and historic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No one can acquire the habit of sleep who has not learned the habit of
+      concentration, of devoting himself single-minded to the matter in hand. If
+      we practice devoting our minds, as we do our bodies, to one object at a
+      time, we shall not only accomplish more, but with less exhaustion.
+      Training in this direction will help us, on retiring, to view sleep as our
+      present duty, and a sufficient duty, without taking the opportunity at
+      that time to adjust (or to try to adjust) all our tangles, to review our
+      past sources of discomfort, and to speculate upon the ills of the future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A walk, a bath, a few gymnastic exercises, will often serve a useful
+      purpose before retiring, but if they are undertaken in a fretful and
+      impatient spirit, and are accompanied by doubts of their effectiveness,
+      and the insistent thought that sleep will not follow these or any other
+      procedure, they are likely to accomplish little.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The best immediate preparation for sleep is the confidence that one will
+      sleep, and <i>indifference if one does not</i>. It is an aid in the
+      adoption of this frame of mind to learn that many have for years slept
+      only a few hours per night, without noticeable impairment of their health
+      or comfort. Neither unbroken nor long-continued sleep, however desirable,
+      is essential to longevity or efficiency. This is illustrated by the
+      following examples:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Joseph A. Willard, for nearly half a century Clerk of the Court in Suffolk
+      County, and a well-known figure on the streets of Boston, died in his
+      eighty-eighth year. He was active and alert in the performance of his
+      daily duties up to their discontinuance shortly before his death. He kept,
+      meantime, records of the temperature, weather, and condition of the
+      streets, at all hours of the night, and every night, for many years before
+      the establishment of the weather bureau. So reliable were these records
+      regarded by the courts that they were often appealed to in the trial of
+      cases, and their accuracy never questioned by either party in the suit. I
+      publish these facts by the permission of his son.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      George T. Angell, the well-known humanitarian, than whom few, if any, have
+      led a more busy life, when in his sixty-ninth year wrote as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "For the benefit of those who do not [take narcotics, opiates,
+      anęsthetics] I will say that I suppose there are very few in this country
+      <i>who have slept less</i> than I have; but I have never taken anything to
+      stupefy, while thousands of good sleepers I have known have long since
+      gone to the last sleep that knows no waking here. It was undoubtedly wise
+      to change my professional life from court to office practice: but in other
+      matters I was compelled to choose between living the life of a vegetable,
+      or losing sleep; and I chose the latter."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Angell is now eighty-four, still actively engaged in affairs, and
+      allows me to add that during the past six years he has gone for a week at
+      a time with no sleep; for three months at a time he has not averaged more
+      than two hours in twenty-four; he does not remember having ever had a good
+      night's sleep. Mrs. Angell states that, with one exception, she has never
+      known him to sleep through the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is worth while to remember these experiences before resorting to drugs
+      for sleeplessness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I have somewhere seen it stated that a prominent divine attributed his
+      happy and green old age to the fact that he slept a certain number of
+      hours every night. Against this statement must be set the reflection that
+      many another old gentleman can fairly attribute his comfort, in part at
+      least, to an attitude of indifference toward the unessentials, among which
+      I suspect must be included the question whether we average eight hours of
+      sleep or materially less.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Let us now consider some of the faulty mental habits directly affecting
+      sleep itself. First comes the compulsive thought that one must sleep <i>now</i>,
+      and the impatient count of the wakeful hours supposed to be irrecoverably
+      lost from the coveted number. This insistence in itself precludes sleep.
+      The thought, "No matter if I don't sleep to-night; I will some other
+      night," will work wonders in the direction of producing sleep to-night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The continuance of any given position, completely relaxed, in bed, even
+      without unconsciousness, is more restful than tossing about. The mere
+      experiment of remaining immobile in a certain position as long as
+      possible, and concentrating the mind on the thought, "I am getting sleepy,
+      I am going to sleep," will oftener produce the desired result than
+      watching the proverbial sheep follow one another over the wall. Training
+      during the day in restraining nervous movements is an aid in acquiring the
+      ability to do this.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This is a field in which self-suggestion is of definite value. Everyone
+      appreciates the effect on sleep of the "state of mind" when he has passed
+      a succession of sleepless hours followed by a sudden tendency to
+      somnolence at the time for rising. The problem is to acquire the frame of
+      mind without waiting for circumstances. To demonstrate the effect of
+      faulty suggestion combined with restlessness on awaking in the night, try
+      the following:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      EXPERIMENT I.&mdash;Place yourself on the face and from this point turn
+      rapidly in a complete circle backwards from right to left until you are
+      again on the face. Pause several times and say to yourself rapidly "I
+      cannot sleep in this position." The result of the experiment is
+      practically uniform. The rapid movement and the suggestion prevent sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To demonstrate the effect of bodily relaxation combined with correct
+      suggestion, in promoting sleep try&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      EXPERIMENT II.&mdash;Start in the same position as Experiment I. Traverse
+      the same circle, prolonging each pause with body relaxed, and substituting
+      at each pause the suggestion, "I can sleep in any position," repeated a
+      number of times deliberately and as if you meant it. The restful pose and
+      the suggestion generally induce sleep long before the circle is completed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Next comes the compulsive thought that we cannot sleep until everything is
+      "squared up" and all mental pictures completed. The story is told that a
+      gentleman took a room in the hotel next another who was notoriously fussy.
+      He remembered this fact after dropping one boot carelessly to the floor,
+      and laid the other gently down. After a pause he heard a rap on the door
+      and a querulous, "For heaven's sake, drop the other boot, or I can't get
+      to sleep."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many find themselves unable to sleep until the whole household is
+      accounted for and the house locked up for the night, until certain news is
+      received, and the like. The same tendency postpones sleep until all
+      affairs are straightened out in the mind, as well as in reality. A little
+      reflection shows how indefinite must be the postponement of sleep under
+      such conditions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No training is more important for the victim of compulsive tendencies than
+      the practice of trusting something to chance and the morrow, and
+      reconciling himself to the fact that at no time, in this world, will all
+      things be finally adjusted to his satisfaction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The habit of dismissing, at will, disagreeable thoughts is a difficult but
+      not impossible acquisition. Arthur Benson in "The Thread of Gold" relates
+      the following anecdotes:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "When Gladstone was asked, 'But don't you find you lie awake at night,
+      thinking how you ought to act, and how you ought to have acted?' he
+      answered, 'No, I don't; where would be the use of that?'"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Canon Beadon [who lived to be over one hundred] said to a friend that the
+      secret of long life in his own case was that he had never thought of
+      anything unpleasant after ten o'clock at night."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The insistent desire to sleep in a certain bed, with a certain degree of
+      light or darkness, heat or cold, air or absence of air, is detrimental.
+      This is in line with the desire to eat certain foods only, at a certain
+      table, and at a certain time. The man who loses his appetite if dinner is
+      half an hour late is unable again to sleep if once waked up. This
+      individual must say to himself, "Anyone can stand what he likes; it takes
+      a philosopher to stand what he does not like," and try at being a
+      philosopher instead of a sensitive plant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Inability to sleep while certain noises are continued must be similarly
+      combated. If one goes from place to place in search of the quiet spot for
+      sleep, he may finally find <i>quiet itself</i> oppressive, or worse yet,
+      may be kept awake by hearing his own circulation, from which escape is out
+      of the question. He who finds himself persistently out of joint with his
+      surroundings will do well to ponder the language of the Chinese
+      philosopher:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The legs of the stork are long, the legs of the duck are short: you
+      cannot make the legs of the stork short, neither can you make the legs of
+      the duck long. Why worry?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to the character of sleep itself, the attitude of our mind in
+      sleep is dominated, to a degree, at least, by its attitude in the waking
+      hours. It is probable that during profound sleep the mind is inactive, and
+      that dreams occur only during the transition-state from profound sleep to
+      wakefulness. It is conceivable that in the ideal sleep there is only one
+      such period, but ordinarily there occur many such periods during the
+      night; for the uneasy sleeper the night may furnish a succession of such
+      periods, with comparatively little undisturbed rest, hence his dreams seem
+      to him continuous. The character of the pictures and suggestions of
+      dreams, though in new combinations, are largely dependent on our daily
+      experiences. Is it not, then, worth while to encourage, during our waking
+      hours, as far as is consistent with our duties, such thoughts as are
+      restful and useful, rather than those which serve no purpose but
+      annoyance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If we will, we can select our thoughts as we do our companions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      X. OCCUPATION NEUROSIS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Be not ashamed, to be helped; for it is thy business to do thy duty like a
+      soldier in the assault on a town. How, then, if being lame thou canst not
+      mount up on the battlement alone, but with the help of another it is
+      possible?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Marcus Aurelius</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The insistent and over-conscientious habit of mind plays so large a part
+      in the so-called occupation neuroses that a brief discussion of their
+      nature may here be in place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The best-known form of this distressing malady is "writer's cramp." Upon
+      this subject the proverbially dangerous little knowledge has been already
+      acquired; a fuller knowledge may give comfort rather than alarm, and may
+      even lead to the avoidance of this and allied nervous disorders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The term "writer's cramp" has unduly emphasized a feature, namely, the
+      cramp, which is neither the most common nor the most troublesome among the
+      symptoms resulting from over-use of a part. In occupation neuroses, other
+      than those produced by the use of the pen, pain, weakness, and numbness
+      are at least equally prominent, and even in writer's cramp the "neuralgic"
+      form is common.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fact is generally realized that this type of disorder is particularly
+      frequent among persons of nervous temperament. The reason is twofold,
+      first, the resistance of such individuals is less than the average,
+      second, the insistent habit of mind leads them to overdo. It is against
+      the latter factor that our efforts may to advantage be directed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I have in mind the case of a lady who complained of severe pain in the
+      right arm with no apparent physical cause. The pain, at first appearing
+      only when the arm was placed in a certain position, finally became almost
+      constant. She denied excessive use of the arm, but her husband stated that
+      she plied the needle to such an extent that it caused the family distress.
+      This she indignantly denied, and fortified her position by the statement
+      that she only took short stitches! Further inquiry elicited the
+      acknowledgment that she did so because she could no longer take long ones.
+      This is a fair example of an occupation neurosis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some time ago, after long continued and over-conscientious effort to
+      satisfy the requirements of an athletic instructor, I acquired what is
+      known as a "golf arm." Efforts at its relief were unavailing. A vigorous
+      course of massage only increased the pain. I finally asked a friend what
+      they did in England when a golf player suffered this annoyance. He replied
+      that no golf player ever did so; when it occurred among others the arm was
+      placed in wool for three months, at the end of which time a single
+      movement of swinging the club was made; if this movement caused pain the
+      treatment was renewed for another three months. I did not suppose he
+      intended the advice to be taken literally, but followed it, except as
+      regarded the wool, and I verily believe that I should otherwise have been
+      experimenting with the treatment of golf arm to-day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My friend's advice indicates the general experience with occupation
+      neuroses including writer's cramp, for which every imaginable measure has
+      been tried, only to be replaced by protracted abstinence from the use of
+      the pen. The attempt to use the left hand proves, as a rule, only
+      temporarily efficacious. The speedy appearance of symptoms in the left
+      hand emphasizes the fact that it is tired brain, as well as the tired
+      muscle, that rebels.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ranks of every profession, and of every trade, are daily depleted of
+      the most promising among their members, whose zeal has outrun their
+      discretion; their over-worked brains and hands have succumbed under the
+      incessant strain of tasks, often self-imposed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is hard, but essential, for the sufferer from an occupation neurosis to
+      abandon frantic efforts at combining treatment with continuance of labor.
+      He must bring all his philosophy to bear on the temporary, but complete,
+      abandonment of his chosen occupation, at whatever loss to himself or
+      others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To avoid this contingency the over-conscientious worker will do well to
+      modify his ambition, and lower his pride if needful, consoling himself
+      with the reflection that an occasional interruption of his labor, even at
+      material loss, may be replaced by years of future usefulness. Cowper says:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "'Tis thus the understanding takes repose
+    In indolent vacuity of thought,
+  And rests, and is refreshed."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XI. THE WORRIER AT HOME
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  Small habits, well pursued betimes,
+  May reach the dignity of crimes.
+
+  <i>Hannah More</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      More than one "sunbeam" and "life of the party" in society is the "cross
+      patch" and "fuss budget" of the home. His gracious smiles and quips abroad
+      are matched at home by darkened brows and moody silence, only broken by
+      conversation of the italicized variety: "<i>Will</i> it ever stop
+      raining?" "<i>Can't</i> you see that I am busy?" "What <i>are</i> you
+      doing?" and the like. Whatever banner is exhibited to the outside world,
+      the motto at home seems to be "Whatever is, is wrong." Defects in the
+      ménage, carefully overlooked when dining out, are called with peculiar
+      unction to the attention of the housekeeper of the home, whose worry to
+      please is only matched by the "sunbeam's" fear that she shall think him
+      satisfied with what is placed before him.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "There's something kind of pitiful about a man that growls
+  Because the sun beats down too hot, because the wild wind howls,
+  Who never eats a meal but that the cream ain't thick enough,
+  The coffee ain't been settled right, or else the meat's too tough&mdash;
+
+  Poor chap! He's just the victim of Fate's oldest, meanest trick,
+  You'll see by watching mules and men, they don't need brains to kick."
+
+  <i>Chicago Interocean</i>.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Add to the "kicking habit" the insistence that each member of the family
+      must be reminded at frequent intervals of his peculiar weaknesses, and
+      that the discussion of uncomfortable topics, long since worn threadbare,
+      must be reopened at every available opportunity, and the adage is
+      justified, "be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Try the following suggestion on approaching the house after a hard day's
+      work. Say to yourself, "Why tired and cross? Why not tired and
+      good-natured?" The result may startle the family and cause inquiries for
+      your health, but "Don't Worry," if it does; console yourself with the
+      thought they will like you none the less for giving them a glimpse of that
+      sunny nature of which they have often heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As a further preparation for the evening meal, and the evening, by way of
+      alleviating the mental and physical discomfort following a trying day, one
+      is surprised by the effectiveness of taking a bath and changing all the
+      clothing. This treatment, in fact, almost offers a sure cure, but the
+      person who would be most benefited thereby, is the person so obsessed to
+      pursue the miserable tenor of his way that he scouts the suggestion that
+      he thus bestir himself, instead of sinking into the easy chair. He may,
+      however, accept the suggestion that simply changing the shoes and
+      stockings is extremely restful, when reminded that if he had worn kid
+      gloves all day he would be relieved to free his hands from the incubus,
+      and, if gloves must still be worn, to put on a cool pair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is a further aid to physical, and indirectly to mental, comfort, if one
+      can learn to wear low shoes and the thinnest of underwear the year round;
+      the former offer a panacea for fidgets; the latter lessens the
+      perspiration, which increases the susceptibility to drafts, and to even
+      moderate lowering of temperature. The prevailing belief that this
+      procedure is dangerous is disproved by the experience of the many who have
+      given it a thorough trial. The insistent belief of the neurotic that he
+      cannot acquire this habit is touched upon in the chapter on Worry and
+      Obsession. If he thinks he is "taking cold," let him throw back his
+      shoulders and take a few deep breaths, or if convenient, a few exercises,
+      instead of doubling the weight of his underwear, and in the long run he
+      will find that he has not only increased his comfort, but has lessened,
+      rather than increased, the number of his colds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Much of the worry of the home is retrospective. "If I had only made Mary
+      wear her rubbers,"&mdash;"If we had only invested in Calumet &amp; Hecla
+      at 25,"&mdash;"If we had only sent John to college," represent a fruitful
+      source of family discomfort. The morbid rhyme is familiar to all:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
+    The saddest these, 'It might have been.'"
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      I should be glad to learn of any advantage accruing from the indulgence of
+      this attitude toward the bygone. A happier and more sensible habit of mind
+      may be attained by equal familiarity with the following:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "Add this suggestion to the verse,
+    'It might have been a great deal worse.'"
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A fruitful source of discomfort for the worrier at home is the absence of
+      occupation. He looks forward to mental rest after using his brain all day,
+      but there is no rest for him unless in sleep. The most valuable rest he
+      could give his mind would be to occupy it with something worth while, yet
+      not so strenuous as to cause solicitude. As Saleeby points out, the mock
+      worry of a game is a good antidote for the real worry of life, and a game
+      is far better than nothing, unless the player make, in turn, a work of his
+      play, in which case worry continues.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The hardest task for the worrier at home is to get away from home. With
+      advancing years the temptation grows upon us to spend our evenings by the
+      fireside, to make no new friends and seek no new enjoyments. But this
+      unbroken habit is neither the best preparation for a happy old age, nor
+      the best method of counteracting present worry. Nor should one stop to
+      decide whether the special entertainment in question will be worthwhile&mdash;he
+      must depend rather on the realization that if he accepts most
+      opportunities he will be, on the whole, the gainer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man whose occupation keeps him in-doors all day should make special
+      effort to pass some time in the open air, if possible walking or driving
+      to and from his place of business, and taking at least a stroll in the
+      evening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As more than one writer has suggested, the best resource is the <i>fad</i>.
+      The fad will prove an inestimable boon after withdrawing from active work,
+      but it should be commenced long before one discontinues business, else the
+      chances are that he will never take it up, but will fret away his time
+      like the average man who retires from an occupation which has engrossed
+      his attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fad should not be pursued too strenuously, or its charm is lost. A
+      lady once told me that she had given up studying flowers because she found
+      she could not master botany in the time at her disposal. Another sees no
+      use in taking up history unless he can become an authority on some epoch.
+      Another declines to study because he can never overtake the college
+      graduate. But one of the best informed men of my acquaintance had no
+      college education. One of his fads was history, with which he was far more
+      familiar than any but the exceptional college man, outside the teachers of
+      that branch of learning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The usefulness of the fad does not depend upon the perfection attained in
+      its pursuit, but upon the pleasure in its pursuit, and upon the diversion
+      of the mind from its accustomed channels. The more completely one learns
+      to concentrate his thoughts on an <i>avocation</i>, the more enthusiasm
+      and effectiveness he can bring to bear on his <i>vocation</i> in its turn.
+      A fad that occupies the hands, such as carpentering, turning, or
+      photography, is peculiarly useful if one's taste runs in that direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One handicap in cultivating the fad is the lack of interest on the part of
+      our associates, but if we become genuinely interested in any fad that is
+      at all worth while, we shall inevitably add new acquaintances likely to
+      prove at least as interesting as those of our present friends, who have no
+      thoughts outside their daily round of toil. The more fads one cultivates,
+      so long as he avoids the obsession to obtrude them at all times and
+      places, the more interesting he will, in his turn, become to others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The over-solicitude that defeats its own end, in the case of a parent, has
+      been admirably portrayed by Arthur Benson in "Beside Still Waters,"&mdash;"there
+      was nothing in the world that he more desired than the company and the
+      sympathy of his children; but he had, beside this, an intense and
+      tremulous sense of his responsibility toward them. He attached an undue
+      importance to small indications of character, and thus the children were
+      seldom at ease with their father, because he rebuked them constantly, and
+      found frequent fault, doing almost violence to his tenderness, not from
+      any pleasure in censoriousness, but from a terror, that was almost morbid,
+      of the consequences of the unchecked development of minute tendencies."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Something must be left to natural growth, and to fortune, even in such
+      important matters as the rearing of children.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XII. THE WORRIER ON HIS TRAVELS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      After all, is it not a part of the fine art of living to take the
+      enjoyment of the moment as it comes without lamenting that it is not
+      something else?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      LILIAN WHITING: <i>Land of Enchantment</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In no phase of life is the worrying and the "fussy" habit more noticeable
+      than in travel. This is, perhaps, partly because the lack of
+      self-confidence, which so often unsettles the worrier, is peculiarly
+      effective when he has relinquished the security of his accustomed
+      anchorage. This applies surely to the over-solicitous attention paid by
+      the traveler to the possible dangers of rail and sea. Here is a verse from
+      Wallace Irwin:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "'Suppose that this here vessel,' says the skipper with a groan,
+  'Should lose 'er bearin's, run away and bump upon a stone;
+  Suppose she'd shiver and go down when save ourselves we could'nt.'
+  The mate replies,
+  'Oh, blow me eyes!
+  Suppose agin she shouldn't?'"
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A common direction taken by the worrying habit, in the traveler, is that
+      of taking in advance each step of the journey, preparing for every
+      contingency, and suffering beforehand every imaginable hardship and
+      inconvenience. I do not vouch for the story (though I can match it without
+      going far afield) of the gentleman who abandoned his trip from Paris to
+      Budapesth because he found he would be delayed in Vienna six hours, "too
+      long time to wait in the station, and not long enough to go to the hotel."
+      It is the imperative duty of every traveler to discover interests which
+      shall tide him over a few hours' delay wherever it may occur.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is by no means a waste of time to familiarize ourselves with the
+      geography at least of our own country; to know the situation and
+      appearance of every city of importance, and to know something about the
+      different railroads besides their initials, and their rating in the stock
+      market. Again, if we take up the study of the trees, flowers and birds,
+      with the aid of the admirable popular works now available, we shall not
+      only view the scenery with new eyes, but shall welcome, rather than be
+      driven to despair, by a breakdown in the woods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is a mistake to shun our fellow-travelers, from whom we should rather
+      try to learn something. This is a solace in traveling alone, for the boon
+      companion may handicap us in cultivating new acquaintances and gaining new
+      impressions. Though the main object of recreation is diversion from the
+      daily round of thought, the fact need not be lost sight of that the busy
+      man will find his practical interests furthered, rather than hindered, by
+      a little widening of the horizon. Nor should he forget, meantime, the
+      admonition of Seneca that if he would wish his travels delightful he must
+      first make himself delightful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is inevitable that uncomfortable, as well as agreeable, experiences
+      occur in travel. But the man who spends his time and thought in avoiding
+      the one and seeking the other is steadily forging chains whose gall shall
+      one day surpass the discomforts of a journey around the world. Arthur
+      Benson in "Beside Still Waters" says that Hugh learned one thing at
+      school, namely, that the disagreeable was not necessarily the intolerable.
+      Some of us would do well to go back to school and learn this over again. I
+      know of only two ways by which the discomforts of travel can be avoided.
+      One is to ignore them, the other to stay at home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A fellow traveler told me that on one occasion, in the presence of a
+      beautiful bit of mountain scenery, he overheard two ladies in anxious
+      consultation comparing, article by article, the corresponding <i>menus</i>
+      of two rival hotels. The fact that three varieties of fish were offered at
+      one, while only two were offered at the other, opened so animated a
+      discussion of quantity as opposed to probable quality that the listener
+      discretely withdrew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A lady on the Florida express, after reading a novel all day with an
+      occasional interim, during which she gazed through her lorgnette with
+      bored and anxious air, finally said to her companion, "I have not seen a
+      single estate which compares to those in Brookline."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the varieties of needless worry imposed upon the traveler by the
+      insistent habit, none is more common, or more easily overcome, than the
+      refusal to sleep unless noise and light are quite shut out. If the
+      sufferer make of his insistent habit a servant, rather than a master, and
+      instead of reiterating "I must have quiet and darkness," will confidently
+      assert, "I must get over this nonsense," he will speedily learn that
+      freedom from resentment, and a good circulation of air, are more conducive
+      to sleep than either darkness or silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The best drug for the sleepless traveler is the <i>ęquo animo</i> of
+      Cicero.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XIII. THE WORRIER AT THE TABLE
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      These little things are great to little man.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      GOLDSMITH: <i>The Traveller</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The insistent habit of mind is nowhere more noticeable than in connection
+      with the food. I have seen a hotel <i>habitué</i>, apparently sane, who
+      invariably cut, or broke, his bread into minute particles, and minutely
+      inspected each before placing it in his mouth. If this were a book of
+      confessions, I should have myself to plead guilty, among worse things, to
+      having avoided mince pie for weeks after encountering among other
+      ingredients of this delicacy, a piece of broken glass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Not infrequently the obsessive diner so long hesitates before giving his
+      final order that the waiter brings the wrong dish. The insistent thought
+      now replaces the doubting folly, and the diner would as soon think of
+      eating grass as the article offered. I have known him impatiently to leave
+      the table under these circumstances, and to play the ostentatious martyr,
+      rather than partake of the food he had at the outset given weighty
+      consideration. I have seen another omit his lunch because water had been
+      spilled upon the cloth, and still another leave the dining-car, with the
+      announcement that he would forego his meal because informed by the
+      conductor that men's shirt waists without coats were taboo.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The obsessive of this type may by training even reach the point of seeing
+      the amusing instead of the pathetic side of the picture when, in the
+      course of his travels, his request for "a nice bit of chicken, cut thin,"
+      is transmitted to the kitchen as&mdash;"One chick."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day, with pride, I called the attention of my easy-going friend to the
+      fact that I was eating a dish I had not ordered. He quietly remarked that
+      the next step was to eat it and say nothing! Another friend has this motto
+      in his dining-room: "Eat what is set before you and be thankful." His
+      children will open their eyes when they find others, less reasonably
+      reared, demanding that the potatoes be changed because they are sprinkled
+      with parsley, that a plate be replaced because it has had a piece of
+      cheese upon it, or that the salad of lettuce and tomato be removed in
+      favor of one with tomato alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A lady recently told me of breakfasting with a foreign sojourner in
+      America, who upon being offered the contents of an egg broken into a
+      glass, was not satisfied with declining it, but felt impelled also to
+      express his extreme disgust at this method of serving it, fortunately to
+      the amusement, rather than to the annoyance of his hostess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "After this, know likewise," says Epictetus, "that you are a brother too;
+      and that to this character it belongs to make concessions, to be easily
+      persuaded, to use gentle language, never to claim for yourself any
+      non-essential thing, but cheerfully to give up these to be repaid by a
+      larger share of things essential. For consider what it is, instead of a
+      lettuce, for instance, or a chair, to procure for yourself a good temper.
+      How great an advantage gained!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The insistent desire to have a certain degree and character of appetite
+      not infrequently leads to consulting the physician. Still more common is
+      the obsession that the appetite must be gratified, the supposition being
+      that the desire for food is, in the growing child or in the adult, an
+      infallible guide to the amount needed, though it is a matter of common
+      knowledge that this is not true of infants or of domestic animals. If one
+      leaves the table hungry he soon forgets it unless inordinately
+      self-centered, and he has no more desire to return than to go back to bed
+      and finish the nap so reluctantly discontinued in the morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I have heard the theory advanced by an anxious forecaster of future ills,
+      that all unnecessary food, if packed away as adipose tissue, serves to
+      nourish the body in periods of starvation. Assuming that the average
+      individual need consider this stress of circumstance, I am strongly of the
+      impression that the best preparation for enforced abstinence will prove,
+      not a layer of fat, but the habit of abstinence. The nursery poet says:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "The worry cow would have lived till now
+  If she'd only saved her breath.
+  She feared the hay wouldn't last all day
+  So choked herself to death."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The quantity of food proved by experiment to suffice for the best work,
+      physical or mental, is surprisingly small. A feeling of emptiness, even,
+      is better preparation for active exercise than one of satiety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is a national obsession with us that no meal is complete without meat.
+      Order fruit, a cereal, rolls and coffee, at the hotel some morning, and
+      the chances are ten to one that the waiter will ask what you are going to
+      have for <i>breakfast</i>, though you have already ordered more than is
+      absolutely necessary for that meal, as demonstrated by the custom upon the
+      Continent, where the sense of fitness is as much violated by the
+      consumption of an enormous breakfast as it is with us by the omission of a
+      single detail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It may be asked if it is not subversive of discipline for the hotel <i>habitué</i>
+      to become too easy-going. There is doubtless a limit to the virtue of
+      allowing ourselves to be imposed upon, but there is little fear that the
+      individual who opens the question will err in this direction. It behooves
+      him rather to consider the danger of his occupying the unenviable position
+      of the "fuss-budget."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XIV. THE FEAR OF BECOMING INSANE
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      We must be steadfast, Julian! Satan is very busy in all of us.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      IBSEN: <i>Emperor and Galilean</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Few, perhaps, among the high-strung and delicately organized can truly say
+      that this fear has never occurred to them. It affects even children, at an
+      age when their minds are supposed to be taken up with the pleasures and
+      pursuits appropriate to their years. This fear is generally dispelled by
+      the serious occupations of life, but in certain cases it persists as an
+      insistent and compelling thought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It may afford consolation to know that insanity results, in the majority
+      of cases, from physical disease of the brain, and that it is ordinarily
+      unanticipated, unsuspected and uncredited by the patient. There is no more
+      danger of insanity attacking the worrier and the delicate than the robust
+      and the indifferent. In fact, the temperament which produces the faulty
+      habits we are considering rarely culminates in insanity. It seems worth
+      while, however, to replace the vague fear of insanity by a knowledge of
+      the variety of mental unbalance remotely threatening the person who lacks
+      the desire or the will, to place a check upon these faulty habits of mind.
+      We may thus, in the worrier whose fears have taken this direction,
+      substitute effort for foreboding.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is our <i>conduct</i> rather than our thoughts that determines the
+      question of insanity. The most practical definition of insanity I know is
+      that of Spitzka, the gist of which is that a person is insane who can no
+      longer correctly register impressions from the outside world, or can no
+      longer act upon those impressions so as to formulate and carry out a line
+      of conduct consistent with his age, education and station.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The banker may repeat the process of locking and unlocking, even to the
+      point of doubting his own sensations, but he may still be able to
+      formulate, and carry out, a line of conduct consistent with his position,
+      though at the expense of intense mental suffering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the realm of morbid fears, the person obsessed by fear of contamination
+      shows no sign of insanity in using tissue paper to turn the door-knob, or
+      in avoiding objects that have been touched by others. Up to this point his
+      phobia has led merely to eccentricity, but suppose his fear so far
+      dominates him that he can no longer pursue his occupation for fear of
+      handling tools or pen, and that he persistently refuses to eat through
+      fear of poison, he has then reached the point where he can no longer
+      formulate lines of conduct, and he is insane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is, then, important to foresee the tendency of phobias, and to accustom
+      one's self to the point of view that the worst possible harm, for example
+      from contamination by ordinary objects, is no worse than mental unbalance,
+      and that the probable consequences thereof (<i>nil</i>) are infinitely
+      preferable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Even with regard to more tangible fears, as of elevators, fires, tunnels,
+      thunder-storms, and the like, a certain tranquility may be gradually
+      attained by a similar philosophy. Suppose instead of dwelling on the
+      possibility of frightful disaster the sufferer practices saying: "The
+      worst that can happen to me is no worse than for me to let these fears
+      gradually lessen my sphere of operations till I finally shut myself up in
+      my chamber and become a confirmed hypochondriac." One should also remember
+      that many another shares his fears, but shows no sign because he keeps a
+      "stiff upper lip," an example he will do well to follow, not only for his
+      own eventual comfort, but for the sake of his influence on others,
+      particularly on those younger than himself. The pursuance of this line of
+      thought may result in the former coward seeking instead of avoiding,
+      opportunities to ride in elevators and tunnels, and even to occupy an
+      inside seat at the theatre, just to try his new-found power, and to
+      rejoice in doing as others do instead of being set apart as a hopeless
+      crank.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These fears bear directly on the question of hypochondria. We have already
+      seen how the sphere of the hypochondriac is narrowed. His work and his
+      play are alike impeded by his fear of drafts, of wet feet, of loud noises,
+      of palpitation, of exhaustion, of pain, and eventually of serious disease.
+      Is he insane? Not so long as he can carry out a line of conduct consistent
+      with his station and surroundings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is remarkable how many obsessions we may harbor without causing us to
+      swerve from our accustomed line of conduct. Whatever our thoughts, our
+      conduct may be such that we attract little attention beyond the passing
+      observation that we are a little odd. We may break down, it is true, under
+      the double load we carry, but we are in little danger of insanity. Those
+      established in the conviction that they cannot stand noises or other
+      sources of discomfort, rarely reach the point of a certain poor old lady
+      who used to wander from clinic to clinic, able to think of nothing else,
+      and to talk of nothing else, than the ringing in her ears, and to attend
+      to no other business than efforts for its relief. She was counselled again
+      and again that since nothing was to be found in the ears she should
+      endeavor to reconcile herself to the inevitable, and turn her thoughts in
+      other directions. Unfortunately, she had become peculiarly adept in the
+      detection of disagreeable sights, sounds, and other sources of irritation,
+      and had for a long term of years practiced quite the opposite of control.
+      She had hitherto either insisted on discontinuance of all sources of
+      irritation, fled their neighborhood, or put on blue glasses and stopped
+      her ears with cotton. When, finally, her sharpened sense caught the sound
+      of her own circulation, she could think of nothing but this unavoidable
+      source of discomfort, which was prepared to follow her to the uttermost
+      parts of the earth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A well-known author has said that the difference between sanity and
+      insanity depends only on the power to conceal the emotions. While this
+      definition will hardly pass in law or medicine, it surely offers food for
+      thought. Suppose for a moment that we were dominated by the impulse to
+      externalize all our thoughts and all our emotions, there would be some
+      basis for the common, but inaccurate, saying that everyone is insane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This brings us to a form of insanity which the obsessive may well bear in
+      mind, namely, that known as manic-depressive. This disorder, in its
+      typical form, is shown by recurring outbursts of uncontrollable mental and
+      physical activity (mania), alternating with attacks of profound depression
+      (melancholia). This form of insanity represents the inability to control
+      an extreme degree of the varied moods to which we all are subject. Long
+      before the modern classification of mental disorders, Burton, in his
+      introduction to the "Anatomy of Melancholy," expressed this alternation of
+      moods thus:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+ "When I go musing all alone,
+  Thinking of divers things foreknown,
+    When I build castles in the ayr,
+    Void of sorrow and void of feare,
+  Pleasing myself with phantasms sweet,
+  Me thinks the time runs very fleet.
+    All my joyes to this are folly,
+    Naught so sweet as melancholy.
+
+ "When I lie waking all alone,
+  Recounting what I have ill done,
+    My thoughts on me they tyrannize,
+    Feare and sorrow me surprise,
+  Whether I tarry still or go,
+  Me thinks the time moves very slow.
+    All my griefs to this are jolly,
+    Naught so sad as melancholy."
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+ "I'll not change my life with any King,
+  I ravisht am: can the world bring
+    More joy, than still to laugh and smile,
+    In pleasant toyes time to beguile?
+  Do not, O do not trouble me,
+  So sweet content I feel and see.
+    All my joyes to this are folly,
+    None so divine as melancholy.
+
+ "I'll change my state with any wretch
+  Thou canst from goale or dunghill fetch:
+    My pain's past cure, another hell,
+    I may not in this torment dwell,
+  Now desperate I hate my life,
+  Lend me a halter or a knife;
+    All my griefs to this are jolly,
+    None so damn'd as melancholy."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The depressed stage of this disorder is commonly shown by retardation of
+      thought and motion, the excited stage by pressure of activity and
+      acceleration of thought. In the so-called "flight of ideas" words succeed
+      each other with incredible rapidity, without goal idea, but each word
+      suggesting the next by sound or other association, thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Are you blue?"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Blue, true blue, red white and blue, one flag and one nation, one
+      kingdom, one king, no not one king, one president, we are going to have a
+      president first, cursed, the worst."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Who does not recognize the modest prototype of this elaborate rigmarole
+      chasing itself through his mind as he walks the street in jaunty mood, and
+      who of us would not surprise and alarm his friends if he should suddenly
+      let go his habitual control, express his every thought and materialize his
+      every passing impulse to action? Who can doubt that the person who has
+      trained himself for years to repress his obsessions is less likely to give
+      way to this form of insanity than one who has never practiced such
+      training? Let us then endeavor to pursue "the even tenor of our way"
+      without giving way to the obsession that we must inflict our feelings upon
+      our associates. We may in this way maintain a mental balance that shall
+      stand us in good stead in time of stress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The autumnal tendency to melancholy is recognized by Thoreau. The
+      characteristic suggestion of this nature-lover is that the melancholic go
+      to the woods and study the <i>symplocarpus foetidus</i> (skunk cabbage),
+      whose English name savors of contempt, but whose courage is such that it
+      is already in the autumn jauntily thrusting forth its buds for the coming
+      year.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An admirable reflection for the victim of moods, as for many another, is
+      the old saying in which Abraham Lincoln is said to have taken peculiar
+      comfort, namely, "This also will pass."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XV. RECAPITULATORY
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      And found no end in wandering mazes lost.
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      <i>Paradise Lost</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We have reviewed the various phases of worry and the elements out of which
+      worry is assembled. It has been seen that exaggerated self-consciousness
+      blocks effort through fear of criticism, ridicule or comment. The
+      insistent habit of mind in the worrier has been found to permeate the
+      content of thought, and unfavorably to influence action. The fact has been
+      pointed out that the obsession to do the right thing may be carried so far
+      as to produce querulous doubt and chronic indecision&mdash;hence worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It has been pointed out that over-anxiety on the score of health
+      (hypochondria) aggravates existing symptoms, and itself develops symptoms;
+      that these symptoms in turn increase the solicitude which gave them birth.
+      Attention has been called to the influence of over-anxious and fretful
+      days in precluding the restful state of mind that favors sleep, and to the
+      influence of the loss of sleep upon the anxieties of the following day; in
+      other words, worry prevents sleep, and inability to sleep adds to worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We have seen that doubts of fitness lead to unfitness, and that the worry
+      of such doubts, combined with futile regrets for the past and forebodings
+      for the future, hamper the mind which should be cleared for present
+      action.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The injurious effect upon the nervous system of these faulty mental states
+      has been emphasized, together with their influence as potent underlying
+      causes of so-called nervous prostration, preparing the worrier for
+      breakdown from an amount of work which, if undertaken with tranquil mind,
+      could have been accomplished with comparative ease.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The question is, will the possessor of these faulty mental tendencies
+      grasp the importance of giving thought to the training that shall free him
+      from the incubus? He certainly has the intelligence, for it is among the
+      intelligent that these states are mostly found; he certainly has the
+      will-power, for lack of will-power is not a failing of the obsessed. The
+      question is, can he bring himself to make, at the suggestion of another, a
+      fundamental change of attitude, and will he take these suggestions on
+      faith, though many seem trivial, others, perhaps, unreasonable, and will
+      he at least give them a trial? I hope so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the next sections will be summed up such commonplace and simple
+      suggestions as may aid emergence from the maze of worry. Many of the
+      suggestions have been scattered through preceding sections. The worrier
+      and folly-doubter is more likely to be benefited by trying them than by
+      arguing about them, and it is within the realms of possibility that some
+      may come to realize the truth of the paradox that he who loses himself
+      shall find himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XVI. MAXIMS MISAPPLIED
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "Beware! yet once again beware!
+    Ere round thy inexperienced mind,
+  With voice and semblance falsely fair,
+    A chain Thessalian magic bind,&mdash;"
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <i>Thomas Love Peacock</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A friend of mine has a highbred Boston terrier named "Betty." Betty is a
+      bundle of nerves, has a well-developed "New-England Conscience," and among
+      other deviative (not degenerative) signs is possessed of an insatiate
+      desire to climb trees. More than once I have watched her frantic efforts
+      to achieve this end, and she really almost succeeds&mdash;at least she can
+      reach a higher point on the trunk of a tree than any other dog of her size
+      I know&mdash;say six feet; if the bark is rough, perhaps seven feet would
+      not be an overestimate. Her attempts are unremitting&mdash;once the frenzy
+      is on it is with the greatest difficulty that she can be separated,
+      panting and exhausted, from her task.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Betty's case furnishes an illustration of an inborn tendency, fostered
+      neither by precept nor example, persistently to attempt the impossible,
+      and to fret and fume when forced to discontinue. Some children are by
+      inheritance similarly endowed. Imagine Betty a child. It is safe to assume
+      that the mental trait which prompts this expenditure of tireless and
+      misdirected energy has sifted down through her ancestry; the chances are,
+      of course, against its having skipped the generation immediately
+      preceding; in other words, one or both her parents are probably obsessive.
+      It follows almost as a matter of course that the "indomitable will" of the
+      child is viewed with pride by the parent. Instead of being kept within
+      reasonable bounds, and directed into proper channels, it is encouraged in
+      every direction, and fostered by every available means. Prominent among
+      the incentives to renewed activity furnished by the solicitous parent,
+      possibly by the undiscriminating teacher, will be found such precepts as:
+      "In the bright lexicon of youth there's no such word as fail," "Never give
+      up the ship," "Never say die," "There's always room at the top."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Excellent maxims these, for the average child, particularly for the child
+      who is under average as regards ambition to excel. But what of their
+      effect upon the already over-conscientious and self-exacting child? Simply
+      to tighten fetters which should rather be relaxed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Life becomes a serious problem to a child of this kind at a much earlier
+      age than is generally realized. I have been surprised to learn at what
+      tender years such children have been borne down by a weight of
+      self-imposed responsibility quite as heavy as can burden an adult, without
+      the power of the adult to carry it. Such, for example, are anxieties
+      regarding the health or the financial status of the parents, matters
+      freely discussed without a thought that the child will make these cares
+      his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I realize that this line of thought will seem to some revolutionary. A
+      friend to whom I submitted the proposition that it did harm rather than
+      good to encourage a child of this kind to attempt the impossible answered,
+      "Nothing is impossible," and he said it as if he more than half believed
+      it. Here we have the ambitious maxim challenging truth itself. It is
+      certainly not impossible that Mozart wrote a difficult concerto at the age
+      of five; nor is it impossible that, in precocious children of a different
+      type, worry from failure to accomplish the desired may cause profound
+      despair productive of disastrous results.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nor are such children either geniuses or freaks&mdash;they are merely
+      inheritors of the "New England Conscience," so named, I suppose, because
+      the trait has multiplied in this section more rapidly even than the
+      furniture and fittings of the Mayflower. Without underrating the sterling
+      qualities of the devoted band who founded this community it may safely be
+      suggested that neither the effectiveness nor the staying qualities of
+      their descendants will be lessened by a certain modification of the
+      querulous insistence which dominates the overtrained adult in the rearing
+      of the nervously precocious child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The maxim "What is worth doing at all is worth doing well," if carried to
+      its ultimate conclusion by the over-careful, would justify the expenditure
+      of a quarter of an hour in sharpening a lead-pencil. This maxim, while
+      losing in sententiousness would gain in reason if it ran thus: "What is
+      worth doing at all is worth doing as well as the situation demands."
+      "Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day," an excellent maxim
+      for the shiftless, must not be taken too literally by the individual
+      already obsessed to do to-day twice what he can and quadruple what he
+      ought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Neither the chronic doubter nor the prematurely thoughtful need be
+      admonished, "Look before you leap," or "Be sure you're right, then go
+      ahead." Such guides to conduct, however effective in the case of three
+      individuals, in the fourth hinder accomplishment by encouraging querulous
+      doubt;&mdash;it is for the benefit of the fourth that these pages are
+      written. A revolutionary effort must be made before the worrier and the
+      folly-doubter can throw off his shackles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It may be questioned whether this sort of philosophy does not savor of <i>laissez-faire</i>,
+      and tend to produce indifference; but the worry against which these
+      efforts are directed is a state of <i>undue</i> solicitude,&mdash;<i>due</i>
+      solicitude is not discouraged. Fortunately, as partial offset to the many
+      maxims stirring to increased activity, there exist certain maxims of less
+      strenuous, but not unreasonable, trend, thus:&mdash;"What can't be cured
+      must be endured," "Patient waiters are no losers." Such maxims are quite
+      as worthy of consideration by the obsessive as any of those previously
+      cited. While they modify overzeal, they detract in no way from effective,
+      even strenuous, endeavor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XVII. THE FAD
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      "Fads may be said to constitute a perfect mental antitoxin for the poison
+      generated by cerebral acuity."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Courtney</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There is nothing occult in the suggestion that the worrier cultivate a
+      fad. Its object is to interest him in something outside of himself and of
+      the monotony of his accustomed round. If it seems to him too much trouble
+      to enter upon the details of the fad there is all the more reason for
+      freeing himself from such mental inertia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How shall we set to work to acquire a fad, without special opportunity or
+      education, and with but little time at our disposal? Suppose we take the
+      study of botany as an illustration, not necessitating class instruction.
+      This useful study may be made also a charming fad, and one not beneath the
+      notice of so learned and busy a man as Sir Francis Bacon, who found time
+      and inclination to write an essay "Of Gardens," in which he mentions by
+      name and shows intimate acquaintance with, over one hundred distinct
+      varieties of plant life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sir John Lubbock (the Right Honourable Lord Avebury) in "The Pleasures of
+      Life," says:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "The botanist, on the contrary&mdash;nay, I will not say the botanist, but
+      one with even a slight knowledge of that delightful science&mdash;when he
+      goes out into the woods, or out into one of those fairy forests which we
+      call fields, finds himself welcomed by a glad company of friends, every
+      one with something interesting to tell."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There are two ways of cultivating botanical as well as other knowledge;
+      namely, the passive and the active. The passive method is to let someone
+      inform us; the active is to find out something for ourselves. The latter
+      is the only effective method. Suppose we start with the wild flowers:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first step is to purchase a popular illustrated book on this subject,
+      preferably one in which the flowers are arranged according to color. We
+      first learn, in the introduction, the principal parts of the flower, as
+      the calyx, the corolla, the stamen and the pistil. We find that the
+      arrangements of leaves and flowers are quite constant, that the leaves of
+      some plants are opposite, of others alternate; of still others from the
+      root only, that flowers are solitary, in raceme, head, spike or otherwise
+      clustered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It now behooves us to take a walk upon a country road with our eyes open
+      and our book under our arm. Along the roadsides passing vehicles have
+      scattered the seeds of many flowering plants. We decide to pick and learn
+      the first white blossom we see. This blossom appears, we will say, upon a
+      plant about a foot high. We notice that its leaves are opposite, that its
+      corolla has five petals and that its calyx is inflated. We now look
+      through the section on white flowers. The first plant described has leaves
+      from the root only; the second is a tall shrub, these we pass, therefore,
+      and continue until we find one answering the description, leaves opposite,
+      calyx inflated, corolla of five petals. When we reach it we have
+      identified the plant; we now feel a sense of ownership in the <i>Bladder
+      Campion</i>, and are quite shocked when our friend calls it only "a weed."
+      Meantime we have noted many familiar names and some familiar illustrations
+      which we must identify on our next ramble.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On consulting our timepiece we find that we have absolutely spent a couple
+      of hours in complete forgetfulness of the daily grind, to say nothing of
+      having filled our lungs with comparatively fresh air, and having taken a
+      little exercise. Best of all, we have started a new set of associations;
+      we have paved the way for new acquaintances, Linnaeus, Gray, Dioscorides
+      and Theophrastus, to say nothing of our friend <i>so-and-so</i> whom we
+      always thought rather tiresome but with whom we now have something in
+      common. We shall take up our daily grind to-morrow with a new zest for
+      having forgotten it for a few hours, and find it less of a grind than
+      usual; moreover, we now have an object to encourage another stroll in the
+      country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If we continue as we have begun we shall soon find ourselves prying into
+      the more scientific works on botany, and perhaps eventually extending our
+      interest to the birds, the beasts and the boulders. One of these days we
+      may become quite proficient amateur naturalists, but this is only by the
+      way; the real advantage to us has been the externalizing of our interests.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This is the most desultory way possible of cultivating the fad. One may go
+      a step further and transplant the wild flowers and the weeds. A busy and
+      successful professional friend of mine, besides having a cabinet shop in
+      his stable, finds (or makes) time to go to the woods with his trowel. He
+      has quite a wild-flower bank in his garden. I cannot give definite
+      directions as to their setting out&mdash;I think he just throws them down
+      anywhere&mdash;a fair percentage seem to thrive,&mdash;I can remember the
+      larger bur-marigold, the red and white bane-berry, rattlesnake-weed,
+      rattlesnake-plantain, blood root, live-for-ever, wood betony, pale
+      corydalis, and fern-leaved foxglove, and there are many more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mushrooms and ferns offer fertile fields for special study. If the worrier
+      has an altruistic turn he will find satisfaction in bestowing duplicates
+      upon his friends, thus still further externalizing his interests. He will
+      be surprised to find how many things there are in the world that he never
+      noticed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Whether our tastes lead us in the direction of photography, pottery,
+      mechanics, collecting china, books and old furniture, of philosophy or a
+      foreign language, we need not aim to pursue these avocations too
+      profoundly. We must not compare our acquisitions with those of the savant
+      or the skilled laborer, but must console ourselves with the reflection
+      that we at least know more, or can do more, than yesterday. If our fads,
+      now and then, make us do something that gives us a little trouble, so much
+      the better, if it is only to go to the library for a book,&mdash;the
+      worrier whose idea of rest and recuperation is to remain forever glued to
+      an easy-chair is indeed to be pitied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Collecting old prints, stamps, and coins, is by no means a waste of time.
+      Fads of this nature offer the additional inducement of an asset which may
+      serve, in a material way, to banish worry in time of stress. To reap the
+      full advantage of the collection fads one should take pains to acquire a
+      knowledge of the geography and history with which they are associated. Few
+      are so unfortunately placed that they have no access to information on
+      these subjects. The encyclopędia, at least, is within general reach,
+      though rarely consulted by those who most need its aid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suppose one takes up history for an indoor fad. How shall he start in?
+      Since he pursues this study only as a fad, he can commence almost
+      anywhere. Let him decide to become familiar with the fifteenth century.
+      The first step is to familiarize himself with the principal rulers and the
+      principal battles of that time. Suppose he spends half an hour every
+      evening upon the life of one or another ruler, as given in the
+      encyclopędia or elsewhere. If he is sufficiently inventive to construct a
+      pictorial or other plan in which to give each his place, so much the
+      better. Having thus constructed a framework he can begin to fill in the
+      details, and now the study begins to interest him. At any public library
+      he can find a catalogue of historical fiction arranged according to
+      centuries. Under the fifteenth century he will find Quentin Durward, The
+      Broad Arrow, Anne of Geierstein, The Cloister and the Hearth, Every Inch a
+      King, Marietta, The Dove in the Eagle's Nest, and other standard works,
+      all of which he may have read before, but every page of which will have
+      for him a new interest since he can now place the characters, appreciate
+      the customs, and form a consistent picture of what was doing in different
+      countries at this time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next step is to acquire, in the same way, equal familiarity with the
+      preceding and succeeding centuries, particularly with the interrelations
+      of the different countries, old and new.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The reader who has followed to this point will need no further hint. If he
+      continues as he has begun, he will be surprised to find how soon he will
+      be able to instruct, on one subject at least, the college graduate, unless
+      that graduate has happily continued as a fad what he once perfunctorily
+      acquired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another way of commencing this study, and the one, I confess, which
+      appeals more to me, is first to establish a framework which shall cover a
+      long period of time, then study special epochs. An interesting way to
+      start this method is to purchase Creasy's "Decisive Battles of the World,"
+      and familiarize one's self with its contents. This will furnish pegs on
+      which to hang further items of information, and will impart a running
+      familiarity with different nations involved in war from the time of the
+      supremacy of Greece, down to the battle of Manila, in the recent edition,&mdash;in
+      earlier editions to the time of Napoleon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The only absolutely essential reference book for this study is Ploetz's
+      "Epitome of Universal History."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To make this fad interesting, the mere commitment to memory of facts and
+      dates will not suffice. Items of history thus acquired will inevitably
+      fade. The conscientious but ill-advised student who attempts to commit the
+      "Epitome" to memory will fall by the way-side. Time is not wasted in
+      dwelling sufficiently long on one subject to feel a sense of ownership in
+      it, and there is opportunity for the exercise of individual ingenuity in
+      devising means to accomplish this end. If one has the knack, for example,
+      of writing nonsense verse (and this is a talent all too easy of
+      cultivation) it will aid him in fixing by rhyme names and dates otherwise
+      difficult to master, thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Ten sixty-six is a date you must fix;" or "Drake was not late in fifteen
+      eighty-eight."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The study of music, history, trees, flowers, or birds doubtless seems of
+      trivial interest to one who occupies his leisure hours with such weighty
+      problems as figuring out how rich he would have been to-day if he had
+      bought Bell Telephone at 15, but such study is far more restful, and in
+      the long run quite as useful for the over-busy man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is not necessary to devote an enormous amount of time to such pursuits.
+      One has only to purchase Miss Huntington's "Studies of Trees in Winter"
+      and learn the trees in his own doorway, or upon his street, to awaken an
+      interest that will serve him in good stead upon a railroad journey, or
+      during an otherwise monotonous sojourn in the country. A walk around the
+      block before dinner with such an object in view is more restful than
+      pondering in one's easy-chair over the fluctuations of the stock market,
+      and the man who is "too busy" for such mental relaxation is paving the way
+      for ultimate, perhaps early, breakdown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once started on the trees, the man who did not even know that their buds
+      were visible in the winter, after absorbing the contents of the popular
+      tree-books may find himself looking for something more elaborate. He may
+      even look forward to his next western trip with pleasure instead of
+      disgust, now that he anticipates seeing at close hand the eucalyptus, the
+      Monterey cypress, and the <i>pinus ponderosa</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Courtney says "to all this will undoubtedly be objected the plea of lack
+      of time. The answer to arguments formed on such flimsy basis is that all
+      the time which is spent in preparing one's self as a candidate for a
+      sanitarium is like the proverbial edged tool in the hands of children and
+      fools."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A little time spent in such simple pursuits as I have indicated, and a few
+      weeks' vacation <i>before exhaustion appears</i>, may prevent a year's
+      enforced abstinence from work on account of nervous invalidism. I am
+      tempted here to say "A stitch in time saves nine," but adages are
+      sometimes dangerous. Thus the adage, "If you want a thing well done you
+      must do it yourself," has caused many a business and professional man to
+      burden himself with details which in the long run he might better have
+      intrusted to subordinates, even at the risk of an occasional blunder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is not wise to specialize too much in the pursuit of the fad. Suppose
+      the busy man, having conceded the value of some out-of-door study, decides
+      that he will learn the lumber industry, but take no interest in the shade
+      trees. He will not materially broaden his interests in this way. He will
+      rather add to his burdens another business. If he applies to this new
+      business the same conscientious methods which are wearing him out in his
+      present one, the value of the fad is gone, the new study has done him more
+      harm than good, and when on his vacation, unless there is a sawmill in the
+      neighborhood, he finds himself stranded with only worry for company.
+      Similarly, if the study of history is taken up in the way a fad should be
+      taken up, anything in the way of a book will now interest the worrier, for
+      hardly a book worth reading fails to contain either a bit of travel,
+      geography, biography, law, or something on manners and customs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Permanent freedom from worry involves a change in one's whole view of life
+      and method of thought. But the means by which introspection may be <i>temporarily</i>
+      alleviated are by no means to be despised. Among these comes the pursuit
+      of the golf-ball. Many a business and professional man who thinks he has
+      no time for golf can easily escape for an hour's play at the end of the
+      day, twice a week, and in the long run it will prove to be time well
+      expended. In point of fact, most are hindered rather by the notion that it
+      is not worth while to visit the links unless one can play eighteen holes,
+      or that it is not worth while to take up the game at all unless one can
+      excel. But the exercise is the same, and the air equally bracing whether
+      we win or lose; the shower-bath will refresh us just the same whether we
+      have played nine holes or twenty-seven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The automobile ride, the drive, and, best of all, the ride on horseback,
+      will often serve to banish the vapors. Many neglect these methods, not
+      from lack of time or money, but from indisposition.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A busy professional man recently assured me that he had renewed his youth
+      by going three times a week to the gymnasium and joining the "old man's
+      class." Here is an opportunity open to practically everyone; it is a
+      desirable practice if continued. The drawback is the lack of incentive
+      when the novelty has passed. Such incentive is furnished by the fad, in
+      the satisfaction of gaining new knowledge and broadening the
+      thought-associations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XVIII. HOME TREATMENT
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Submit to what is unavoidable, banish the impossible from the mind, and
+      look around for some new object of interest in life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Goethe</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the treatment of faulty mental habits the chief reliance is the
+      training of the mind; physical measures are merely supplementary. This
+      fact has always been recognized in a general way. The need of such
+      training was emphasized by Epictetus thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Not to be disappointed of our desire, nor incur our aversion. To this
+      ought our training be directed. For without vigorous and steady training,
+      it is not possible to preserve our desire undisappointed and our aversion
+      unincurred."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But there has always been an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with purely
+      mental treatment, and a desire for the drug, which has more than once,
+      doubtless, been prescribed for the purpose of "suggestion" only.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The movement for psychic treatment on scientific principles, of faulty
+      mental disorders, not of organic nature, is well under way. That the
+      American profession takes an active interest in this movement is shown by
+      the exhaustive paper on psycho-therapy by Dr. E. W. Taylor, recently read
+      at a combined meeting held in Boston and discussed by such representative
+      neurologists as Drs. Mills, Dercum, J. K. Mitchell, and Sinkler, of
+      Philadelphia; Drs. Dana, Sachs, Collins, Hunt, Meacham, and Jelliffe, of
+      New York; Dr. White of Washington, and Drs. Putnam and Prince, of Boston.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such faulty mental habits as worry and obsession, doubting folly, and
+      hypochondria, are no more amenable to physical treatment than the habit of
+      swearing, or of over-indulgence in food and drink. Even the psychic
+      treatment, by another, of such disorders, as of such habits, labors under
+      the disadvantage that all attempts to influence another by exhortation,
+      ridicule, or reproach are met by active or passive resistance on the part
+      of the individual toward whom these efforts are directed. A conscientious
+      resolve on the part of the individual himself, whether started by a casual
+      hint or by a new line of thought, is often more effective than any amount
+      of outside pressure, however well directed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is my hope and belief that the over-solicitous individual will be
+      influenced by reading these descriptions to adopt, of his own initiative,
+      some of these suggestions. His most striking peculiarity is his conviction
+      that he cannot take the chances others do, that the criticisms he receives
+      are peculiarly annoying, and that his sources of worry are something set
+      apart from the experience of ordinary mortals. This conviction leads him
+      to meet argument by argument, reproach and ridicule by indignant protest
+      or brooding silence. The perusal of these sections may lead him to alter
+      his ideals. Suggestions for home treatment have been scattered through the
+      various pages; it only remains to sum them up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We have traced worry back to exaggerated self-consciousness and obsession;
+      it is against these two faulty tendencies that training may be directed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first step is the initiation of a new attitude, namely, the
+      commonplace. The establishment of this attitude involves the sacrifice of
+      self-love, and of the melancholy pleasure of playing the martyr. The
+      oversensitive individual must recognize the fact that if people do not
+      want him round it may be because he inflicts his <i>ego</i> too
+      obtrusively upon his associates. He must realize that others are more
+      interested in their own affairs than in his, and that however cutting
+      their comments and unjust their criticisms, and however deeply these may
+      sink into his soul, they are only passing incidents with them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He must realize that if two people whisper they are not necessarily
+      whispering about him, and if they are it is of no consequence, and merely
+      shows their lack of breeding. On public occasions he must remember that
+      others are thinking of themselves, or of the subject in hand, quite as
+      much as they are of him and how he behaves. He must realize that even if
+      he does something foolish it will only make a passing impression on
+      others, and that they will like him none the less for it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He must practice externalizing his thoughts. If criticised, he must ask
+      himself whether the criticism is just or unjust. If just, he must learn to
+      accept and act upon it; if unjust, he must learn to classify the critic,
+      as unreasonable, thoughtless, or ill-natured, place him in the appropriate
+      mental compartment, throw the criticism into the intellectual
+      waste-basket, and proceed upon his way. This practice, difficult at first,
+      will, if assiduously cultivated, become more and more automatic, and will
+      materially modify a fruitful source of worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The next step is to practice the control of the dominating impulses
+      (obsessions). If one finds himself impelled continually to drum, or walk
+      the floor, he will find the habit cannot be dropped at once, but if he can
+      refrain from it for a few moments once or twice in the day, no matter how
+      lost he feels without it, and sit for a few minutes relaxed and
+      motionless, the intervals can be gradually increased. Even the chronic
+      doubter may appreciate the fact that this practice aids in preparing one
+      for taking and keeping, at night, the quiet and immobile position which
+      favors sleep. The bearing of this training upon worry may not be
+      immediately obvious, but if one cannot overcome these simple physical
+      compulsions he will find it still harder to overcome the doubts, the
+      fears, and the scruples which underlie his worry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is hard to give up the idea that we are so peculiarly constituted that
+      it produces a special disgust in our case if another constantly clears his
+      throat, and a peculiar annoyance if he rocks. It is difficult to
+      relinquish the belief that, however callous others may be, our nervous
+      system is so delicately adjusted that we cannot work when others make
+      unnecessary noise, and we cannot sleep if a clock ticks in our hearing.
+      But if one persistently cultivates the commonplace, he will at last find
+      himself seeking instead of avoiding the objects of his former torture,
+      merely to exercise his new-found mastery of himself, and to realize that
+      "He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is the imperative duty of every sufferer from doubting folly to say to
+      himself, "I will perform this act once with my whole attention, then leave
+      it and turn my mind in other channels before I have dulled my perception
+      by repetition."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If one is prone to chronic indecision, he must remind himself that it is
+      better to do the wrong thing with single mind, than to work himself into a
+      frenzy of anxious doubt. In case the choice is not an important one, he
+      must learn to <i>pounce</i> upon either task, and waste no further time.
+      If the doubt concerns an important matter, he must learn to devote only
+      that attention to the matter which is commensurate with its importance,
+      then decide it one way or the other, realizing that it is better to make a
+      mistake, even in an important matter than to worry one's self into utter
+      helplessness by conflicting emotions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If insistent fear attacks one, he must remind himself that the worst that
+      can happen to him is not so bad as the state of the chronic coward and the
+      hypochondriac. He must practice taking the chances that others do, and
+      must learn to go through the dreaded experiences, not with his nervous
+      system stimulated into undue tension, but with body and mind relaxed by
+      such considerations as I have indicated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The maxim is a useful aid in suggestion, but it should be carefully
+      selected. Most children seem to be brought up on maxims which presuppose
+      mental deficiency and constitutional carelessness. But the naturally
+      over-thoughtful and too-conscientious child, the child to whom applies Sir
+      John Lubbock's observation that the term "happy childhood" is sometimes a
+      misnomer, needs no admonition to "Try, try again," and to "Never weary of
+      well doing."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among other sayings, whether of home manufacture or acquired, I have often
+      found comfort in a suggestion first called to my attention by my friend,
+      Dr. Maurice Richardson, who carries, I believe, Epictetus in his bag, but
+      who does not despise the lesser prophets. One day when I was borrowing
+      trouble about some prospective calamity, he said he always drew
+      consolation from the old farmer's observation:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Mebbe 'taint so!"
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Much unintentional self-suggestion is conveyed in one's habitual method of
+      expressing his attitude toward annoyances, thus: "That simply drives me
+      wild." Suppose, now, one should try a little substitution; for example:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  That    \
+            drives me wild.
+  Nothing /
+</pre>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+                       (but that).
+  I can stand anything
+                       (at all).
+</pre>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+        (not)          (this)
+  I can       sleep in        position.
+        (&mdash;-)           (any)
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The quieting effect is immediately perceptible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nor is the injurious effect of the explosive habit of speech limited to
+      the person who indulges it. The other day a lady, apparently in no haste,
+      sauntered into a station of the "Elevated" ahead of me, holding by the
+      hand a small boy. The boy was enjoying himself immensely, gazing about him
+      with the wide-awake, but calmly contemplative air peculiar to childhood.
+      Suddenly the lady saw that a train was about to leave the station, and was
+      seized by the not uncommon compulsion to take the last train instead of
+      the next one. She hurried the boy across the platform only to meet the
+      closed door of the departing train.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "<i>Isn't</i> that <i>provoking</i>!" she exclaimed. And the boy began to
+      whimper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Although the main object of this book is to call attention to the mental
+      rather than the physical treatment of these states, I cannot forbear
+      reminding the reader of certain routine measures which facilitate the
+      desired improvement in mental attitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is well to start the day with a quick plunge in cold water, that is, in
+      water of the natural temperature excepting in the cold season, when the
+      extreme chill may be taken off to advantage. A brisk rub with rough towels
+      should follow. One should proceed immediately from the warm bed to the
+      bath, and should not first "cool off." A few setting-up exercises (bending
+      the trunk forward and back, sidewise, and with a twist) may precede the
+      bath, and a few simple arm exercises follow it. A few deep breaths will
+      inevitably accompany these procedures. When one returns to his room he no
+      longer notices the chill in the air, and he has made a start toward
+      accustoming himself to, and really enjoying, lower temperatures than he
+      fancied he could stand at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Every healthy adult should walk at least two miles daily in the open. We
+      have been forced to readjust our ideas as to the distance even an elderly
+      person can walk without harm since a pedestrian of sixty-nine has, without
+      apparent injury, covered over one thousand miles, over ordinary roads, at
+      an average of fifty miles a day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The day's work should be started with the resolution that every task shall
+      be taken up in its turn, without doubts and without forebodings, that
+      bridges shall not be crossed until they are reached, that the vagaries of
+      others shall amuse and interest, not distress us, and that we will live in
+      the present, not in the past or the future. We must avoid undertaking too
+      much, and whatever we do undertake we must try not to worry as to whether
+      we shall succeed. This only prevents our succeeding. We should devote all
+      our efforts to the task itself, and remember that even failure under these
+      circumstances may be better than success at the expense of prolonged
+      nervous agitation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      "Rest must be complete when taken and must balance the effort in work&mdash;rest
+      meaning often some form of recreation as well as the passive rest of
+      sleep. Economy of effort should be gained through normal concentration&mdash;that
+      is, the power of erasing all previous impressions and allowing a subject
+      to hold and carry us, by dropping every thought or effort that interferes
+      with it, in muscle, nerve, and mind." (Annie Payson Call, "Power Through
+      Repose.")
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The over-scrupulous and methodical individual who can neither sleep nor
+      take a vacation until all the affairs of his life are arranged must remind
+      himself that this happy consummation will not be attained in his lifetime.
+      It behooves him, therefore, if he is ever to sleep, or if he is ever to
+      take a vacation, to do it now, nor need he postpone indefinitely
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+    "That blessed mood
+  In which the burden of the mystery,
+  In which the heavy and the weary weight
+  Of all this unintelligible world
+  Is lightened."
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      XIX. HOME TREATMENT (CONTINUED)
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Happiness and success in life do not depend on circumstances, but on
+      ourselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>Sir John Lubbock</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The obsession to "arrive" is a fertile source of fret and worry. This
+      habit of mind leads to frantic and impatient labor and blocks our pleasure
+      at every point. The person who plays a game only to see who wins loses
+      half the benefit of the recreation. Here are two ways of walking the
+      half-mile to and from my office:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suppose I start out with my mind on my destination, thinking only of what
+      I shall do when I get there, and how I shall do it. This thought
+      influences my whole body. I am all "keyed up," my muscles are tense, my
+      breathing, even, is constricted and the walk does me comparatively little
+      good.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suppose, now, I decide I am making a mistake, and determine to live in the
+      present. General relaxation follows, I take a deep breath, and begin to
+      notice my surroundings. I may even observe the sky-line of the buildings I
+      have passed daily for years without knowing they had a sky-line; my gait
+      becomes free and life takes on a different aspect. I have taken a long
+      step toward mental tranquility as well as gaining "power through repose."
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the hardest obsessions to overcome is the <i>unduly</i> insistent
+      habit of mind regarding orderliness and cleanliness. It is not undue to
+      desire and practice a reasonable degree of these virtues, but when it
+      gives one a "fit" to see a picture slightly off the level, and drives one
+      "wild" to see a speck of dust, it is time to modify the ideal. This is the
+      frame of mind which encourages worry over trifles. If one really wishes to
+      lessen worry he must cultivate a certain degree of tolerance for what does
+      not square with his ideas, even if it does violence to a pet virtue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The careful housekeeper may object that so long as she can regulate her
+      household to her liking, the habit of orderliness, even though extreme,
+      causes her no worry. But it is only the hermit housekeeper who can
+      entirely control her household. And further, the possessor of the
+      over-orderly temperament, whether applied to housekeeping, business, or
+      play (if he ever plays), is bound sooner or later to impinge his ideas of
+      orderliness upon the domain of other peoples' affairs, in which his wishes
+      cannot be paramount. In this event, at least, he will experience a worry
+      only to be allayed by learning to stand something he does not like.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Worry about the mental condition is disastrous. The habit should be
+      cultivated of taking the mind for what it is, and using it, wasting no
+      time in vain regrets that it is not nimbler or more profound. Just as the
+      digestion is impeded by solicitude, so the working of the brain is
+      hampered by using the energy in worry which should be devoted directly to
+      the task in hand. Children frequently worry because their memory is poor.
+      It should be explained to them that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
+      apparent lack of memory is only lack of attention, and they should be
+      urged to cease distracting the attention by wandering in the fields of
+      idle speculation or in making frantic leaps to surmount imaginary
+      obstacles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is important for parents of morbidly sensitive and over-scrupulous
+      children, with acute likes and dislikes, to discourage the tendency of the
+      child to become more and more peculiar. Sensitive children are inclined to
+      worry because they think others do not care for them or want them round.
+      If such children can be led to take a bird's-eye view of themselves, they
+      may be made to realize that others crave their society according as they
+      are helpful, entertaining, sympathetic, or tactful, because they instil
+      courage and give comfort. They should be urged, therefore, to cultivate
+      these qualities instead of wasting their energy in tears and
+      recriminations; and they should be encouraged to practice such of these
+      traits as they can master instead of becoming moody in society, or
+      withdrawing to brood in solitude, either of which errors may result in
+      producing on the part of others a genuine dislike. In other words, teach
+      them to avoid enforcing too far their <i>ego</i> on themselves or their
+      environment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Parents must also remember that over-solicitous attention on their part is
+      bound to react to the disadvantage of the child. The story is told of
+      Phillips Brooks that, when a child, he put a newly sharpened pencil into
+      his mouth further and further until it slipped down his throat. He asked
+      his mother what would happen if anyone should swallow a pencil. She
+      answered that she supposed it would kill him. Phillips kept silence, and
+      his mother made no further inquiry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This incident would indicate that Phillips Brooks had already, as a child,
+      attained a mental equipoise which the average individual hardly achieves
+      in a lifetime. The story appeals to me no less as evidence of self-control
+      on the part of the mother; and I like to imagine that she suppressed the
+      question a startled parent naturally would ask, realizing that no amount
+      of worry would recall the pencil if he had swallowed it, and that nothing
+      was to be gained by overturning the household, or by giving the boy an
+      example of agitation sure to react to the detriment of the mind unfolding
+      under her supervision. Unless, therefore, the facts of this story have
+      become distorted by imagery, it shows exceptional heredity and unusual
+      training.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Not every one can claim such heredity, and not every one can look back on
+      such training; but it is not too much to say that every one can so direct
+      his thoughts and so order his actions as gradually to attain a somewhat
+      higher level of self-control than either his mental endowment or his early
+      training would have promised. For mental training is no more limited to
+      feats of memory, and to practice in the solution of difficult problems,
+      than is physical training comprised in the lifting of heavy weights in
+      harness. In fact, such exercises are always in danger of leaving the
+      mental athlete intellectually muscle-bound, if I may use such an
+      expression; whereas the kind of training I have in mind tends to establish
+      mental poise, to improve the disposition, to fit the mind (and indirectly
+      the body) better to meet the varied exigencies of daily life, and to help
+      the individual to react in every way more comfortably to his surroundings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I have only hinted at the detailed suggestions by which the worry habit
+      and allied faulty mental tendencies may be combated. The obsessive who is
+      able to alter his ideals and systematically pursue the line of thought
+      here sketched will himself find other directions in which control can be
+      exercised. It is true that no one is likely to reach any of the extreme
+      degrees of incapacity we have considered unless he is naturally endowed
+      with a mind predestined to unbalance. At the same time any of us who have
+      a nervous temperament ever so slightly above the average of intensity will
+      do well to check these tendencies as far as possible in their incipiency,
+      realizing that no physical evil we may dread can be worse than the lot of
+      the confirmed hypochondriac or the compulsively insane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Perhaps I have dwelt too much upon the extreme results of morbid mental
+      tendencies, and too little upon the ideal for which we should strive. This
+      ideal I shall not attempt to portray, but leave it rather to the
+      imagination. Suffice it to say that the ladder by which self-control is
+      attained is so long that there is ample room to ascend and descend without
+      reaching either end. Some of us are started high on the ladder, some low;
+      but it is certainly within the power of each to alter somewhat his level.
+      We can slide down, but must climb up; and that such commonplaces as are
+      here presented may help some of my fellow worriers to gain a rung or two
+      is my earnest wish. Even when we slip back we can appreciate the sentiment
+      of Ironsides:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+  "Night after night the cards were fairly shuffled
+    And fairly dealt, but still I got no hand.
+  The morning came, but I with mind unruffled
+    Did simply say, 'I do not understand.'
+
+  "Life is a game of whist; from unseen sources
+    The cards are shuffled and the hands are dealt.
+  Vain are our efforts to control the forces,
+    Which, though unseen, are no less strongly felt.
+
+  "I do not like the way the cards are shuffled,
+    But still I like the game and want to play,
+  And through the long, long night with mind unruffled,
+    Play what I get until the dawn of day."
+</pre>
+    <div style="height: 6em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Why Worry?, by George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Why Worry?, by George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Why Worry?
+
+Author: George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
+
+Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8554]
+This file was first posted on July 22, 2003
+Last Updated: May 14, 2013
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHY WORRY? ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Charles
+Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WHY WORRY?
+
+By George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
+
+Consulting Neurologist To The Massachusetts General Hospital
+
+
+
+The legs of the stork are long, the legs of the duck are short; you cannot
+make the legs of the stork short, neither can you make the legs of the duck
+long. Why worry?--_Chwang Tsze_.
+
+
+TO MY LONG-SUFFERING FAMILY AND CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, WHOSE PATIENCE HAS
+BEEN TRIED BY MY EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE WORRY, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY
+DEDICATED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+No apology is needed for adding another to the treatises on a subject whose
+importance is evidenced by the number already offered the public.
+
+The habit of worry is not to be overcome by unaided resolution. It is hoped
+that the victim of this unfortunate tendency may find, among the homely
+illustrations and commonplace suggestions here offered, something to turn
+his mind into more healthy channels. It is not the aim of the writer to
+transform the busy man into a philosopher of the indolent and contemplative
+type, but rather to enable him to do his work more effectively by
+eliminating undue solicitude. This elimination is consistent even with the
+"strenuous life."
+
+One writer has distinguished between normal and abnormal worry, and
+directed his efforts against the latter. Webster's definition of worry (A
+state of undue solicitude) obviates the necessity of deciding what degree
+and kind of worry is abnormal, and directs attention rather to deciding
+what degree of solicitude may be fairly adjudged undue.
+
+In the treatment of a subject of this character a certain amount of
+repetition is unavoidable. But it is hoped that the reiteration of
+fundamental principles and of practical hints will aid in the application
+of the latter. The aim is the gradual establishment of a _frame of mind_.
+The reader who looks for the annihilation of individual worries, or who
+hopes to influence another by the direct application of the suggestions,
+may prepare, in the first instance for disappointment, in the second, for
+trouble.
+
+The thanks of the writer are due to Miss Amy Morris Homans, Director of
+the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics, for requesting him to make to her
+students the address which forms the nucleus of these pages.
+
+GEORGE L. WALTON.
+
+BOSTON, April, 1908.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+    I. INTRODUCTORY
+   II. EPICURUS AS A MENTAL HEALER
+  III. THE PSYCHO-THERAPY OF MARCUS AURELIUS
+   IV. ANALYSIS OF WORRY
+    V. WORRY AND OBSESSION
+   VI. THE DOUBTING FOLLY
+  VII. HYPOCHONDRIA
+ VIII. NEURASTHENIA
+   IX. SLEEPLESSNESS
+    X. OCCUPATION NEUROSIS
+   XI. THE WORRIER AT HOME
+  XII. THE WORRIER ON HIS TRAVELS
+ XIII. THE WORRIER AT THE TABLE
+  XIV. THE FEAR OF BECOMING INSANE
+   XV. RECAPITULATORY
+  XVI. MAXIMS MISAPPLIED
+ XVII. THE FAD
+XVIII. HOME TREATMENT
+  XIX. HOME TREATMENT CONTINUED
+
+
+
+
+DEFINITIONS.
+
+
+WORRY. A state of undue solicitude.
+
+HYPOCHONDRIA. A morbid mental condition characterized by undue solicitude
+regarding the health, and undue attention to matters thereto pertaining.
+
+OBSESSION. An unduly insistent and compulsive thought, habit of mind, or
+tendency to action.
+
+DOUBTING FOLLY (_Folie du doute_.) A state of mind characterized by a
+tendency unduly to question, argue and speculate upon ordinary matters.
+
+NEURASTHENIA. A form of nervous disturbance characterized by exhaustion and
+irritability.
+
+PHOBIA. An insistent and engrossing fear without adequate cause, as judged
+by ordinary standards.
+
+OCCUPATION NEUROSIS. A nervous disorder in which pain, sometimes with
+weakness and cramp, results from continued use of a part.
+
+PSYCHO-THERAPY. Treatment through the mind.
+
+No other technical terms are used.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+When Thales was asked what was difficult he said, "To know oneself"; and
+what was easy, "To advise another."
+
+
+Marcus Aurelius counselled, "Let another pray, 'Save Thou my child,' but do
+thou pray, 'Let me not fear to lose him.'"
+
+Few of us are likely to attain this level; few, perhaps, aspire to do
+so. Nevertheless, the training which falls short of producing complete
+self-control may yet accomplish something in the way of fitting us,
+by taking the edge off our worry, to react more comfortably to our
+surroundings, thus not only rendering us more desirable companions, but
+contributing directly to our own health and happiness.
+
+Under the ills produced by faulty mental tendencies I do not include cancer
+and the like. This inclusion seems to me as subversive of the laws of
+nature as the cure of such disease by mental treatment would be miraculous.
+At the same time, serious disorders surely result from faulty mental
+tendencies.
+
+In this category we must include, for example, hypochondria, a disturbance
+shown by undue anxiety concerning one's own physical and mental condition.
+This disorder, with the allied fears resulting from the urgent desire to
+be always absolutely safe, absolutely well, and absolutely comfortable, is
+capable, in extreme cases, of so narrowing the circle of pleasure and of
+usefulness that the sufferer might almost as well have organic disease.
+
+Neurasthenia (nervous prostration) has for its immediate exciting cause
+some overwork or stress of circumstance, but the sufferer not infrequently
+was already so far handicapped by regrets for the past, doubts for the
+present, and anxieties for the future, by attention to minute details
+and by unwillingness to delegate responsibilities to others, that he was
+exhausted by his own mental travail before commencing upon the overwork
+which precipitated his breakdown. In such cases the occasion of the
+collapse may have been his work, but the underlying cause was deeper. Many
+neurasthenics who think they are "all run down" are really "all wound up."
+They carry their stress with them.
+
+Among the serious results of faulty mental habit must be included also
+the doubting folly (_folie du doute_). The victim of this disorder is so
+querulously anxious to make no mistake that he is forever returning to see
+if he has turned out the gas, locked the door, and the like; in extreme
+cases he finally doubts the actuality of his own sensations, and so far
+succumbs to chronic indecision as seriously to handicap his efforts. This
+condition has been aptly termed a "spasm of the attention."
+
+The apprehensive and fretful may show, in varying degree, signs of either
+or all these conditions, according as circumstances may direct their
+attention.
+
+Passing from serious disorders to minor sources of daily discomfort, there
+are few individuals so mentally gifted that they are impervious to the
+distress occasioned by variations of temperature and of weather; to the
+annoyance caused by criticism, neglect, and lack of appreciation on the
+part of their associates; to active resentment, even anger, upon moderate
+provocation; to loss of temper when exhausted; to embarrassment in unusual
+situations; to chronic indecision; to the sleeplessness resulting from
+mental preoccupation; and above all, to the futile regrets, the querulous
+doubts, and the undue anxiety included under the term _worry_, designated
+by a recent author "the disease of the age."
+
+Something may be accomplished in the way of lessening all these ills by
+continuous, properly directed effort on the part of the individual. Every
+inroad upon one faulty habit strengthens the attack upon all, and each gain
+means a step toward the acquisition of a mental poise that shall give its
+possessor comparative immunity from the petty annoyances of daily life.
+
+In modern psycho-therapy the _suggestion_, whether on the part of the
+physician or of the patient, plays a prominent part, and it is in this
+direction, aside from the advice regarding occupation and relaxation, that
+my propositions will trend. I shall not include, however, suggestions
+depending for their efficacy upon self-deceit, such as might spring, for
+example, from the proposition that if we think there is a fire in the stove
+it warms us, or that if we break a pane in the bookcase thinking it
+a window, we inhale with pleasure the resulting change of air. The
+suggestions are intended to appeal to the reason, rather than to the
+imagination.
+
+The special aim will be to pay attention to the different varieties of
+worry, and to offer easily understood and commonplace suggestions which any
+one may practice daily and continuously, at last automatically, without
+interfering with his routine work or recreation. Indeed the tranquil mind
+aids, rather than hinders, efficient work, by enabling its possessor to
+pass from duty to duty without the hindrance of undue solicitude.
+
+In advising the constitutional worrier the chief trouble the physician
+finds is an active opposition on the part of the patient. Instead of
+accepting another's estimate of his condition, and another's suggestions
+for its relief, he comes with a preconceived notion of his own
+difficulties, and with an insistent demand for their instant relief by drug
+or otherwise. He uses up his mental energy, and loses his temper, in the
+effort to convince his physician that he is _not_ argumentative. In a less
+unreasonable, but equally difficult class, come those who recognize the
+likeness in the portrait painted by the consultant, but who say they have
+tried everything he suggests, but simply "can't."
+
+It is my hope that some of the argumentative class may recognize, in my
+description, their own case instead of their neighbor's, and may of their
+own initiative adopt some of the suggestions; moreover, that some of the
+acquiescent, but despairing class will renew their efforts in a different
+spirit. The aim is, not to accomplish a complete and sudden cure, but to
+gain something every day, or if losing a little to-day, to gain a little
+to-morrow, and ultimately to find one's self on a somewhat higher plane,
+without discouragement though not completely freed from the trammels
+entailed by faulty mental habit.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+EPICURUS AS A MENTAL HEALER
+
+'Tis to believe what men inspired of old, Faithful, and faithfully
+informed, unfold.
+
+_Cowper_.
+
+
+The suggestions offered in the following pages are not new. Many of them
+were voiced by Epicurus three hundred years before Christ, and even then
+were ancient history. Unfortunately Epicurus had his detractors. One,
+Timocrates, in particular, a renegade from his school, spread malicious and
+unfounded reports of his doings and sayings, reports too easily credited
+then, and starting, perhaps, the misconception which to-day prevails
+regarding the aims of this philosopher.
+
+But when Marcus Aurelius, nearly five centuries later, decided to endow a
+philosophical professoriate he established the Epicurean as one of the four
+standard schools. The endorsement of such a one should surely predispose
+us to believe the authentic commentators of Epicurus, and to discredit the
+popular notion which makes his cult synonymous with the gratification of
+the appetites, instead of with the mental tranquility to which he regarded
+sensual pleasures so detrimental that he practically limited his diet, and
+that of his disciples, to bread and water.
+
+It is of special encouragement to such of us as painfully realize our
+meagre equipment for reaching a high plane of self-control, to learn that
+Epicurus was by nature delicate and sensitive. At seven years of age, we
+are told, he could not support himself on tiptoe, and called himself the
+feeblest of boys. It is said that in his boyhood he had to be lifted from
+his chair, that he could not look on the sun or a fire, and that his skin
+was so tender as to prevent his wearing any dress beyond a simple tunic.
+These physical characteristics suggest the makings of a first class "fuss"
+and inveterate worrier. In this event his emancipation from such tendencies
+must have been due to the practice of his own philosophy.
+
+As an antidote for the fear of death and the miraculous in the heavens
+Epicurus urges the study of Nature, showing his appreciation of the fact
+that one thought can only be driven out by another, as well as of the
+importance of the open air treatment of depressing fears.
+
+That he recognized the doubting folly and its evils is shown by the
+following Maxim for the Wise man:
+
+"He shall be steady in his opinion and not wavering and doubtful in
+everything."
+
+To the hypochondriac he said:
+
+"Health in the opinion of some is a precious thing; others rank it among
+the indifferent." Again:
+
+"If the body be attacked by a violent pain the evil soon has an end; if, on
+the contrary, the pain be languishing and of long duration it is sensible
+beyond all doubt of some pleasure therefrom. Thus, most chronical
+distempers have intervals that afford us more satisfaction and ease than
+the distempers we labor under cause pain." And further:
+
+"The Wise man takes care to preserve the unequivocable blessing of an
+undisturbed and quiet mind even amidst the groans and complaints which
+excess of pain extorts from him." He states, again, that one can be happy
+though blind.
+
+Regarding insomnia, he recognized the futility of expecting restful sleep
+to follow a day of fret and worry. He says:
+
+"He shall enjoy the same tranquility in his sleep as when awake."
+
+Epicurus realized that the apparent inability of the old to acquire
+new habits is due rather to lack of attention, and to indifference or
+preoccupation, than to lack of aptitude. He placed, in fact, no limit to
+the age for learning new methods, stating in his letter to Meneceus,--
+
+"Youth is no obstacle to the study of philosophy--neither ought we to be
+ashamed to concentrate our later years to the labor of speculation. Man has
+no time limit for learning, and ought never to want strength to cure his
+mind of all the evils that afflict it."
+
+Epicurus does not counsel seclusion for the cultivation of tranquility, but
+holds that mental equipoise "may be maintained though one mingles with the
+world, provided he keeps within the bounds of temperance, and limits his
+desires to what is easily obtained."
+
+Curiously enough, in view of the idea of epicureanism which has become
+proverbial, Epicurus regards the avoidance of excess a logical and
+necessary step toward the tranquil life, and among other admonitions is
+found the following Maxim:
+
+"The Wise man ought never to drink to excess, neither must he spend the
+nights revelling and feasting."
+
+We may conclude our selection from the Maxims of Epicurus by one which
+strikes a body-blow at worry and the allied faulty mental habits:
+
+"That being who is happy and immortal is in no way solicitous or uneasy on
+any account, neither does he torment or tease others; anger is unworthy of
+his greatness ... for all these things are the property of weakness."
+
+Such then, was the real Epicurus, not a seeker after effeminate luxury, but
+a chaste and frugal philosopher, serene of mien, and of gentle disposition,
+firm in his friendships, but sacrificing to them none of the high ideals
+which characterized his thought. He erred, doubtless, in the avoidance of
+responsibilities and in narrowing his efforts to promoting the happiness
+of his own immediate circle, but he was fearless in the defence of his
+principles and steadfast in the pursuit of the tranquility which for him
+included truth.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+MARCUS AURELIUS
+
+Such a body of teachers distinguished by their acquirements and character
+will hardly be collected again; and as to the pupil, we have not had
+another like him since.
+
+_Long_.
+
+
+Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the philosopher-Emperor, showed by practice as
+well as by precept that the tranquil mind is not incompatible with a life
+of action. Destined from birth to stand at the head of a great empire
+engaged in distant wars, threatened by barbaric invasion, and not without
+internal dissention, he was prepared not only to command armies but to
+govern himself. Fortunately we are not without a clue to his methods--he
+not only had the best of teachers, but continued his training all through
+his life. When we consider his labors, the claim of the busy man of to-day
+that he has "no time" seems almost frivolous.
+
+The thoughts of Marcus Aurelius (of which the following citations are
+from Long's translation) were written, not for self exploration, nor from
+delight in rounded periods, but for his own guidance. That he was in fact
+guided by his principles no better illustration offers than his magnanimity
+toward the adherents of one who would have usurped the throne of the
+Caesars. The observation of Long that fine thoughts and moral dissertations
+from men who have not worked and suffered may be read, but will be
+forgotten, seems to have been exemplified in the comparative oblivion into
+which the philosophy of Epicurus has fallen.
+
+It is with the ethical side of the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius that we
+are concerned, and with that portion only which bears on the question of
+mental equipoise.
+
+"Begin the morning," he says, "by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the
+busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these
+things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and
+evil."
+
+With regard to the habit of seclusion common among the self-conscious, he
+says:
+
+"If thou didst ever see a hand cut off, or a foot, or a head, lying
+anywhere apart from the rest of the body, such does a man make himself, as
+far as he can, who is not content with what happens, and separates himself
+from others, or does any thing unsocial. Suppose that thou hast detached
+thyself from the natural unity--for thou wast made by nature a part, but
+now thou hast cut thyself off--yet here there is this beautiful provision,
+that it is in thy power again to unite thyself. God has allowed this to no
+other part, after it has been separated and cut asunder, to come together
+again. But consider the kindness by which he has distinguished man, for he
+has put it in his power not to be separated at all from the universal; and
+when he has been separated, he has allowed him to return and to resume his
+place as a part."
+
+On the futile foreboding which plays so large a part in the tribulation of
+the worrier, he says:
+
+"Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life. Let not thy
+thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which thou mayest expect
+to befall thee; but on every occasion ask thyself, What is there in this
+which is intolerable and past bearing? for thou wilt be ashamed to confess.
+In the next place remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee,
+but only the present. But this is reduced to a very little, if thou only
+circumscribest it, and chidest thy mind, if it is unable to hold out
+against even this." Again: "Let not future things disturb thee, for thou
+wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the same
+reason which now thou usest for present things."
+
+On the dismissal of useless fret, and concentration upon the work in hand,
+he says:
+
+"Labor not as one who is wretched, nor yet as one who would be pitied or
+admired; but direct thy will to one thing only, to put thyself in motion
+and to check thyself, as the social reason requires."
+
+Regarding senseless fears he counsels:
+
+"What need is there of suspicious fear, since it is in thy power to inquire
+what ought to be done? And if thou seest clear, go by this way content,
+without turning back: but if thou dost not see clear, stop and take the
+best advisers. But if any other things oppose thee, go on according to thy
+powers with due consideration, keeping to that which appears to be just.
+For it is best to reach this object, and if thou dost fail, let thy failure
+be in attempting this. He who follows reason in all things is both tranquil
+and active at the same time, and also cheerful and collected."
+
+On irritation at the conduct of others:
+
+"When thou art offended with any man's shameless conduct, immediately ask
+thyself, Is it possible, then, that shameless men should not be in the
+world? It is not possible. Do not, then, require what is impossible. For
+this man also is one of those shameless men who must of necessity be in the
+world. Let the same considerations be present in thy mind in the case of
+the knave and the faithless man, and of every man who does wrong in any
+way."
+
+Regarding the hypochondriacal tendency he reverts to Epicurus, thus:
+
+"Epicurus says, In my sickness my conversation was not about my bodily
+sufferings, nor did I talk on such subjects to those who visited me; but I
+continued to discourse on the nature of things as before, keeping to this
+main point, how the mind, while participating in such movements as go on in
+the poor flesh, shall be free from perturbations and maintain its proper
+good.... Do, then, the same that he did both in sickness, if thou art sick,
+and in any other circumstances;... but to be intent only on that which thou
+art now doing and on the instrument by which thou doest it."
+
+These quotations will serve to show the trend of the reflections of this
+remarkable man. After reviewing this epitome of ethical philosophy I might
+stop and counsel the worrier to study the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius
+and other philosophers, whose practical suggestions are similar,
+notwithstanding their diversity of views regarding the ultimate object of
+the training. I shall venture, however, to elaborate the subject from the
+present view-point, even though the principles of Marcus Aurelius are as
+applicable now as they were in the days of the Roman Empire.
+
+No reminder is needed of the wealth and efficacy of suggestion in the Book
+which contains the statement that "the Kingdom of God is within you," and
+that "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth
+the bones." One of its suggestions was paralleled by the philosopher-poet
+when he wrote:
+
+  "Latius regnes avidum domando
+  Spiritum, quam si Libyam remotis
+  Gadibus iungas et uterque Poenus
+    Serviat uni."
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+ANALYSIS OF WORRY
+
+Of these points the principal and most urgent is that which reaches the
+passions; for passion is produced no otherwise than by a disappointment
+of one's desires and an incurring of one's aversions. It is this which
+introduces perturbations, tumults, misfortunes, and calamities; this is
+the spring of sorrow, lamentation and envy; this renders us envious and
+emulous, and incapable of hearing reason.
+
+_Epictetus_.
+
+
+Under this rather pretentious title an attempt is made to indicate certain
+elements of worry. No claim is made that the treatment of the subject is
+exhaustive.
+
+The motto "Don't Worry" has inspired many homilies. But the mere resolve to
+follow this guide to happiness will no more instantaneously free one from
+the meshes of worry than the resolve to perform a difficult gymnastic feat
+will insure its immediate accomplishment.
+
+The evils of worry as well as of its frequent associate, anger, have been
+dwelt upon by writers philosophical, religious, and medical. "Worry," says
+one author, "is the root of all cowardly passions,--jealousy, fear, the
+belittling of self, and all the introspective forms of depression are the
+children of worry." The symptoms and the evil results seem to receive
+more elaborate and detailed attention than the treatment. "Eliminate it,"
+counsels this writer; "Don't worry," advises another. "Such advice is
+superficial," says their critic, "it can only be subdued by our ascending
+into a higher atmosphere, where we are able to look down and comprehend the
+just proportions of life." "Cultivate a quiet and peaceful frame of mind,"
+urges another; and still another advises us to "occupy the mind with better
+things, and the best--is a habit of confidence and repose."
+
+From such counsel the average individual succeeds in extracting nothing
+tangible. The last writer of those I have quoted comes perhaps the nearest
+to something definite in directing us to occupy the mind with better
+things; in the suggestions I have to offer the important feature is the
+effort to replace one thought by another, though not necessarily by a
+better one. If we succeed in doing this, we are making a step toward
+acquiring the habit of confidence and repose.
+
+The simple admonition not to worry is like advising one not to walk
+awkwardly who has never learned to walk otherwise. If we can find some of
+the simpler elements out of which worry is constructed, and can learn to
+direct our attack against these, the proposition "Don't worry" will begin
+to assume a tangible form.
+
+We can at least go back one step, and realize that it is by way of the
+_unduly insistent thought_ that most of these faulty mental habits become
+established. It might be claimed that fear deserves first mention, but the
+insistent thought in a way includes fear, and in many cases is independent
+of it.
+
+The insistent thought magnifies by concentration of attention, and by
+repetition, the origin of the worry. If my thoughts dwell on my desire for
+an automobile this subject finally excludes all others, and the automobile
+becomes, for the time being, the most important thing in the world, hence I
+worry. Into this worry comes no suggestion of fear--this emotion would be
+more appropriate, perhaps, if I acquired the automobile and attempted
+to run it. If, now, I have trained myself to concentrate my attention
+elsewhere before such thoughts become coercive, the automobile quickly
+assumes its proper relation to other things, and there is no occasion for
+worry. This habit of mind once acquired regarding the unessentials of life,
+it is remarkable how quickly it adapts itself to really important matters.
+
+Take a somewhat more serious question. I fear I may make a blunder. If I
+harbor the thought, my mind is so filled with the disastrous consequences
+of the possible blunder that I finally either abandon the undertaking or
+approach it with a trepidation that invites failure. If, on the other hand,
+I have learned to say that even if I make a blunder it will only add to
+my experience, then apply myself whole-minded to the task, I have made a
+direct attack on worry.
+
+The qualification _unduly_ is not to be forgotten; a certain discrimination
+must be exercised before entirely condemning the insistent thought. The
+insistent thought that one's family must be fed is not a morbid sign. In
+fact, he also errs who can eliminate this thought and enjoy the ball game.
+It is not for the deviate of this type that I am writing. Nevertheless, the
+over-solicitous victim of the "New England Conscience" can almost afford to
+take a few lessons from the ne'er-do-weel.
+
+The practical bearing of this attempt to analyze worry is obvious. If it is
+through the insistent desire for an automobile that I worry, I must bring
+my training to bear, not on the worry, which is elusive, but on the desire,
+which is definite. I must fortify myself with what philosophy I can
+acquire, and must console myself with such compensations as my situation
+may offer; and above all, I must _get busy_, and occupy hands and brain
+with something else. If, on my travels, I worry over the sluggish movement
+of the train, it is because of the insistent thought that I must arrive
+on time. In this event I should practice subduing the insistent thought,
+rather than vaguely direct my efforts against the worry. In the majority of
+cases I can bring myself to realize that the question of my arrival is not
+vital. Even in case I am missing an important engagement I may modify the
+dominance of the thought by reflecting that I cannot expect to be wholly
+immune from the misfortunes of mankind; it is due me, at least once in a
+lifetime, to miss an important engagement,--why fret because this happens
+to be the appointed time? Why not occupy my thoughts more profitably than
+in rehearsing the varied features of this unavoidable annoyance?
+
+If we fret about the weather it is because of an insistent desire that the
+weather shall conform to our idea of its seasonableness. If we complain
+of the chill of May it is not because the cold is really unbearable, but
+because we wonder if spring will ever come. If we fume on a hot day in July
+it is because the weather is altogether _too_ seasonable to suit us.
+
+We spend far too much thought on the weather, a subject that really
+deserves little attention except by those whose livelihood and safety
+depend upon it. Suppose a runaway passes the window at which we are
+sitting, with collar off, handkerchief to our heated brow, squirming to
+escape our moist and clinging garments, and being generally miserable. We
+rush out of doors to watch his course, and for the next few minutes we do
+not know whether it is hot or cold, perspiring less during our exertions, I
+strongly suspect, than we did while sitting in the chair. At all events, it
+is obvious that our thoughts played quite as great a part in our discomfort
+as did the heat of the day.
+
+Suppose now, instead of devoting all our attention to the weather we should
+reason somewhat as follows:
+
+As long as I live on this particular planet, I shall be subject perhaps
+three days out of four, to atmospheric conditions which do not suit me.
+Is it worth my while to fret during those three days and to make it up by
+being elated on the fourth? Why not occupy myself with something else and
+leave the weather for those who have no other resource? Or, as someone has
+said, why not "make friends with the weather?" If one will cultivate this
+frame of mind he will be surprised to find that a certain physical relief
+will follow. In the first place, he will lessen the excessive perspiration
+which is the invariable accompaniment of fret, and which in its turn
+produces more discomfort than the heat itself.
+
+We have selected, so far, the comparatively unimportant sources of mental
+discomfort, fret, and worry. The reader who can truthfully say that such
+annoyances play no part in his mental tribulations may pass them and accept
+congratulations. The reader who cannot be thus congratulated, but who is
+impatient to attack the major sources of worry, must be reminded at this
+point that he must practice on the little worries before he can accomplish
+anything with the great. The method is the same. The philosophy that will
+make us content with the weather will do something toward establishing the
+mental poise which shall enable us to withstand with comparative equanimity
+the most tragic of misfortunes that may fall to our lot.
+
+To draw an example from the more serious disorders, let us consider the
+hypochondriac, who harbors the insistent thought that he must be always
+perfectly well, that each of his sensations must conform to his ideal, and
+that each function must follow regulations imposed by himself. If he
+can learn to ignore this thought by realizing that an acute illness is
+preferable to life-long mental captivity; if he can learn to do what others
+do, and to concentrate his energies on outside affairs which shall displace
+the question of health; if he can learn to say "What I am _doing_ is more
+important than how I am _feeling_;" he will have cured his hypochondria.
+
+In the foundation of the structure we are studying is found _exaggerated
+self-consciousness_. Whatever is said, done, or left undone, by others is
+analyzed by the worrier with reference to its bearing on himself. If others
+are indifferent it depresses him, if they appear interested they have an
+ulterior motive, if they look serious he must have displeased them, if they
+smile it is because he is ridiculous. That they are thinking of their own
+affairs is the last thought to enter his mind.
+
+I suppose it would be an affectation for any of us to deny that, as far as
+we are concerned, we are the centre of the universe. This conceit does
+us no harm so long as we remember that there are as many centres of the
+universe as there are people, cats, mice and other thinking animals. When
+we forget this our troubles begin. If I enter a strange shop and find they
+desire security, need I take this as a reflection on _my_ credit? Need I
+expect to be invited to every entertainment I should like to attend, and to
+be excused from those that bore me, and shall I make no allowance for the
+attitude of my host? Is it not rather egotistic for me to suppose that
+others are vitally interested in the fact that I blush, tremble, or am
+awkward? Why then should I allow my conduct to be influenced by such
+trivial matters?
+
+The order of training is, then, generally, to modify our self-consciousness
+by externalizing our thoughts and broadening our interests; specifically,
+to eliminate the unduly insistent habit of thought.
+
+This analysis of worry and allied mental states may facilitate such
+training, but the practical value of the suggestions does not depend upon
+the acceptance of these theoretical considerations.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+WORRY AND OBSESSION
+
+So much are men enured in their miserable estate, that no condition is so
+poore, but they will accept; so they may continue in the same.
+
+_Florio's Montaigne_.
+
+
+"You may as well be eaten by the fishes as by the worms," said the daughter
+of a naval commander to me one day, when discussing the perils of the sea.
+Such philosophy, applied to each of the vexatious and dangerous situations
+of daily life, would go far toward casting out worry.
+
+We have already referred to two important elements at the foundation,
+and in the framework, of the elaborate superstructures we rear with such
+material as worry, doubts, fears and scruples. The first is _exaggerated
+self-consciousness_, the second the tendency to succumb to the compelling
+thought or impulse, technically termed _obsession_.
+
+With regard to self-consciousness, the worrier will generally realize that
+even as a child he was exceptionally sensitive to criticism, censure,
+ridicule and neglect. He was prone to brood over his wrongs, to play the
+martyr, and to suffer with peculiar keenness the "slings and arrows of
+outrageous fortune." I remember once leaving the table on account of some
+censure or careless remark. I fancied I had thrown the whole family into a
+panic of contrition. On the first opportunity, I asked what they had said
+about it, and was told that they had apparently not noticed my departure.
+This salutary lesson prevented repetition of the act.
+
+To the self-conscious person the mere entrance into a public vehicle may
+prove an ordeal. It is hard for him to realize that the general gaze has no
+peculiar relation to himself, and that if the gaze is prolonged this is due
+to no peculiarity of his beyond the blush or the trepidation that betrays
+his feeling. If he can acquire indifference to this feature of his case,
+through the reflection that to others it is only a passing incident, the
+blush and the trepidation will promptly disappear, and a step will have
+been taken towards gaining the self-control for which he aims.
+
+The usual cause of stage-fright is exaggerated self-consciousness. The
+sufferer from stage-fright can hardly fail to be a worrier. A certain
+shyness, it would seem, may also result from too acute a consciousness of
+one's audience, as in the case of Tennyson, whom Benson quotes thus:
+
+"I am never the least shy before great men. Each of them has a personality
+for which he or she is responsible; but before a crowd which consists of
+many personalities, of which I know nothing, I am infinitely shy. The great
+orator cares nothing about all this. I think of the good man, and the bad
+man, and the mad man, that may be among them, and can say nothing. _He_
+takes them all as one man. _He_ sways them as one man."
+
+This, I take it, hardly spelled stage-fright. At the same time, it
+is improbable that one so sensitive to criticism meant to convey the
+impression that it was of his audience alone he thought in shrinking from
+the effort.
+
+It appears that Washington Irving suffered from actual stage-fright.
+
+In the Library edition of Irving's works appears the following anecdote
+from the reminiscences of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, then a young woman of
+twenty-three:
+
+"I was present, with other ladies, at a public dinner given in honor of
+Charles Dickens by prominent citizens of New York. The ladies were not
+bidden to the feast, but were allowed to occupy a small ante-room which,
+through an open door, commanded a view of the tables. When the speaking was
+about to begin, a message came suggesting that we take possession of some
+vacant seats at the great table. This we were glad to do. Washington
+Irving was president of the evening, and upon him devolved the duty of
+inaugurating the proceedings by an address of welcome to the distinguished
+guest. People who sat near me whispered, 'He'll break down,--he always
+does.' Mr. Irving rose and uttered a sentence or two. His friends
+interrupted him by applause, which was intended to encourage him, but which
+entirely overthrew his self-possession. He hesitated, stammered, and sat
+down, saying, 'I cannot go on.'"
+
+Cavendish, the chemist, suffered from a constitutional shyness attributable
+only to self-consciousness. He is said to have carried so far his aversion
+to contact with others, outside of his colleagues, that his dinner was
+always ordered by means of a note, and instant dismissal awaited the female
+domestic who should venture within his range of vision.
+
+Lombroso cites, among his "Men of Genius," quite a list--Corneille,
+Descartes, Virgil, Addison, La Fontaine, Dryden, Manzoni, and Newton--of
+those who could not express themselves in public. Whatever part
+self-consciousness played in the individual case, we must class the
+peculiarity among the defects, not signs, of genius. "A tender heel makes
+no man an Achilles."
+
+To the second faulty habit, obsession, I wish to devote special attention.
+This word we have already defined as an unduly insistent and compulsive
+thought, habit of mind, or tendency to action. The person so burdened is
+said to be obsessed.
+
+Few children are quite free from obsession. Some must step on stones;
+others must walk on, or avoid, cracks; some must ascend the stairs with the
+right foot first; many must kick posts or touch objects a certain number of
+times. Some must count the windows, pictures, and figures on the wallpaper;
+some must bite the nails or pull the eye-winkers. Consider the nail-biter.
+It cannot be said that he toils not, but to what end? Merely to gratify an
+obsession. He nibbles a little here and a little there, he frowns, elevates
+his elbow, and inverts his finger to reach an otherwise inaccessible
+corner. Does he enjoy it? No, not exactly; but he would be miserable if he
+discontinued.
+
+An unusual, but characteristic obsession is told by a lady in describing
+her own childhood. She thought that on retiring she must touch nothing with
+her hands, after she had washed them, until she touched the inside of the
+sheets. In case she failed she must return and wash the hands again. The
+resulting manoeuvres are still fresh in her mind, particularly when her
+sister had preceded her to bed and she had to climb the footboard.
+
+It is during childhood that we form most of the automatic habits which are
+to save time and thought in later life, and it is not surprising that some
+foolish habits creep in. As a rule, children drop these tendencies at need,
+just as they drop the roles assumed in play, though they are sometimes so
+absorbing as to cause inconvenience. An interesting instance was that of
+the boy who had to touch every one wearing anything red. On one occasion
+his whole family lost their train because of the prevalence of this color
+among those waiting in the station.
+
+The longer these tendencies are retained in adult life, the greater the
+danger of their becoming coercive; and so far as the well-established case
+is concerned the obsessive act must be performed, though the business,
+social, and political world should come to a stand-still. Among the stories
+told in illustration of compulsive tendency in the great, may be instanced
+the touching of posts, and the placing of a certain foot first, in the
+case of Dr. Johnson, who, it appears, would actually retrace his steps and
+repeat the act which failed to satisfy his requirements, with the air of
+one with something off his mind.
+
+A child who must kick posts is father to the man who cannot eat an egg
+which has been boiled either more or less than four minutes; who cannot
+work without absolute silence; who cannot sleep if steam-pipes crackle; and
+who must straighten out all the tangles of his life, past, present, and
+future, before he can close his eyes in slumber or take a vacation. The boy
+Carlyle, proud, shy, sensitive, and pugnacious, was father to the man who
+made war upon the neighbor's poultry, and had a room, proof against sound,
+specially constructed for his literary labors.
+
+The passive obsessions are peculiarly provocative of worry. Such are
+extreme aversions to certain animals, foods, smells, sounds, and sights, or
+insistent discomfort if affairs are not ordered to our liking. A gentleman
+once told me that at the concert he did not mind if his neighbor followed
+the score, but when he consulted his programme during the performance it
+distressed him greatly.
+
+Such instances illustrate the fact that when our obsessions rule us it is
+not the noise or the sight, but our idea of the fitness of things, that
+determines the degree of our annoyance. A person who cannot endure the
+crackling of the steam-pipe can listen with pleasure to the crackling of an
+open fire or the noise of a running brook.
+
+It is said that the sensitive and emotional Erasmus had so delicate a
+digestion that he could neither eat fish nor endure the smell of it; but
+we are led to suspect that obsession played a part in his troubles when we
+further learn that he could not bear an iron stove in the room in which he
+worked, but had to have either a porcelain stove or an open fire.
+
+If we can trust the sources from which Charles Reade drew his deductions
+regarding the character of the parental stock, Erasmus came fairly by his
+sensitive disposition. In "The Cloister and the Hearth" we find the father
+of Erasmus, fleeing from his native land, in fear of his life on account of
+a crime he thought he had committed, frozen, famished and exhausted, unable
+to enter the door of a friendly inn on account of his aversion to the
+issuing odors. Forced by his sufferings at last to enter the inn, he visits
+each corner in turn, analyzing its peculiar smell and choosing finally the
+one which seems to him the least obnoxious.
+
+I have heard somewhere, but cannot place, the story of a prominent writer
+who was so disturbed by the mechanical lawn-mower of his neighbor that he
+insisted upon the privilege of defraying the expense of its replacement by
+the scythe.
+
+Peculiar sensitiveness to sights, sounds and smells seems to be a common
+attribute of genius. This sort of sensitiveness has even been credited with
+being the main-spring of genius, but it is improbable that the curbing of
+such aversions would in any way endanger it. However this may be, such
+supersensitiveness ill becomes the rest of us, and these extreme aversions
+surely clog, rather than accelerate, our efforts.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+The natural tendency of the healthy mind is to accustom itself to new
+sensations, as the ring on the finger, or the spectacles on the nose. The
+obsessive individual resists this tendency; he starts with the fixed idea
+that he cannot stand the annoyance, his resentment increases, and his
+sensations become more, instead of less, acute. His reaction to criticism,
+slight, and ridicule is similar; he is prepared to start, blush, and show
+anger on moderate provocation, and can often reproduce both the sensation
+and its accompanying physical signs by merely recalling the circumstance.
+
+The passive as well as the active obsessions can be overcome by cultivating
+the commonplace, or average normal, attitude, and resolving gradually to
+accustom one's self to the disagreeable. This change of attitude can be
+made in adult life as well as in youth. "You cannot teach an old dog new
+tricks," we are told. The reason is not that the old dog cannot learn them,
+but that he does not want to. I met in Germany a British matron who was
+obsessed with the belief that she could not learn the language. At the
+end of four years' sojourn she entered a store and asked the price of an
+article.
+
+"Four marks," was the answer.
+
+"How much in English money?" she inquired.
+
+"Why, madam, a mark is the same as a shilling."
+
+"I don't know anything about that; how much is it in English?"
+
+"Four shillings."
+
+"Ah, quite so; you might have told me at once."
+
+Experience has shown that no time in life precludes the acquirement of
+new knowledge and new habits by one who thinks it worth while to make the
+attempt. The elderly person will be surprised at his progress if he will
+bring to bear upon a new subject a mind free from doubts of its usefulness,
+doubts of his own ability, worry lest he is wasting valuable time, regrets
+for the past and plans for the future.
+
+It is not always possible to say just where useful habit merges into
+obsession. A certain individual, we will say, invariably puts on the
+left shoe before the right. This is a useful habit, fixed by constant
+repetition, useful because it relieves the brain of conscious effort. But
+suppose he decides some morning to put on the right shoe before the left;
+this new order so offends his sense of the fitness of things that he finds
+it hard to proceed; if he perseveres, his feet feel wrong to him; the
+discomfort grows until finally he is impelled to remove the shoes and
+replace them in the usual order. In this case an act which started as a
+useful habit has been replaced by an obsession.
+
+Suppose, again, a person obsessed by the fear of poison is prevented from
+washing his hands before eating. He sits down, perhaps, fully intending to
+proceed as if nothing had happened, but the thought occurs to him that he
+may have touched something poisonous, though his reason tells him this
+is most improbable. He reviews the events of the day and can find no
+suggestion of poison; still the thought of poison obtrudes itself, and he
+finds it impossible to put anything which he touches into his mouth. He
+next wonders if he has not already put something into his mouth. This
+thought produces a mental panic, the blood mounts to his head, he becomes
+incapable of coherent thought or speech, and the task of finishing his
+dinner would now be beyond his power even if he had not lost all taste for
+it.
+
+Such illustrations of obsession in daily life, by no means rare, could be
+multiplied indefinitely, and may be perhaps better appreciated than the
+text-book illustration of the man who neglected to flick off with his whip
+a certain stone from the top of a wall, and who could not sleep until he
+had returned to the spot and performed the act.
+
+Suppose a man has always worn high boots and is accustomed to a feeling of
+warmth about the ankles. The desire for warm ankles may finally so dominate
+him that he not only cannot wear low shoes in mid-summer, but he cannot
+wear slippers, even in a warm room; and finally, perhaps, finds that he
+must wear woollen socks to bed. By this time the desire for a certain
+sensation is in a fair way to become an obsession. When you assure him that
+many wear low shoes throughout the winter, he asks if their ankles really
+feel warm. That is not the question. The question is, can one accustom
+himself to the ankles feeling cool, just as he accustoms himself to his
+face feeling cool. If he can, he has conquered a sensory obsession, and has
+made a step toward fitting himself to meet more serious vicissitudes with
+equanimity.
+
+Similar instances can be adduced in all realms of sensation, both general
+and special. One person cannot bear the light, and wears blue glasses;
+another cannot breathe out-door air, and wears a respirator; another cannot
+bear to see a person rock or to hear a person drum.
+
+If a family or circle of friends is so constituted that some are obsessed
+to _do_ certain things and others are obsessed _not to stand them_ the
+foundation is laid for a degree of irritability inconsistent with mental
+health. Mrs. X. simply cannot stand hearing Mr. X. tap the floor, and if he
+continues, her discomfort becomes acute; the sound so dominates her that
+she can think of nothing else and can accomplish nothing until the sound is
+stopped. She can stand _anything_ but _that_. The daughter, Miss X., hardly
+hears the tapping, and is irritated and impatient to the last degree on
+account of her mother's "silly" notion. What Miss X. simply cannot bear is
+hearing her brother continually clear his throat, and if he does not stop
+she must leave the room or "go wild." Unfortunately, meantime, Mr. X. is so
+obsessed to tap the floor that he cannot follow his task without it, and
+Master X. _must_ clear his throat every few moments with a peculiar note
+because he "has catarrh."
+
+Here we have a common starting-point for family discomfort, and here we
+have a clue to the advice of the physician who advises isolation as a step
+toward the cure of the member of the family who first breaks down, not
+simply under the stress of occupation, but of occupation plus the wear and
+tear of minor but constant sources of irritation.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is said that the victim of jiu jitsu, by breaking one hold, places
+himself in the greater danger from the next. Similarly, after having
+conquered a few obsessions, one is overwhelmed with the obsession to set
+every one straight. Soukanhoff was right in warning the obsessive to beware
+of pedantry.
+
+The question here presents itself whether this line of thought does not
+foster, rather than lessen, the pedantry and the self-study which it is
+intended to combat. Why not simply drop the worry and the doubt without
+further argument? The difficulty is that the mental processes of the
+over-scrupulous person are such that he cannot summarily drop a habit of
+thought. He must reason himself out of it. There is no limit to his ability
+if properly directed; he can gradually modify all his faulty tendencies,
+and may even finally acquire the habit of automatically dismissing worry,
+but it would be too much to expect that he suddenly change his very nature
+at command.
+
+Soukanhoff's description of obsessives is peculiarly apt: "over-scrupulous,
+disquieted over trifles, indecisive in action, and anxious about their
+affairs. They are given early to morbid introspection, and are easily
+worried about their own indispositions or the illnesses of their friends.
+They are often timorous and apprehensive, and prone to pedantism. The
+moral sentiments are pronounced in most cases, and if they are, as a rule,
+somewhat exigent and egotistic, they have a lively sense of their own
+defects."
+
+A common obsession is the compulsion to dwell upon the past, to reproduce
+the circumstances, and painfully to retrace the steps which we took in
+coming to an erroneous decision which led to a foolish, unnecessary, or
+perhaps even a wrong decision. One of my earliest impressions in golf was
+the remark of a veteran who was good enough to make a round with me. "If
+I had only approached better, I should have made that hole in five," I
+remarked, after taking seven strokes for a hole.
+
+"Perhaps not," he replied; "if you had _approached better_, perhaps you
+would have _putted worse_ and taken _eight_ strokes for the hole. At all
+events, that hole is ancient history now, and you will play this one better
+if you leave that one alone."
+
+He little realized how many times his advice would recur to me elsewhere
+than on the links. Retrospective worry can be absolutely eliminated from
+the most obsessive mind by the practice of the veteran's philosophy.
+
+Mercier says the greatest intellectual gift is the ability to forget.
+
+The conscientious self-analyst spends too much time in weighing his ability
+or inability to perform some task. Between his fear, his worry over the
+past, and his indecision whether the task should be attempted, he starts
+with an overwhelming handicap. If he learns to say, "Other people fail;
+it will not matter if I do this time," he will find the task already half
+accomplished.
+
+The Rev. Francis Tiffany has observed that if a ship could think, and
+should imagine itself submerged by all the waves between here and Europe,
+it would dread to leave its moorings; but in reality it has to meet but one
+wave at a time.
+
+The tendency of the average American in this bustling age, whether he is
+obsessive or not, is to live at least several hours in advance. On the
+train he takes no comfort and makes no observations, for his mind is upon
+his destination rather than on his journey.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+Though the immediate object of these chapters is the promotion of the
+mental, and indirectly the physical, health of the individual, I cannot
+forbear referring to the effect of this training on the position of the
+individual in society and his relation toward his surroundings.
+
+The endeavor to overcome obsessions is likely to be ignored by two classes:
+the self-centered individuals who see no reason for learning what they do
+not want to learn, and the individuals who have no time for, or interest
+in, self-training because of absorption in subjects of wider relation, as
+art, or science, or reform. The philosophy of Haeckel applies to both:
+
+"Man belongs to the social vertebrates, and has, therefore, like all social
+animals, two sets of duties--first to himself, and secondly to the society
+to which he belongs. The former are the behests of self-love, or egoism,
+the latter love for one's fellows, or altruism. The two sets of precepts
+are equally just, equally natural, and equally indispensable. If a man
+desires to have the advantage of living in an organized community, he has
+to consult not only his own fortune, but also that of the society, and of
+the 'neighbors' who form the society. He must realize that its prosperity
+is his own prosperity, and that it cannot suffer without his own injury."
+
+The individual who is ruled by his obsessions not only paves the way for
+needless and ultimate breakdown, but is in danger of gradually narrowing
+his field of usefulness and pleasure until he is in little better case than
+Simeon Stylites, who spent nearly half a century on the top of a monument.
+Nor has he even Simeon's consolation that he could come down if he chose;
+for it seems that the authorities sent messengers demanding his return,
+with orders to let him stay if he showed willingness to come down--and he
+stayed.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE DOUBTING FOLLY
+
+_Jatgeir_. I needed sorrow; others there may be who need faith, or joy--or
+doubt--
+
+_King Skule_. Doubt as well?
+
+_Jatgeir_. Ay; but then must the doubter be strong and sound.
+
+_King Skule_. And whom call you the unsound doubter?
+
+_Jatgeir_. He who doubts of his own doubt.
+
+_King Skule_ (slowly). That methinks were death.
+
+_Jatgeir_. 'T is worse; 't is neither day nor night.
+
+_King Skule_ (quickly, as if shaking off his thoughts). Where are my
+weapons? I will fight and act, not think.
+
+IBSEN: _The Pretenders_, Act iv.
+
+
+A gentleman once told me that he rarely passed another in the street
+without wondering if he had not accosted him in an improper manner. He knew
+very well that he had not, but the more he dwelt upon the possibility, the
+more doubtful he became, until the impulse to settle the question became
+so strong that he would retrace his steps and inquire. He asked if _nux
+vomica_ would help this trouble! I told him he needed mental training.
+
+"I have tried that," he answered. "I keep saying to myself, 'I will not
+think of it,' but it is no use; my head becomes hot, my sight blurred, my
+thoughts confused, and the only relief I find is to settle the question."
+
+I tried to point out the direction in which he was tending, and told him he
+must remind himself that even if he had accosted another improperly, it was
+a trifling matter compared to the injury to himself of giving way to this
+compulsion; moreover, the impression he would make upon the other by going
+back would be even worse than that of having so accosted him; and, finally,
+he must dwell upon the _probability_ that he had not offended the man,
+instead of the _possibility_ that he had. Having pursued this line of
+thought, he must force himself to think of something else until the
+besetting impulse was obliterated. I suggested that if a baseball player
+should become incapacitated for the game, he would not lessen his
+disappointment by reiterating, "I will not think of baseball," but if he
+persistently turned his thoughts and his practice to billiards he might in
+time forget baseball.
+
+"I never played baseball," he replied, "and don't even know the rules."
+
+This represents an extreme case of "doubting folly" a case in which the
+victim could no longer concentrate his thoughts on the simplest proposition
+outside the narrow circle to which his doubts had restricted him.
+
+If we once allow ourselves to wonder whether we have turned off the
+water, enclosed the check, or mailed the letter, it is but a step to an
+uncomfortable frame of mind which can be relieved only by investigating the
+matter. This compulsion once acceded to, it becomes more and more easy to
+succumb. The next step is to blur, by constant repetition, the mental image
+of the act. In extreme cases the doubter, after turning the gas on and off
+a dozen times, is finally in doubt whether he can trust his own senses. A
+certain officer in a bank never succeeded in reaching home after closing
+hours without returning to try the door of the bank. Upon finding it
+locked, he would unlock it and disappear within, to open the vault, inspect
+the securities, and lock them up again. I once saw a victim of this form of
+doubt spend at least ten minutes in writing a check, and ten minutes more
+inspecting it, and, after all, he had spelled his own name wrong!
+
+Constant supervision only impairs acts which should have become automatic.
+We have all heard of the centipede who could no longer proceed upon his
+journey when it occurred to him to question which foot he should next
+advance.
+
+To other doubts are often added the doubt of one's own mental balance;
+but it is a long step from these faulty habits of mind to real mental
+unbalance, which involves an inability to plan and carry out a line of
+conduct consistent with one's station.
+
+It took a young man at least fifteen minutes, in my presence, to button his
+waistcoat. He felt the lower button to reassure himself, then proceeded
+to the next. He then returned to the lower one, either distrusting his
+previous observation, or fearing it had become unbuttoned. He then held the
+lower two with one hand while he buttoned the third with the other. When
+this point was reached he called his sight to the aid of his feeling, and
+glued his eyes to the lower while he buttoned the upper, unbuttoning many
+meantime, to assure himself that he had buttoned them. This young man said
+he would sometimes stop on his way to the store in doubt whether he was
+on the right street, a doubt not quieted either by reading the sign or by
+asking a stranger, because the doubt would obtrude itself whether he could
+trust his sight and his hearing, indeed, whether he was really there or
+dreaming. Even this victim of extreme doubting folly conducted his business
+successfully so long as I knew him, and so comported himself in general as
+to attract no further comment than that he was "fussy."
+
+These doubts lead to chronic indecision. How often, in deciding which of
+two tasks to take up, we waste the time which would have sufficed for the
+accomplishment of one, if not both.
+
+The doubt and the indecision result directly from over-conscientiousness.
+It is because of an undue anxiety to do the right thing, even in trivial
+matters, that the doubter ponders indefinitely over the proper sequence of
+two equally important (or unimportant) tasks. In the majority of instances
+it is the right thing for _him_ to pounce upon _either_. If he pounces
+upon the wrong one, and completes it without misgiving, he has at least
+accomplished something in the way of mental training. The chances are,
+moreover, that the harm done by doing the wrong thing first was not to be
+compared to the harm of giving way to his doubt, and either drifting into
+a state of ineffective revery or fretting himself into a frenzy of anxious
+uncertainty.
+
+A gentleman once told me that after mailing a letter he would often linger
+about the box until the postman arrived, and ask permission to inspect
+his letter, ostensibly to see if he had put on the stamp, but in fact to
+reassure himself that he had really mailed the missive, although he knew
+perfectly well that he had done so. The life of the chronic doubter is
+full of these small deceits, though in most matters such persons are
+exceptionally conscientious.
+
+This form of over-solicitude is peculiarly liable to attack those in whose
+hands are important affairs affecting the finances, the lives, or the
+health of others. I have known more than one case of the abandonment of a
+chosen occupation on account of the constant anxiety entailed by doubts of
+this nature. Nor are these doubts limited to the question whether one has
+done or left undone some particular act. An equally insistent doubt is that
+regarding one's general fitness for the undertaking. _The doubter may spend
+upon this question more time than it would take to acquire the needed
+facility and experience_.
+
+Some one has said there are two things that no one should worry about:
+first, the thing that can't be helped; second, the thing that can. This is
+peculiarly true of the former.
+
+Reflection upon the past is wise; solicitude concerning it is an
+anachronism. Suppose one has accepted a certain position and finds himself
+in doubt of his fitness for that position. Nothing can be more important
+than for him to decide upon his next line of conduct. Shall he resign
+or continue? Is he fit for the position, or, if not, can he acquire the
+fitness without detriment to the office? These are legitimate doubts. But
+the doubter who finds himself in this predicament adds to these legitimate
+doubts the question, "Ought I to have accepted the office?" This is the
+doubt he must learn to eliminate. He must remind himself that he has
+accepted the position, whether rightly or wrongly, and that the acceptance
+is ancient history. The question what shall he do next is sufficiently
+weighty to occupy all his attention without loading his mind with anxious
+doubts regarding the irrevocable past.
+
+Suppose, in fact, the doubter has made a mistake; how shall he banish the
+worry? By reminding himself that others have made mistakes, why should not
+he, and that it is somewhat egotistic on his part to insist that, whatever
+others may do, _he_ must do everything right. If this line of reasoning
+fails to console him, let him think of the greater mistakes he might have
+made. A financial magnate was once asked how he succeeded in keeping his
+mind free from worry. He replied, by contemplating the two worst things
+that could happen to him: losing all his property and going to jail. He had
+learned the lesson that _one thought can be driven out only by another_.
+
+With regard to immediate doubts. If the over-scrupulous business or
+professional man, worn out after an exacting day's work, will stop and
+reflect, he will realize that much of his exhaustion is due to his having
+filled the day with such doubts as whether he is doing the wrong thing, or
+the right thing at the wrong time, whether he or someone else will miss an
+appointment or fail to meet obligations, and whether he or his assistants
+may make blunders.
+
+Let him resolve some morning that he will proceed that day from task to
+task without allowing such thoughts to intrude. If he does so he will find
+that he has succeeded in his work at least as well as usual, and that he is
+comparatively fresh in the evening.
+
+Why not try this every day?
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+So far we have only considered the most obvious and simple among the
+evidences of doubting folly. A still more obstinate tendency of the doubter
+is the insistent habit interminably to argue over the simplest proposition,
+particularly regarding matters pertaining to the health, comfort, and life
+of the individual himself. A certain patient, of this type, attempts to
+describe to his physician a peculiar, hitherto undescribed, and even now
+indescribable sensation "through his right lung." He traces this sensation
+to what he believes to have been the absorption of a poison some years ago.
+His line of reasoning is somewhat as follows: 1. The drug was a poison. 2.
+If he absorbed it he must have been poisoned. 3. If he was poisoned then,
+he is poisoned now. 4. There is no proof that such a poison cannot produce
+such a sensation. 5. He has the sensation. Conclusion: He is suffering from
+poison. In support of this proposition he will spend hours with anyone
+who will listen. The physician who allows himself to be drawn into the
+controversy speedily finds himself, instead of giving advice to listening
+ears, involved in a battle of wits in which he is quite likely to come
+off second best. He assures the patient, for example, that, as far as
+scientific methods can establish the fact, the lung is sound.
+
+"But has science established everything? And if it had, is such negative
+evidence to be weighed against the positive evidence of the sensation in my
+lung?"
+
+"But the sensation may not be in your lung."
+
+"Can you prove that it is _not_ in my lung?" Folly scores!
+
+On being urged to direct his attention to some other part of his body, he
+promptly inquires,
+
+"How can I direct my thoughts elsewhere, when the sensation is there to
+occupy my attention?" Obviously he can not without changing his mental
+attitude, so folly scores again.
+
+He is assured that if the poison had been absorbed the effects would have
+passed away long before this time.
+
+"But do the effects of poison _always_ pass away? And can you _prove_ that
+they have passed away in my case? Is not the sensation positive evidence,
+since you have allowed that you cannot prove that the sensation does _not_
+come from the poison?"
+
+Folly scores again, but the victory is an empty one. The vicious circle
+continues: Attention magnifies sensation--sensation produces fear--fear
+increases attention; and throughout runs the insistent thought that his
+sensations shall conform to his ideal.
+
+If the discussion of such comparatively tangible matters can occupy a large
+part of one's attention, imagine the result of the insistent desire, on the
+part of the doubter, to solve such problems as "What is thought?" "What is
+existence?"
+
+If the windings of this intellectual labyrinth have not too far involved
+us, we have only to recognize the futility of such arguments, and exercise
+our will-power in the right direction. If we can bring ourselves to take
+the initiative, it is as easy to step out of the vicious circle, as for
+the squirrel to leave his wheel. But unless we grasp the logic of the
+situation, and take this initiative, no amount of abuse, persuasion, or
+ridicule will effect our freedom.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+A word may be in place regarding the anthropological status of the doubting
+folly and allied mental states. Men of genius have suffered from them all.
+A long list may be found in Lombroso's "Man of Genius." Under _folie du
+doute_ we find, for example, Tolstoi, Manzoni, Flaubert and Amiel.
+
+Lombroso regards genius as degenerative, and places among the signs of
+degeneration, deviations from the average normal, whether physical or
+mental. This plan has been quite generally followed. The nomenclature seems
+to me unfortunate and hardly justified by the facts. I can think of no more
+potent objection to such inclusive use of the term degenerate, than the
+fact that Lombroso includes, under the signs of degeneration, the enormous
+development of the cerebral speech-area in the case of an accomplished
+orator. If such evolutional spurts are to be deemed degenerative, the fate
+of the four-leaved clover is sealed.
+
+The application of the term degeneration may be, and should be, it seems
+to me, limited to the signs, whether physical or mental, which indicate an
+obviously downward tendency. I have elsewhere suggested, and the suggestion
+has already found some acceptance, that when the variation is not
+definitely downward, _deviation_ and _deviate_ be substituted for the
+unnecessarily opprobrious and often inappropriate terms, _degeneration_ and
+_degenerate_.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+HYPOCHONDRIA
+
+Il marche, dort, mange et boit comme tous les autres; mais cela n'empeche
+pas qu'il soit fort malade.
+
+MOLIERE: _Le Malade imaginaire_.
+
+
+The victim of hypochondria may present the picture of health, or may have
+some real ill regarding which he is unduly anxious. His consultation with
+a physician is likely to be preceded by letters explaining his exact
+condition, naming his various consultants and describing the various
+remedies he has taken. At the time of his visit notes are consulted, lest
+some detail be omitted. In his description anatomical terms abound; thus,
+he has pain in his lungs, heart, or kidney, not in his chest or back.
+Demonstration by the physician of the soundness of these organs is met by
+argument, at which the hypochondriac is generally adept.
+
+The suggestion that the hypochondriac devotes undue attention to his own
+condition is met by him with indignant denial. Proposals that he should
+exercise, travel, engage in games, or otherwise occupy himself, fall on
+deaf ears, but he is always ready to try a new drug. If a medicine is found
+with whose ingredients the patient is not already familiar, its use is
+likely to produce a beneficial effect for a few days, after which the old
+complaint returns.
+
+The case has come to my attention of a young man who, for fear of taking
+cold, remains in bed, with the windows of the room tightly closed and a
+fire constantly burning. He has allowed his hair to grow until it reaches
+his waist, he is covered with several blankets, wears underclothing under
+his nightshirt, and refuses to extend his wrist from under the bed-clothes
+to have his pulse taken.
+
+Such faulty mental habits in minor degree are common. There are those who
+will not drink from a bottle without first inspecting its mouth for flakes
+of glass; some will not smoke a cigar which has been touched by another
+since leaving the factory; some will not shake hands if it can possibly be
+avoided; another pads his clothing lest he injure himself in falling. Many
+decline to share the occupations and pleasures of others through fear of
+possible wet feet, drafts of air, exhaustion, or other calamity. Such
+tendencies, though falling short of hypochondria, pave the way for it, and,
+in any event, gradually narrow the sphere of usefulness and pleasure.
+
+No part of the body is exempt from the fears of the hypochondriac, but he
+is prone to centre his attention upon the obscure and inaccessible organs.
+The anecdote is told of a physician who had a patient of this type--a
+robust woman who was never without a long list of ailments. The last time
+she sent for the doctor, he lost patience with her. As she was telling him
+how she was suffering from rheumatism, sore throat, nervous indigestion,
+heart-burn, pains in the back of the head, and what not, he interrupted
+her:
+
+"Ah," he said in an admiring tone, "what splendid health you must have in
+order to be able to stand all these complaints!"
+
+The phobias are so closely allied to hypochondria that it will not be out
+of place to discuss them here. A phobia is an insistent and engrossing
+fear, without adequate cause as judged by ordinary standards. Familiar
+instances are fear of open places (agoraphobia), fear of closed places
+(claustrophobia), and fear of contamination (mysophobia).
+
+The sufferer from agoraphobia cannot bring himself to cross alone an open
+field or square. The sufferer from claustrophobia will invent any excuse
+to avoid an elevator or the theatre. When a certain lady was asked if she
+disliked to go to the theatre or church, she answered, "Not at all, but of
+course I like to have one foot in the aisle; I suppose everyone does that."
+
+The victim of mysophobia will wash the hands after touching any object,
+and will, so far as possible, avoid touching objects which he thinks may
+possibly convey infection. Some use tissue paper to turn the door-knob,
+some extract coins from the pocket-book with pincers. I have seen a lady in
+a public conveyance carefully open a piece of paper containing her fare,
+pour the money into the conductor's hand, carefully fold up the paper so
+that she should not touch the inside, and afterwards drop it from the tips
+of her fingers into a rubbish barrel.
+
+The case of a nurse who was dominated by fear of infection has come to my
+attention. If her handkerchief touched the table it was discarded. She
+became very adept at moving objects about with her elbows, was finally
+reduced to helplessness and had to be cared for by others.
+
+Unreasoning fear of one or another mode of conveyance is not rare. It is
+said that Rossini found it impossible to travel by rail, and that the
+attempt of a friend to accustom him to it resulted in an attack of
+faintness (Lombroso).
+
+The sufferer himself realizes, in such cases, that there is no reason in
+his fear--he knows he can undergo greater dangers with equanimity. Even
+doubting folly finds no answer to the question why should this danger be
+shunned and that accepted. The nearest approach to an answer is "I can't,"
+which really means "I haven't."
+
+The origin of the phobia is not always clear, but given the necessary
+susceptibility, circumstances doubtless dictate the direction the phobia
+shall take. A startling personal experience, or even reading or hearing of
+such an experience may start the fear which the insistent thought finally
+moulds into a fixed habit.
+
+To the hypochondriac who concentrates his attention upon the digestive
+tract, this part of his body occupies the foreground of all his thoughts.
+He exaggerates its delicacy of structure and the serious consequences of
+disturbing it even by an attack of indigestion. A patient to whom a certain
+fruit was suggested said he could not eat it. Asked what the effect would
+be, he answered that he did not know, he had not eaten any for twenty years
+and dared not risk the experiment.
+
+Extreme antipathies to various foods are fostered among this class. A lady
+told me that she perfectly abominated cereals, that she could not stand
+vegetables, that she could not bear anything in the shape of an apple, that
+she could not abide spinach, and that baked beans made her sick at the
+stomach.
+
+The heart is perhaps the organ most often the object of solicitude on the
+part of the hypochondriac. When we realize that the pulse may vary in the
+healthy individual from 60 to over 100, according to circumstances, and
+that mere excitement may send it to the latter figure, we may appreciate
+the feelings of one who counts his pulse at frequent intervals and is
+alarmed if it varies from a given figure.
+
+Inspection of the tongue is a common occupation of the hypochondriac, who
+is generally more familiar than his medical attendant with the anatomy of
+this organ.
+
+Insistent desire regarding the temperature is common not only among
+hypochondriacs, but among others. I do not allude to the internal
+temperature (though I have been surprised to learn how many people carry a
+clinical thermometer and use it on themselves from time to time); I refer
+to the temperature of the room or of the outside air. The wish to feel a
+certain degree of warmth is so overpowering in some cases that neither work
+nor play can be carried on unless the thermometer registers the desired
+figure. A person with this tendency does not venture to mail a letter
+without donning hat and overcoat; the mere thought of a cold bath causes
+him to shudder.
+
+Golf has cured many a victim of this obsession. It takes only a few games
+to teach the most delicately constructed that he can remain for hours in
+his shirt-sleeves on quite a cold day, and that the cold shower (preferably
+preceded by a warm one) invigorates instead of depresses him. Further
+experiment will convince him that he can wear thin underwear and low shoes
+all winter. Such experiences may encourage him to risk a cold plunge in
+the morning, followed by a brisk rub and a few simple exercises before
+dressing.
+
+Morbid fears in themselves produce physical manifestations which add to the
+discomfort and alarm of the hypochondriac. I allude to the rush of blood
+to the head, the chill, the mental confusion, and the palpitation. These
+symptoms are perfectly harmless, and denote only normal circulatory
+changes. It is true that one cannot at will materially alter his
+circulation, but he can do so gradually by habit of thought. To convince
+ourselves of this fact, we need only remember to what a degree blushing
+becomes modified by change of mental attitude. Similarly, the person who
+has practiced mental and physical relaxation will find that the blood
+no longer rushes to his head upon hearing a criticism or remembering a
+possible source of worry.
+
+The automatic processes of the body are in general performed best when the
+attention is directed elsewhere. After ordinary care is taken, too minute
+attention to the digestive apparatus, for example, may retard rather than
+aid it. Watching the digestion too closely is like pulling up seeds to see
+if they are growing.
+
+The more attention is paid to the sensations, the more they demand. Nor can
+the degree of attention they deserve be measured by their own insistence.
+If one tries the experiment of thinking intently of the end of his thumb,
+and imagines it is going to sleep, the chances are ten to one that in five
+minutes it will have all the sensations of going to sleep. If this is true
+of the healthy-minded individual, how much more must it be so in the person
+who allows his thoughts to dwell with anxious attention on such parts of
+his body as may be the immediate seat of his fears. The next step is for
+various sensations (boring, burning, prickling, stabbing, and the like)
+to appear spontaneously, and, if attention is paid to them, rapidly to
+increase in intensity.
+
+It is probable that the mere pressure of part upon part in the body, even
+the ordinary activity of its organs, would give rise to sensations if we
+encouraged them. Given an anomalous sensation, or even a pain, for which
+the physician finds no physical basis, and which, after a term of years,
+has produced no further appreciable effect than to make one nervous, it is
+always in place to ask one's self whether the sensation or the pain may not
+be of this nature.
+
+Medical instructors are continually consulted by students who fear that
+they have the diseases they are studying. The knowledge that pneumonia
+produces pain in a certain spot leads to a concentration of attention
+upon that region which causes any sensation there to give alarm. The mere
+knowledge of the location of the appendix transforms the most harmless
+sensations in that region into symptoms of serious menace. The sensible
+student learns to quiet these fears, but the victim of "hypos" returns
+again and again for examination, and perhaps finally reaches the point of
+imparting, instead of obtaining, information, like the patient in a recent
+anecdote from the _Youth's Companion_:
+
+It seems that a man who was constantly changing physicians at last called
+in a young doctor who was just beginning his practice.
+
+"I lose my breath when I climb a hill or a steep flight of stairs," said
+the patient. "If I hurry, I often get a sharp pain in my side. Those are
+the symptoms of a serious heart trouble."
+
+"Not necessarily, sir," began the physician, but he was interrupted.
+
+"I beg your pardon!" said the patient irritably. "It isn't for a young
+physician like you to disagree with an old and experienced invalid like me,
+sir!"
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+There is no absolute standard for the proper degree of solicitude regarding
+one's health, but if the habitual invalid possess a physique which would
+not preclude the average normal individual from being out and about, even
+at the expense of a pain, a stomach ache, or a cold, there is probably a
+hypochondriacal element in the case. It is a question of adjustment of
+effect to cause.
+
+The term "imaginary" is too loosely applied to the sensations of the
+hypochondriac. This designation is unjustified, and only irritates the
+sufferer, rouses his antagonism, and undermines his confidence in the
+judgment of his adviser. He knows that the sensations are there. To call
+them imaginary is like telling one who inspects an insect through
+a microscope that the claws do not look enormous; they _do_ look
+enormous--through the microscope--but this does not make them so. The
+worrier must learn to realize that he is looking at his sensations, as he
+does everything else, _through a microscope_.
+
+If a person living near a waterfall ignores the sound, he soon ceases to
+notice it, but if he listens for it, it increases, and becomes finally
+unbearable. Common sense teaches him to concentrate his attention
+elsewhere; similarly, it demands that the victim of "hypos" disregard his
+various sensations and devote his attention to outside affairs, unless the
+sensations are accompanied by obvious physical signs. Instead of running
+to the doctor, let him _do_ something--ride horseback, play golf, anything
+requiring exercise out of doors. Let him devote his entire energy to the
+exercise, and thus substitute the healthy sensations of fatigue and hunger
+for the exaggerated pains and the anomalous sensations which are fostered
+by self-study. Let him remember moreover, that nature will stand an
+enormous amount of outside abuse, but resents being kept under close
+surveillance.
+
+In practicing the neglect of the sensations, one should not allow his mind
+to dwell on the possibility that he is overlooking something serious, but
+rather on the danger of his becoming "hipped," a prey to his own doubts and
+fears, and unable to accomplish anything in life beyond catering to his own
+morbid fancies.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+Turning now to the bibliographic study of hypochondria, an interesting and
+characteristic contrast is offered between Huxley, who called himself
+a hypochondriac, but apparently was not, and Carlyle, who resented the
+imputation, though it apparently had some justification in fact.
+
+With regard to Huxley,--the only basis for the diagnosis hypochondria in
+a given case, is undoubted evidence, by letter or conversation, that the
+question of health is given undue prominence. I have looked carefully
+through the volume of Huxley's letters (published by his son), without
+definitely establishing this diagnosis. The state of his health and the
+question of his personal comfort received comparatively little attention.
+Whatever suffering Huxley endured he seems to have accepted in a
+philosophical and happy spirit, thus:
+
+"It is a bore to be converted into a troublesome invalid even for a few
+weeks, but I comfort myself with my usual reflection on the chances of
+life, 'Lucky it is no worse.' Any impatience would have been checked by
+what I heard about ... this morning ... that he has sunk into hopeless
+idiocy. A man in the prime of life!"
+
+With regard to Carlyle,--it is true, as claimed by Gould (_Biographic
+Clinics_, 1903) that he showed every evidence of eyestrain with resulting
+symptoms, particularly headache. This does not, however, preclude his
+having had hypochondria also, and in view of the violent and reiterated
+complaints running through his letters it seems quite credible that
+Froude's estimate of his condition was not far wrong. Surely, unless
+Carlyle was merely trying his pen without intending to be taken seriously,
+he devoted to the question of health a degree of attention which may be
+fairly adjudged undue.
+
+The first letter I quote (from those cited by Gould in fortifying his
+position) is of special interest as presenting in rather lurid terms
+Carlyle's ideal of health. After reading this letter one cannot help
+suspecting that the discomforts so vividly described in his other letters
+were compared by him with this ideal rather than with those of the average
+individual.
+
+"In the midst of your zeal and ardor,... remember the care of health.... It
+would have been a very great thing for me if I had been able to consider
+that health is a thing to be attended to continually, that you are to
+regard that as the very highest of all temporal things for you. There is no
+kind of achievement you could make in the world that is equal to perfect
+health. What to it are nuggets and millions'? The French financier said
+'Why is there no sleep to be sold!' Sleep was not in the market at any
+quotation.... I find that you could not get any better definition of what
+'holy' really is than 'healthy.' Completely healthy; _mens sana in corpore
+sano_. A man all lucid, and in equilibrium. His intellect a clear mirror
+geometrically plane, brilliantly sensitive to all objects and impressions
+made on it and imaging all things in their correct proportions; not twisted
+up into convex or concave, and distorting everything so that he cannot see
+the truth of the matter, without endless groping and manipulation: healthy,
+clear, and free and discerning truly all around him."
+
+The following extracts illustrate his attitude toward his physical
+shortcomings, whatever they may have been.
+
+... "A prey to nameless struggles and miseries, which have yet a kind of
+horror in them to my thoughts, three weeks without any kind of sleep, from
+impossibility to be free from noise."
+
+"I sleep irregularly here, and feel a little, very little, more than my
+usual share of torture every day. What the cause is would puzzle me
+to explain. I take exercise sufficient daily; I attend with rigorous
+minuteness to the quality of my food; I take all the precautions that I
+can, yet still the disease abates not."
+
+"Ill-health, the most terrific of all miseries."
+
+"Grown sicker and sicker.... I want health, health, health! On this subject
+I am becoming quite furious.... If I do not soon recover, I am miserable
+forever and ever. They talk of the benefit of health from a moral point of
+view. I declare solemnly, without exaggeration, that I impute nine-tenths
+of my present wretchedness, and rather more than nine-tenths of all my
+faults, to this infernal disorder in the stomach."
+
+"Bilious, too, in these smothering windless days."
+
+"Broke down in the park; _konnte_ _nichts mehr_, being sick and weak beyond
+measure."
+
+"Many days of suffering, of darkness, of despondency.... Ill-health has
+much to do with it."
+
+"Occasionally sharp pain (something cutting hard, grasping me around the
+heart).... Something from time to time tying me tight as it were, all
+around the region of the heart, and strange dreams haunting me."
+
+"There is a shivering precipitancy in me, which makes _emotion_ of any kind
+a thing to be shunned. It is my nerves, my nerves.... Such a nervous system
+as I have.... Thomas feeling in his breast for comfort and finding bilious
+fever.... All palpitating, fluttered with sleeplessness and drug-taking,
+etc.... Weary and worn with dull blockheadism, chagrin (next to no sleep
+the night before)."
+
+"A head _full of air_; you know that wretched physical feeling; I had been
+concerned with drugs, had awakened at five, etc. It is absolute martyrdom."
+
+"A huge nightmare of indigestion, insomnia, and fits of black impatience
+with myself and others,--self chiefly.... I am heartily sick of my
+dyspeptic bewilderment and imprisonment."
+
+"Alas! Alas! I ought to be wrapped in cotton wool, and laid in a locked
+drawer at present. I can stand nothing. I am really ashamed of the figure I
+cut."
+
+Froude's statements regarding Carlyle's condition are as follows:
+
+"... The simple natural life, the 'wholesome air, the daily rides or
+drives, the poor food,... had restored completely the functions of a
+stomach never so far wrong as he had imagined.... Afterwards he was always
+impatient, moody, irritable, violent. These humours were in his nature, and
+he could no more be separated from them than his body could leap off its
+shadow.... He looked back to it as the happiest and wholesomest home that
+he had ever known. He could do fully twice as much work there, he said, as
+he could ever do afterwards in London."
+
+"... If his liver occasionally troubled him, livers trouble most of us as
+we advance in life, and his actual constitution was a great deal stronger
+than that of ordinary men.... Why could not Carlyle, with fame and honor
+and troops of friends, and the gates of a great career flung open before
+him, and a great intellect and a conscience untroubled by a single act
+which he need regret, bear and forget too? Why indeed! The only answer is
+that Carlyle was Carlyle."
+
+These observations carry weight as representing the impartial and judicial
+estimate of a careful observer desiring only accurately to picture Carlyle
+as he was. The only logical conclusion, it seems to me, was that Carlyle,
+in addition to ocular defect with its legitimate consequences, was weighed
+down by worry over the failure to realize his own exaggerated ideal of
+health, that he devoted an undue degree of attention to this subject
+and was unduly anxious about it--in other words, that he had decided
+hypochondriacal tendencies.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+NEURASTHENIA
+
+It was a common saying of Myson that men ought not to investigate things
+from words, but words from things; for that things are not made for the
+sake of words, but words for things.
+
+_Diogenes Laertius_.
+
+
+This term (properly, though not commonly, accented upon the penult), was
+introduced by Beard to designate the large class of over-worked and worried
+who crowded his consulting room. The word is derived from the Greek
+_neuron_ nerve, and _astheneia_ weakness.
+
+Among the symptoms of this disorder have been included disorders of
+digestion and circulation, muscular weakness, pains, flushes and chills,
+and anomalous sensations of every variety. It has been especially applied
+to cases showing such mental peculiarities as morbid self-study, fear of
+insanity and the various other phobias, scruples, and doubts with which we
+have become familiar.
+
+The "American Disease" has been adopted abroad, and volumes have been
+devoted to it. Neurasthenia has been divided into cerebral, spinal, and
+otherwise, according as the fears and sensations of the patient are
+referred to one or another part of his body. While the term neurasthenia
+is becoming daily more familiar to the general public, it is being, on the
+whole, used, except as a convenient handle, rather less among neurologists.
+[Footnote: In substantiation of this statement I need only cite the
+recent contribution of my friend, Dr. Dana, on the "Partial Passing
+of Neurasthenia."] The question has arisen whether the symptoms of
+neurasthenia are always due to simple exhaustion. Advice regarding method,
+as well as amount, of work, is coming into vogue. Peterson, in a letter
+published in _Collier's Weekly_ (November 9, 1907) thus arraigns a patient
+who has told him he is a practical business man, and that his mind has been
+so occupied with serious matters that he has been unable to attend to his
+health.
+
+"You, practical! you, a business man! Why, you never had a serious
+thought in your life until now--at least not since you were a lad in the
+country.... Since boyhood you have never given a serious thought to health,
+home, wife, children, education, art, science, racial progress, or to the
+high destiny of man. You are simply a collector of money for its own sake,
+with no appreciation of what it might represent if you were really serious
+and really a business man or man of affairs. There are many like you in
+our asylum wards, where they are known as chronic maniacs. Here is one who
+collects bits of glass, old corks, and pieces of string. There sits another
+with a lap full of pebbles, twigs and straws."
+
+Courtney (in Pyle's "Personal Hygiene") says, "The brain is an organ which,
+under proper training, is capable of performing an immense amount of work,
+provided only that the work is of a varied character and does not produce a
+corresponding amount of mental disquietude. The importance of the emotions,
+especially the depressing emotions such as grief, anxiety, and worry, as
+factors in the brain exhaustion, cannot easily be overestimated."
+
+The obvious corollary to this proposition is that the constitutional
+worrier is likely to break down under an amount of work which produces no
+such effect upon the average normal individual.
+
+The only quarrel I have with the name neurasthenia is that it diverts
+attention from the real condition oftenest to be treated, namely, the
+faulty mental tendency, and directs attention to an assumed debility which
+may or may not exist. Misdirected energy, rather than weakness, is the
+difficulty with one who is ready and anxious to walk miles to satisfy a
+doubt, or to avoid crossing an open square, and who will climb a dozen
+flights of stairs rather than be shut up in an elevator. Even the
+exhaustion that follows long attention to business is quite as often due to
+worry and allied faulty mental habits as to the work itself. In most cases
+the phobias, the doubts, and the scruples, instead of being the result of
+breakdown, must be counted among its principal causes.
+
+This is why simple rest and abstinence from work so often fail to
+accomplish the cure that should follow if the exhaustion were due simply to
+overwork. In the "neurasthenic" rest from work only redoubles the worries,
+the doubts and the scruples, and the obsession to improve his time only
+adds to his nervous exhaustion. If a European trip is undertaken, the
+temperament responsible for the original breakdown causes him to rush from
+gallery to gallery, from cathedral to cathedral, so that no moment may be
+lost. Not infrequently it so happens that the patient returns more jaded
+than ever.
+
+The neurasthenic is not infrequently a confirmed obsessive, with all the
+faulty mental habits of this temperament. If he cannot make up his mind it
+is not because he is tired, but because this is his natural mental trend.
+If he drums, twitches, and walks the floor, these movements are not always
+due to exhaustion, but are habits peculiar to the temperament, habits well
+worth an effort to eliminate while in health, since they doubtless, through
+precluding bodily repose, contribute their mite toward the very exhaustion
+of which they are supposed to be the result. If he cannot sleep it is not
+simply because he is tired, but because he is so constituted that he cannot
+bring himself to let go his hold on consciousness until he has straightened
+out his tangles. If, in addition, one has the hypochondriacal tendency,
+he may worry himself into complete wakefulness by the thought that he has
+already irreparably injured himself by missing something of the mystic
+number, eight or nine, or whatever he may deem the number of hours' sleep
+essential to health.
+
+It is important that the overwrought business or professional man realize
+the importance of undertaking no more than he can accomplish without fret
+and worry; the importance of taking proper vacations before he is tired
+out; the importance of learning to divert his mind, while he can still do
+so, into channels other than those connected with his business; above all,
+the importance of cultivating the faculty of relaxing, and of dismissing
+doubts, indecisions and fears. He must cultivate what my colleague Dr. Paul
+succinctly terms "the art of living with yourself as you are." If he would
+"last out" he must learn to proceed with single mind upon whatever work he
+undertakes, and with equal singleness of mind apply himself, out of hours,
+to other occupation or diversion, preferably in the open air. For the most
+effective work, as well as for peace of mind, it is essential that every
+thought of one's office be shut out by other interests when there is no
+actual business requiring attention. Mental relaxation is materially
+hampered by such persistent thoughts of one's place of business as those
+cited by Dr. Knapp:
+
+"A striking instance of the sort was related to me by a friend remarkably
+free from any psychopathic taint. It often happens that he does scientific
+work in the evening at the Agassiz Museum. When he leaves for the night he
+puts out the gas and then stands and counts slowly up to a given number
+until his eyes are used to the darkness, in order that he may detect any
+spark of fire that may have started while he was at work. This is his
+invariable custom, but it sometimes happens that when he goes back home so
+strong a feeling of doubt comes over him lest he may that once have omitted
+to do this, that he is uncomfortable until he returns to the museum to make
+sure."
+
+Among the predisposing causes for nervous breakdown none is more potent
+than the inability of the obsessive to adapt himself to change of plan, and
+to reconcile himself to criticism, opposition, and the various annoyances
+incident to his occupation.
+
+In dealing with others the following suggestion of Marcus Aurelius may come
+in play:
+
+"When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what opinion
+about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen this, thou
+wilt pity him, and neither wonder nor be angry." Again, in this connection
+the lines of Cowper are pertinent:
+
+  "The modest, sensible and well-bred man
+  Will not affront me, and no other can."
+
+Pope, also, who is said not always to have followed his own good counsel,
+contributes a verse which may serve a turn:
+
+  "At ev'ry trifle scorn to take offense,
+  That always shows great pride, or little sense."
+
+The practice of such commonplace philosophy (which, to be effective, should
+be ready for immediate use, not stored away for later reflection), together
+with training against faulty mental states studied in these pages, will
+go far toward relieving the mental perturbation that unfits for effective
+work, and contributes to "neurasthenia."
+
+During an hour's delay, caused by the failure of another to keep an
+appointment, I formulated the following maxim:
+
+"These are the annoyances incident to my business; to fret when they occur
+means that I cannot manage my business without friction."
+
+This may not appeal to the reader, but for me it has proved as good an
+hour's work as I ever did. Since that time, on the occurrence of similar
+sources of provocation, I have found it necessary to go no farther than
+"These are the annoyances," to restore the needful balance. When we allow
+our gorge to rise at ordinary sources of discomfort, it implies that we
+are prepared only for our affairs to run with perfect smoothness. This
+represents the insistent idea carried to an absurdity.
+
+At the risk of losing caste with the critical I cannot forbear sharing with
+the reader an inelegant maxim which has more than once prevented an access
+of rage upon the blunder of a subordinate: "If he had our brains he'd have
+our job."
+
+Spinoza says: "The powerlessness of man to govern and restrain his emotions
+I call servitude. For a man who is controlled by his emotions is not his
+own master but is mastered by fortune, under whose power he is often
+compelled, though he sees the better, to follow the worse." The same
+philosopher in counselling self-restraint adds:
+
+"The mind's power over the emotions consists, first, in the actual
+knowledge of the emotions." Again: "An emotion which is a passion ceases
+to be a passion as soon as we form a clear and distinct idea of it." The
+meaning of this dictum I first realized on experiencing the magical effect
+of the line of thought suggested by the delayed appointment.
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+Communion with Nature has a peculiarly soothing effect on tired and jangled
+nerves. My friend, Dr. Harold Williams, tells me that among his main
+reliances for tired and overwrought women are the _reading of children's
+books_, and _working in the garden_. Peterson thus advises his busy
+patient:
+
+"A small farm in a simple community would be for you an asset of
+immeasurable value from the standpoint of health and spiritual
+rejuvenation. But true simplicity should be the rigorous order of that
+country life. A chateau by the sea, with a corps of gardeners, a retinue of
+servants, and yachts and automobiles, would prove a disastrous expedient.
+
+"In that quiet retreat you should personally and tenderly learn to know
+each rosebud, shrub, vine, creeper, tree, rock, glade, dell, of your
+own estate. You should yourself design the planting, paths, roads, the
+flower-garden, the water-garden, the wood-garden, the fernery, the
+lily-pond, the wild-garden, and the kitchen garden."
+
+Not everyone is so happily situated as to be able to follow this advice
+in its entirety, but many can make a modest effort in this direction: the
+kitchen-garden may appeal to some who have no appreciation for the wild
+flowers, and who scorn to cultivate such tastes.
+
+One warning is, however, here in order: The cultivation of the garden or
+the field for utilitarian purposes is inevitably associated with the maxim,
+"Hoe out your row"--an excellent maxim for the idle and disorderly, but not
+to be taken too literally by the over-exacting and methodical business man
+who is trying to make the radical change in his view of life necessary to
+free his mind from the incubus of worry. Nor must the amateur husbandman
+scan with too anxious eye the weather map and the clouds. If he mind these
+warnings he may learn to say,--
+
+  "For me kind Nature wakes her genial pow'r,
+    Suckles each herb, and spreads out ev'ry flower,
+  Annual for me, the grape, the rose renew,
+    The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew."
+
+The over-conscientious individual may object that it is selfish to consider
+his own comfort when he has work to do for others. But expending too freely
+of our nervous energies, even in a good cause, is like giving to charity
+so much of our substance that we in turn are obliged to lean on others for
+support.
+
+In properly conserving our own energy we may be lightening the ultimate
+burden of others. There is no place for selfishness in Haeckel's philosophy
+regarding the proper balance between duty to one's self and duty to others.
+Nor was selfishness a failing of the Quaker poet who idealized
+
+  "The flawless symmetry of man,
+  The poise of heart and mind."
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+SLEEPLESSNESS
+
+He shall enjoy the same tranquility in his sleep as when awake.
+
+_Digby's Epicurus_, Maxim xl.
+
+
+Sleeplessness is due, in the majority of cases, to a faulty habit of mind.
+The preparation for a sleepless night begins with the waking hours, is
+continued through the day, and reaches its maximum when we cease from the
+occupations which have in some degree diverted our attention from harassing
+thoughts, and retire, to struggle, in darkness and solitude, with the
+worries, doubts, regrets, and forebodings, which now assume gigantic and
+fantastic shapes.
+
+He who would sleep at night must regulate his day, first, by not
+undertaking more than he can accomplish without undue stress, and, second,
+by carrying through what he does undertake, as far as he may, without the
+running accompaniment of undue solicitude, anxious doubts, and morbid fears
+discussed in the preceding sections. It is futile to expect that a fretful,
+impatient, and over-anxious frame of mind, continuing through the day and
+every day, will be suddenly replaced at night by the placid and comfortable
+mental state which shall insure a restful sleep.
+
+Before proceeding, then, to the immediate measures for inducing sleep, let
+us consider the suitable preparatory measures.
+
+The nervous breakdown which precludes sleep is oftener due to worry than to
+work. Nor should the sufferer jump too quickly to the conclusion that it
+is the loss of sleep rather than the worry that makes him wretched. It is
+astonishing how much sleep can be lost without harm, provided its loss is
+forgotten, and how much work can be carried on without extreme fatigue,
+provided it be undertaken with confidence and pursued without impatience.
+It is, however, essential that the work be varied and, at due intervals,
+broken. Trainers for athletic contests know that increasing practice
+without diversion defeats its end, and particularly insist upon cessation
+of violent effort directly before the final test. Why should we not treat
+our minds as well as our bodies?
+
+The active and over-scrupulous business or professional man who allows no
+time for rest or recreation, who can confer no responsibility upon his
+subordinates, who cultivates no fad, and is impatient of every moment spent
+away from his occupation, is in danger of eventually "going stale," and
+having to spend a longer and less profitable vacation in a sanitarium than
+would have sufficed to avert the disaster. Nor will he find it easy to
+change his sleep-habit with the change of residence. It behooves him to
+change that habit while still at work, as a step toward averting breakdown.
+
+It will harm few of us to take a bird's eye view of our affairs at stated
+intervals, and ask ourselves if the time has not arrived when it will be a
+saving of time and money as well as worry for us to delegate more of the
+details, and more even of the responsibilities, to others, concentrating
+our own energies upon such tasks as we are now peculiarly qualified to
+undertake. To the man determined to accomplish a lifetime of work before he
+rests, there is food for thought in the following anecdote:
+
+When Pyrrhus was about to sail for Italy, Cineas, a wise and good man,
+asked him what were his intentions and expectations.
+
+"To conquer Rome," said Pyrrhus.
+
+"And what will you do next, my lord?"
+
+"Next I will conquer Italy."
+
+"And after that?"
+
+"We will subdue Carthage, Macedonia, all Africa, and all Greece."
+
+"And when we have conquered all we can, what shall we do?"
+
+"Do? Why, then we will sit down and spend our time in peace and comfort."
+
+"Ah, my lord," said the wise Cineas, "what prevents our being in peace and
+comfort now?"
+
+The time to take a vacation is before one is exhausted. If one is
+discontented during his vacation, he should take it, none the less, as a
+matter of duty, not expecting to enjoy every moment of it, but contenting
+himself with the anticipation of greater pleasure in the resumption of his
+duties. He should cultivate an interest in out-door occupation or some
+study that carries him into the fields or woods. Aside from the time on
+shipboard, the worst possible vacation for the over-worked business or
+professional man is the trip to Europe, if spent in crowding into the
+shortest possible time the greatest possible amount of information on
+matters artistic, architectural, and historic.
+
+No one can acquire the habit of sleep who has not learned the habit of
+concentration, of devoting himself single-minded to the matter in hand. If
+we practice devoting our minds, as we do our bodies, to one object at a
+time, we shall not only accomplish more, but with less exhaustion. Training
+in this direction will help us, on retiring, to view sleep as our present
+duty, and a sufficient duty, without taking the opportunity at that time to
+adjust (or to try to adjust) all our tangles, to review our past sources of
+discomfort, and to speculate upon the ills of the future.
+
+A walk, a bath, a few gymnastic exercises, will often serve a useful
+purpose before retiring, but if they are undertaken in a fretful and
+impatient spirit, and are accompanied by doubts of their effectiveness,
+and the insistent thought that sleep will not follow these or any other
+procedure, they are likely to accomplish little.
+
+The best immediate preparation for sleep is the confidence that one will
+sleep, and _indifference if one does not_. It is an aid in the adoption of
+this frame of mind to learn that many have for years slept only a few
+hours per night, without noticeable impairment of their health or comfort.
+Neither unbroken nor long-continued sleep, however desirable, is essential
+to longevity or efficiency. This is illustrated by the following examples:
+
+Joseph A. Willard, for nearly half a century Clerk of the Court in Suffolk
+County, and a well-known figure on the streets of Boston, died in his
+eighty-eighth year. He was active and alert in the performance of his
+daily duties up to their discontinuance shortly before his death. He
+kept, meantime, records of the temperature, weather, and condition of the
+streets, at all hours of the night, and every night, for many years before
+the establishment of the weather bureau. So reliable were these records
+regarded by the courts that they were often appealed to in the trial of
+cases, and their accuracy never questioned by either party in the suit. I
+publish these facts by the permission of his son.
+
+George T. Angell, the well-known humanitarian, than whom few, if any, have
+led a more busy life, when in his sixty-ninth year wrote as follows:
+
+"For the benefit of those who do not [take narcotics, opiates, anaesthetics]
+I will say that I suppose there are very few in this country _who have
+slept less_ than I have; but I have never taken anything to stupefy, while
+thousands of good sleepers I have known have long since gone to the last
+sleep that knows no waking here. It was undoubtedly wise to change my
+professional life from court to office practice: but in other matters I
+was compelled to choose between living the life of a vegetable, or losing
+sleep; and I chose the latter."
+
+Mr. Angell is now eighty-four, still actively engaged in affairs, and
+allows me to add that during the past six years he has gone for a week at
+a time with no sleep; for three months at a time he has not averaged more
+than two hours in twenty-four; he does not remember having ever had a good
+night's sleep. Mrs. Angell states that, with one exception, she has never
+known him to sleep through the night.
+
+It is worth while to remember these experiences before resorting to drugs
+for sleeplessness.
+
+I have somewhere seen it stated that a prominent divine attributed his
+happy and green old age to the fact that he slept a certain number of hours
+every night. Against this statement must be set the reflection that many
+another old gentleman can fairly attribute his comfort, in part at least,
+to an attitude of indifference toward the unessentials, among which I
+suspect must be included the question whether we average eight hours of
+sleep or materially less.
+
+Let us now consider some of the faulty mental habits directly affecting
+sleep itself. First comes the compulsive thought that one must sleep _now_,
+and the impatient count of the wakeful hours supposed to be irrecoverably
+lost from the coveted number. This insistence in itself precludes sleep.
+The thought, "No matter if I don't sleep to-night; I will some other
+night," will work wonders in the direction of producing sleep to-night.
+
+The continuance of any given position, completely relaxed, in bed, even
+without unconsciousness, is more restful than tossing about. The mere
+experiment of remaining immobile in a certain position as long as possible,
+and concentrating the mind on the thought, "I am getting sleepy, I am
+going to sleep," will oftener produce the desired result than watching the
+proverbial sheep follow one another over the wall. Training during the day
+in restraining nervous movements is an aid in acquiring the ability to do
+this.
+
+This is a field in which self-suggestion is of definite value. Everyone
+appreciates the effect on sleep of the "state of mind" when he has passed a
+succession of sleepless hours followed by a sudden tendency to somnolence
+at the time for rising. The problem is to acquire the frame of mind without
+waiting for circumstances. To demonstrate the effect of faulty suggestion
+combined with restlessness on awaking in the night, try the following:
+
+EXPERIMENT I.--Place yourself on the face and from this point turn rapidly
+in a complete circle backwards from right to left until you are again on
+the face. Pause several times and say to yourself rapidly "I cannot sleep
+in this position." The result of the experiment is practically uniform. The
+rapid movement and the suggestion prevent sleep.
+
+To demonstrate the effect of bodily relaxation combined with correct
+suggestion, in promoting sleep try--
+
+EXPERIMENT II.--Start in the same position as Experiment I. Traverse the
+same circle, prolonging each pause with body relaxed, and substituting at
+each pause the suggestion, "I can sleep in any position," repeated a number
+of times deliberately and as if you meant it. The restful pose and the
+suggestion generally induce sleep long before the circle is completed.
+
+Next comes the compulsive thought that we cannot sleep until everything is
+"squared up" and all mental pictures completed. The story is told that a
+gentleman took a room in the hotel next another who was notoriously fussy.
+He remembered this fact after dropping one boot carelessly to the floor,
+and laid the other gently down. After a pause he heard a rap on the door
+and a querulous, "For heaven's sake, drop the other boot, or I can't get to
+sleep."
+
+Many find themselves unable to sleep until the whole household is accounted
+for and the house locked up for the night, until certain news is received,
+and the like. The same tendency postpones sleep until all affairs are
+straightened out in the mind, as well as in reality. A little reflection
+shows how indefinite must be the postponement of sleep under such
+conditions.
+
+No training is more important for the victim of compulsive tendencies
+than the practice of trusting something to chance and the morrow, and
+reconciling himself to the fact that at no time, in this world, will all
+things be finally adjusted to his satisfaction.
+
+The habit of dismissing, at will, disagreeable thoughts is a difficult but
+not impossible acquisition. Arthur Benson in "The Thread of Gold" relates
+the following anecdotes:
+
+"When Gladstone was asked, 'But don't you find you lie awake at night,
+thinking how you ought to act, and how you ought to have acted?' he
+answered, 'No, I don't; where would be the use of that?'"
+
+"Canon Beadon [who lived to be over one hundred] said to a friend that
+the secret of long life in his own case was that he had never thought of
+anything unpleasant after ten o'clock at night."
+
+The insistent desire to sleep in a certain bed, with a certain degree of
+light or darkness, heat or cold, air or absence of air, is detrimental.
+This is in line with the desire to eat certain foods only, at a certain
+table, and at a certain time. The man who loses his appetite if dinner
+is half an hour late is unable again to sleep if once waked up. This
+individual must say to himself, "Anyone can stand what he likes; it takes a
+philosopher to stand what he does not like," and try at being a philosopher
+instead of a sensitive plant.
+
+Inability to sleep while certain noises are continued must be similarly
+combated. If one goes from place to place in search of the quiet spot for
+sleep, he may finally find _quiet itself_ oppressive, or worse yet, may be
+kept awake by hearing his own circulation, from which escape is out of
+the question. He who finds himself persistently out of joint with
+his surroundings will do well to ponder the language of the Chinese
+philosopher:
+
+"The legs of the stork are long, the legs of the duck are short: you cannot
+make the legs of the stork short, neither can you make the legs of the duck
+long. Why worry?"
+
+With regard to the character of sleep itself, the attitude of our mind in
+sleep is dominated, to a degree, at least, by its attitude in the waking
+hours. It is probable that during profound sleep the mind is inactive, and
+that dreams occur only during the transition-state from profound sleep to
+wakefulness. It is conceivable that in the ideal sleep there is only one
+such period, but ordinarily there occur many such periods during the night;
+for the uneasy sleeper the night may furnish a succession of such periods,
+with comparatively little undisturbed rest, hence his dreams seem to him
+continuous. The character of the pictures and suggestions of dreams, though
+in new combinations, are largely dependent on our daily experiences. Is it
+not, then, worth while to encourage, during our waking hours, as far as is
+consistent with our duties, such thoughts as are restful and useful, rather
+than those which serve no purpose but annoyance.
+
+If we will, we can select our thoughts as we do our companions.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+OCCUPATION NEUROSIS
+
+Be not ashamed, to be helped; for it is thy business to do thy duty like a
+soldier in the assault on a town. How, then, if being lame thou canst
+not mount up on the battlement alone, but with the help of another it is
+possible?
+
+_Marcus Aurelius_.
+
+
+The insistent and over-conscientious habit of mind plays so large a part in
+the so-called occupation neuroses that a brief discussion of their nature
+may here be in place.
+
+The best-known form of this distressing malady is "writer's cramp." Upon
+this subject the proverbially dangerous little knowledge has been already
+acquired; a fuller knowledge may give comfort rather than alarm, and may
+even lead to the avoidance of this and allied nervous disorders.
+
+The term "writer's cramp" has unduly emphasized a feature, namely, the
+cramp, which is neither the most common nor the most troublesome among the
+symptoms resulting from over-use of a part. In occupation neuroses, other
+than those produced by the use of the pen, pain, weakness, and numbness are
+at least equally prominent, and even in writer's cramp the "neuralgic" form
+is common.
+
+The fact is generally realized that this type of disorder is particularly
+frequent among persons of nervous temperament. The reason is twofold,
+first, the resistance of such individuals is less than the average, second,
+the insistent habit of mind leads them to overdo. It is against the latter
+factor that our efforts may to advantage be directed.
+
+I have in mind the case of a lady who complained of severe pain in the
+right arm with no apparent physical cause. The pain, at first appearing
+only when the arm was placed in a certain position, finally became almost
+constant. She denied excessive use of the arm, but her husband stated that
+she plied the needle to such an extent that it caused the family distress.
+This she indignantly denied, and fortified her position by the statement
+that she only took short stitches! Further inquiry elicited the
+acknowledgment that she did so because she could no longer take long ones.
+This is a fair example of an occupation neurosis.
+
+Some time ago, after long continued and over-conscientious effort to
+satisfy the requirements of an athletic instructor, I acquired what is
+known as a "golf arm." Efforts at its relief were unavailing. A vigorous
+course of massage only increased the pain. I finally asked a friend what
+they did in England when a golf player suffered this annoyance. He replied
+that no golf player ever did so; when it occurred among others the arm was
+placed in wool for three months, at the end of which time a single movement
+of swinging the club was made; if this movement caused pain the treatment
+was renewed for another three months. I did not suppose he intended the
+advice to be taken literally, but followed it, except as regarded the wool,
+and I verily believe that I should otherwise have been experimenting with
+the treatment of golf arm to-day.
+
+My friend's advice indicates the general experience with occupation
+neuroses including writer's cramp, for which every imaginable measure has
+been tried, only to be replaced by protracted abstinence from the use
+of the pen. The attempt to use the left hand proves, as a rule, only
+temporarily efficacious. The speedy appearance of symptoms in the left hand
+emphasizes the fact that it is tired brain, as well as the tired muscle,
+that rebels.
+
+The ranks of every profession, and of every trade, are daily depleted
+of the most promising among their members, whose zeal has outrun their
+discretion; their over-worked brains and hands have succumbed under the
+incessant strain of tasks, often self-imposed.
+
+It is hard, but essential, for the sufferer from an occupation neurosis to
+abandon frantic efforts at combining treatment with continuance of labor.
+He must bring all his philosophy to bear on the temporary, but complete,
+abandonment of his chosen occupation, at whatever loss to himself or
+others.
+
+To avoid this contingency the over-conscientious worker will do well to
+modify his ambition, and lower his pride if needful, consoling himself
+with the reflection that an occasional interruption of his labor, even at
+material loss, may be replaced by years of future usefulness. Cowper says:
+
+  "'Tis thus the understanding takes repose
+    In indolent vacuity of thought,
+  And rests, and is refreshed."
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+THE WORRIER AT HOME
+
+  Small habits, well pursued betimes,
+  May reach the dignity of crimes.
+
+  _Hannah More_.
+
+
+More than one "sunbeam" and "life of the party" in society is the "cross
+patch" and "fuss budget" of the home. His gracious smiles and quips abroad
+are matched at home by darkened brows and moody silence, only broken by
+conversation of the italicized variety: "_Will_ it ever stop raining?"
+"_Can't_ you see that I am busy?" "What _are_ you doing?" and the like.
+Whatever banner is exhibited to the outside world, the motto at home seems
+to be "Whatever is, is wrong." Defects in the menage, carefully overlooked
+when dining out, are called with peculiar unction to the attention of the
+housekeeper of the home, whose worry to please is only matched by the
+"sunbeam's" fear that she shall think him satisfied with what is placed
+before him.
+
+  "There's something kind of pitiful about a man that growls
+  Because the sun beats down too hot, because the wild wind howls,
+  Who never eats a meal but that the cream ain't thick enough,
+  The coffee ain't been settled right, or else the meat's too tough--
+
+  Poor chap! He's just the victim of Fate's oldest, meanest trick,
+  You'll see by watching mules and men, they don't need brains to kick."
+
+  _Chicago Interocean_.
+
+Add to the "kicking habit" the insistence that each member of the family
+must be reminded at frequent intervals of his peculiar weaknesses, and that
+the discussion of uncomfortable topics, long since worn threadbare, must be
+reopened at every available opportunity, and the adage is justified, "be it
+ever so humble, there's no place like home."
+
+Try the following suggestion on approaching the house after a hard
+day's work. Say to yourself, "Why tired and cross? Why not tired and
+good-natured?" The result may startle the family and cause inquiries for
+your health, but "Don't Worry," if it does; console yourself with the
+thought they will like you none the less for giving them a glimpse of that
+sunny nature of which they have often heard.
+
+As a further preparation for the evening meal, and the evening, by way of
+alleviating the mental and physical discomfort following a trying day, one
+is surprised by the effectiveness of taking a bath and changing all the
+clothing. This treatment, in fact, almost offers a sure cure, but the
+person who would be most benefited thereby, is the person so obsessed to
+pursue the miserable tenor of his way that he scouts the suggestion that
+he thus bestir himself, instead of sinking into the easy chair. He may,
+however, accept the suggestion that simply changing the shoes and stockings
+is extremely restful, when reminded that if he had worn kid gloves all day
+he would be relieved to free his hands from the incubus, and, if gloves
+must still be worn, to put on a cool pair.
+
+It is a further aid to physical, and indirectly to mental, comfort, if one
+can learn to wear low shoes and the thinnest of underwear the year
+round; the former offer a panacea for fidgets; the latter lessens the
+perspiration, which increases the susceptibility to drafts, and to even
+moderate lowering of temperature. The prevailing belief that this procedure
+is dangerous is disproved by the experience of the many who have given it a
+thorough trial. The insistent belief of the neurotic that he cannot acquire
+this habit is touched upon in the chapter on Worry and Obsession. If he
+thinks he is "taking cold," let him throw back his shoulders and take a few
+deep breaths, or if convenient, a few exercises, instead of doubling the
+weight of his underwear, and in the long run he will find that he has not
+only increased his comfort, but has lessened, rather than increased, the
+number of his colds.
+
+Much of the worry of the home is retrospective. "If I had only made
+Mary wear her rubbers,"--"If we had only invested in Calumet & Hecla at
+25,"--"If we had only sent John to college," represent a fruitful source of
+family discomfort. The morbid rhyme is familiar to all:
+
+  "Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
+    The saddest these, 'It might have been.'"
+
+I should be glad to learn of any advantage accruing from the indulgence of
+this attitude toward the bygone. A happier and more sensible habit of mind
+may be attained by equal familiarity with the following:
+
+  "Add this suggestion to the verse,
+    'It might have been a great deal worse.'"
+
+A fruitful source of discomfort for the worrier at home is the absence of
+occupation. He looks forward to mental rest after using his brain all day,
+but there is no rest for him unless in sleep. The most valuable rest he
+could give his mind would be to occupy it with something worth while, yet
+not so strenuous as to cause solicitude. As Saleeby points out, the mock
+worry of a game is a good antidote for the real worry of life, and a game
+is far better than nothing, unless the player make, in turn, a work of his
+play, in which case worry continues.
+
+The hardest task for the worrier at home is to get away from home. With
+advancing years the temptation grows upon us to spend our evenings by the
+fireside, to make no new friends and seek no new enjoyments. But this
+unbroken habit is neither the best preparation for a happy old age, nor the
+best method of counteracting present worry. Nor should one stop to decide
+whether the special entertainment in question will be worthwhile--he must
+depend rather on the realization that if he accepts most opportunities he
+will be, on the whole, the gainer.
+
+The man whose occupation keeps him in-doors all day should make special
+effort to pass some time in the open air, if possible walking or driving
+to and from his place of business, and taking at least a stroll in the
+evening.
+
+As more than one writer has suggested, the best resource is the _fad_. The
+fad will prove an inestimable boon after withdrawing from active work, but
+it should be commenced long before one discontinues business, else the
+chances are that he will never take it up, but will fret away his time like
+the average man who retires from an occupation which has engrossed his
+attention.
+
+The fad should not be pursued too strenuously, or its charm is lost. A lady
+once told me that she had given up studying flowers because she found she
+could not master botany in the time at her disposal. Another sees no use in
+taking up history unless he can become an authority on some epoch. Another
+declines to study because he can never overtake the college graduate. But
+one of the best informed men of my acquaintance had no college education.
+One of his fads was history, with which he was far more familiar than any
+but the exceptional college man, outside the teachers of that branch of
+learning.
+
+The usefulness of the fad does not depend upon the perfection attained in
+its pursuit, but upon the pleasure in its pursuit, and upon the diversion
+of the mind from its accustomed channels. The more completely one learns
+to concentrate his thoughts on an _avocation_, the more enthusiasm and
+effectiveness he can bring to bear on his _vocation_ in its turn. A fad
+that occupies the hands, such as carpentering, turning, or photography, is
+peculiarly useful if one's taste runs in that direction.
+
+One handicap in cultivating the fad is the lack of interest on the part of
+our associates, but if we become genuinely interested in any fad that is at
+all worth while, we shall inevitably add new acquaintances likely to prove
+at least as interesting as those of our present friends, who have no
+thoughts outside their daily round of toil. The more fads one cultivates,
+so long as he avoids the obsession to obtrude them at all times and places,
+the more interesting he will, in his turn, become to others.
+
+The over-solicitude that defeats its own end, in the case of a parent,
+has been admirably portrayed by Arthur Benson in "Beside Still
+Waters,"--"there was nothing in the world that he more desired than the
+company and the sympathy of his children; but he had, beside this, an
+intense and tremulous sense of his responsibility toward them. He
+attached an undue importance to small indications of character, and thus
+the children were seldom at ease with their father, because he rebuked
+them constantly, and found frequent fault, doing almost violence to his
+tenderness, not from any pleasure in censoriousness, but from a terror,
+that was almost morbid, of the consequences of the unchecked development
+of minute tendencies."
+
+Something must be left to natural growth, and to fortune, even in such
+important matters as the rearing of children.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+THE WORRIER ON HIS TRAVELS
+
+After all, is it not a part of the fine art of living to take the enjoyment
+of the moment as it comes without lamenting that it is not something else?
+
+LILIAN WHITING: _Land of Enchantment_.
+
+
+In no phase of life is the worrying and the "fussy" habit more
+noticeable than in travel. This is, perhaps, partly because the lack of
+self-confidence, which so often unsettles the worrier, is peculiarly
+effective when he has relinquished the security of his accustomed
+anchorage. This applies surely to the over-solicitous attention paid by
+the traveler to the possible dangers of rail and sea. Here is a verse from
+Wallace Irwin:
+
+  "'Suppose that this here vessel,' says the skipper with a groan,
+  'Should lose 'er bearin's, run away and bump upon a stone;
+  Suppose she'd shiver and go down when save ourselves we could'nt.'
+  The mate replies,
+  'Oh, blow me eyes!
+  Suppose agin she shouldn't?'"
+
+A common direction taken by the worrying habit, in the traveler, is that
+of taking in advance each step of the journey, preparing for every
+contingency, and suffering beforehand every imaginable hardship and
+inconvenience. I do not vouch for the story (though I can match it without
+going far afield) of the gentleman who abandoned his trip from Paris to
+Budapesth because he found he would be delayed in Vienna six hours, "too
+long time to wait in the station, and not long enough to go to the hotel."
+It is the imperative duty of every traveler to discover interests which
+shall tide him over a few hours' delay wherever it may occur.
+
+It is by no means a waste of time to familiarize ourselves with the
+geography at least of our own country; to know the situation and appearance
+of every city of importance, and to know something about the different
+railroads besides their initials, and their rating in the stock market.
+Again, if we take up the study of the trees, flowers and birds, with the
+aid of the admirable popular works now available, we shall not only view
+the scenery with new eyes, but shall welcome, rather than be driven to
+despair, by a breakdown in the woods.
+
+It is a mistake to shun our fellow-travelers, from whom we should rather
+try to learn something. This is a solace in traveling alone, for the boon
+companion may handicap us in cultivating new acquaintances and gaining new
+impressions. Though the main object of recreation is diversion from the
+daily round of thought, the fact need not be lost sight of that the busy
+man will find his practical interests furthered, rather than hindered, by
+a little widening of the horizon. Nor should he forget, meantime, the
+admonition of Seneca that if he would wish his travels delightful he must
+first make himself delightful.
+
+It is inevitable that uncomfortable, as well as agreeable, experiences
+occur in travel. But the man who spends his time and thought in avoiding
+the one and seeking the other is steadily forging chains whose gall shall
+one day surpass the discomforts of a journey around the world. Arthur
+Benson in "Beside Still Waters" says that Hugh learned one thing at school,
+namely, that the disagreeable was not necessarily the intolerable. Some of
+us would do well to go back to school and learn this over again. I know of
+only two ways by which the discomforts of travel can be avoided. One is to
+ignore them, the other to stay at home.
+
+A fellow traveler told me that on one occasion, in the presence of a
+beautiful bit of mountain scenery, he overheard two ladies in anxious
+consultation comparing, article by article, the corresponding _menus_ of
+two rival hotels. The fact that three varieties of fish were offered
+at one, while only two were offered at the other, opened so animated a
+discussion of quantity as opposed to probable quality that the listener
+discretely withdrew.
+
+A lady on the Florida express, after reading a novel all day with an
+occasional interim, during which she gazed through her lorgnette with bored
+and anxious air, finally said to her companion, "I have not seen a single
+estate which compares to those in Brookline."
+
+Among the varieties of needless worry imposed upon the traveler by the
+insistent habit, none is more common, or more easily overcome, than the
+refusal to sleep unless noise and light are quite shut out. If the sufferer
+make of his insistent habit a servant, rather than a master, and instead of
+reiterating "I must have quiet and darkness," will confidently assert, "I
+must get over this nonsense," he will speedily learn that freedom from
+resentment, and a good circulation of air, are more conducive to sleep than
+either darkness or silence.
+
+The best drug for the sleepless traveler is the _aequo animo_ of Cicero.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+THE WORRIER AT THE TABLE
+
+These little things are great to little man.
+
+GOLDSMITH: _The Traveller_.
+
+
+The insistent habit of mind is nowhere more noticeable than in connection
+with the food. I have seen a hotel _habitue_, apparently sane, who
+invariably cut, or broke, his bread into minute particles, and minutely
+inspected each before placing it in his mouth. If this were a book of
+confessions, I should have myself to plead guilty, among worse things,
+to having avoided mince pie for weeks after encountering among other
+ingredients of this delicacy, a piece of broken glass.
+
+Not infrequently the obsessive diner so long hesitates before giving his
+final order that the waiter brings the wrong dish. The insistent thought
+now replaces the doubting folly, and the diner would as soon think of
+eating grass as the article offered. I have known him impatiently to leave
+the table under these circumstances, and to play the ostentatious martyr,
+rather than partake of the food he had at the outset given weighty
+consideration. I have seen another omit his lunch because water had been
+spilled upon the cloth, and still another leave the dining-car, with
+the announcement that he would forego his meal because informed by the
+conductor that men's shirt waists without coats were taboo.
+
+The obsessive of this type may by training even reach the point of seeing
+the amusing instead of the pathetic side of the picture when, in the course
+of his travels, his request for "a nice bit of chicken, cut thin," is
+transmitted to the kitchen as--"One chick."
+
+One day, with pride, I called the attention of my easy-going friend to the
+fact that I was eating a dish I had not ordered. He quietly remarked that
+the next step was to eat it and say nothing! Another friend has this motto
+in his dining-room: "Eat what is set before you and be thankful." His
+children will open their eyes when they find others, less reasonably
+reared, demanding that the potatoes be changed because they are sprinkled
+with parsley, that a plate be replaced because it has had a piece of cheese
+upon it, or that the salad of lettuce and tomato be removed in favor of one
+with tomato alone.
+
+A lady recently told me of breakfasting with a foreign sojourner in
+America, who upon being offered the contents of an egg broken into a glass,
+was not satisfied with declining it, but felt impelled also to express his
+extreme disgust at this method of serving it, fortunately to the amusement,
+rather than to the annoyance of his hostess.
+
+"After this, know likewise," says Epictetus, "that you are a brother too;
+and that to this character it belongs to make concessions, to be easily
+persuaded, to use gentle language, never to claim for yourself any
+non-essential thing, but cheerfully to give up these to be repaid by a
+larger share of things essential. For consider what it is, instead of a
+lettuce, for instance, or a chair, to procure for yourself a good temper.
+How great an advantage gained!"
+
+The insistent desire to have a certain degree and character of appetite not
+infrequently leads to consulting the physician. Still more common is the
+obsession that the appetite must be gratified, the supposition being that
+the desire for food is, in the growing child or in the adult, an infallible
+guide to the amount needed, though it is a matter of common knowledge that
+this is not true of infants or of domestic animals. If one leaves the table
+hungry he soon forgets it unless inordinately self-centered, and he has
+no more desire to return than to go back to bed and finish the nap so
+reluctantly discontinued in the morning.
+
+I have heard the theory advanced by an anxious forecaster of future ills,
+that all unnecessary food, if packed away as adipose tissue, serves to
+nourish the body in periods of starvation. Assuming that the average
+individual need consider this stress of circumstance, I am strongly of the
+impression that the best preparation for enforced abstinence will prove,
+not a layer of fat, but the habit of abstinence. The nursery poet says:
+
+  "The worry cow would have lived till now
+  If she'd only saved her breath.
+  She feared the hay wouldn't last all day
+  So choked herself to death."
+
+The quantity of food proved by experiment to suffice for the best work,
+physical or mental, is surprisingly small. A feeling of emptiness, even, is
+better preparation for active exercise than one of satiety.
+
+It is a national obsession with us that no meal is complete without meat.
+Order fruit, a cereal, rolls and coffee, at the hotel some morning, and the
+chances are ten to one that the waiter will ask what you are going to have
+for _breakfast_, though you have already ordered more than is absolutely
+necessary for that meal, as demonstrated by the custom upon the Continent,
+where the sense of fitness is as much violated by the consumption of an
+enormous breakfast as it is with us by the omission of a single detail.
+
+It may be asked if it is not subversive of discipline for the hotel
+_habitue_ to become too easy-going. There is doubtless a limit to the
+virtue of allowing ourselves to be imposed upon, but there is little fear
+that the individual who opens the question will err in this direction. It
+behooves him rather to consider the danger of his occupying the unenviable
+position of the "fuss-budget."
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+THE FEAR OF BECOMING INSANE
+
+We must be steadfast, Julian! Satan is very busy in all of us.
+
+IBSEN: _Emperor and Galilean_.
+
+
+Few, perhaps, among the high-strung and delicately organized can truly say
+that this fear has never occurred to them. It affects even children, at an
+age when their minds are supposed to be taken up with the pleasures and
+pursuits appropriate to their years. This fear is generally dispelled by
+the serious occupations of life, but in certain cases it persists as an
+insistent and compelling thought.
+
+It may afford consolation to know that insanity results, in the majority
+of cases, from physical disease of the brain, and that it is ordinarily
+unanticipated, unsuspected and uncredited by the patient. There is no more
+danger of insanity attacking the worrier and the delicate than the robust
+and the indifferent. In fact, the temperament which produces the faulty
+habits we are considering rarely culminates in insanity. It seems worth
+while, however, to replace the vague fear of insanity by a knowledge of the
+variety of mental unbalance remotely threatening the person who lacks the
+desire or the will, to place a check upon these faulty habits of mind. We
+may thus, in the worrier whose fears have taken this direction, substitute
+effort for foreboding.
+
+It is our _conduct_ rather than our thoughts that determines the question
+of insanity. The most practical definition of insanity I know is that of
+Spitzka, the gist of which is that a person is insane who can no longer
+correctly register impressions from the outside world, or can no longer act
+upon those impressions so as to formulate and carry out a line of conduct
+consistent with his age, education and station.
+
+The banker may repeat the process of locking and unlocking, even to
+the point of doubting his own sensations, but he may still be able to
+formulate, and carry out, a line of conduct consistent with his position,
+though at the expense of intense mental suffering.
+
+In the realm of morbid fears, the person obsessed by fear of contamination
+shows no sign of insanity in using tissue paper to turn the door-knob, or
+in avoiding objects that have been touched by others. Up to this point
+his phobia has led merely to eccentricity, but suppose his fear so far
+dominates him that he can no longer pursue his occupation for fear of
+handling tools or pen, and that he persistently refuses to eat through fear
+of poison, he has then reached the point where he can no longer formulate
+lines of conduct, and he is insane.
+
+It is, then, important to foresee the tendency of phobias, and to accustom
+one's self to the point of view that the worst possible harm, for example
+from contamination by ordinary objects, is no worse than mental unbalance,
+and that the probable consequences thereof (_nil_) are infinitely
+preferable.
+
+Even with regard to more tangible fears, as of elevators, fires, tunnels,
+thunder-storms, and the like, a certain tranquility may be gradually
+attained by a similar philosophy. Suppose instead of dwelling on the
+possibility of frightful disaster the sufferer practices saying: "The worst
+that can happen to me is no worse than for me to let these fears gradually
+lessen my sphere of operations till I finally shut myself up in my chamber
+and become a confirmed hypochondriac." One should also remember that many
+another shares his fears, but shows no sign because he keeps a "stiff upper
+lip," an example he will do well to follow, not only for his own eventual
+comfort, but for the sake of his influence on others, particularly on those
+younger than himself. The pursuance of this line of thought may result in
+the former coward seeking instead of avoiding, opportunities to ride in
+elevators and tunnels, and even to occupy an inside seat at the theatre,
+just to try his new-found power, and to rejoice in doing as others do
+instead of being set apart as a hopeless crank.
+
+These fears bear directly on the question of hypochondria. We have already
+seen how the sphere of the hypochondriac is narrowed. His work and his play
+are alike impeded by his fear of drafts, of wet feet, of loud noises, of
+palpitation, of exhaustion, of pain, and eventually of serious disease. Is
+he insane? Not so long as he can carry out a line of conduct consistent
+with his station and surroundings.
+
+It is remarkable how many obsessions we may harbor without causing us to
+swerve from our accustomed line of conduct. Whatever our thoughts, our
+conduct may be such that we attract little attention beyond the passing
+observation that we are a little odd. We may break down, it is true, under
+the double load we carry, but we are in little danger of insanity. Those
+established in the conviction that they cannot stand noises or other
+sources of discomfort, rarely reach the point of a certain poor old lady
+who used to wander from clinic to clinic, able to think of nothing else,
+and to talk of nothing else, than the ringing in her ears, and to attend to
+no other business than efforts for its relief. She was counselled again and
+again that since nothing was to be found in the ears she should endeavor
+to reconcile herself to the inevitable, and turn her thoughts in other
+directions. Unfortunately, she had become peculiarly adept in the detection
+of disagreeable sights, sounds, and other sources of irritation, and had
+for a long term of years practiced quite the opposite of control. She had
+hitherto either insisted on discontinuance of all sources of irritation,
+fled their neighborhood, or put on blue glasses and stopped her ears with
+cotton. When, finally, her sharpened sense caught the sound of her own
+circulation, she could think of nothing but this unavoidable source of
+discomfort, which was prepared to follow her to the uttermost parts of the
+earth.
+
+A well-known author has said that the difference between sanity and
+insanity depends only on the power to conceal the emotions. While this
+definition will hardly pass in law or medicine, it surely offers food for
+thought. Suppose for a moment that we were dominated by the impulse to
+externalize all our thoughts and all our emotions, there would be some
+basis for the common, but inaccurate, saying that everyone is insane.
+
+This brings us to a form of insanity which the obsessive may well bear in
+mind, namely, that known as manic-depressive. This disorder, in its typical
+form, is shown by recurring outbursts of uncontrollable mental and
+physical activity (mania), alternating with attacks of profound depression
+(melancholia). This form of insanity represents the inability to control an
+extreme degree of the varied moods to which we all are subject. Long before
+the modern classification of mental disorders, Burton, in his introduction
+to the "Anatomy of Melancholy," expressed this alternation of moods thus:
+
+ "When I go musing all alone,
+  Thinking of divers things foreknown,
+    When I build castles in the ayr,
+    Void of sorrow and void of feare,
+  Pleasing myself with phantasms sweet,
+  Me thinks the time runs very fleet.
+    All my joyes to this are folly,
+    Naught so sweet as melancholy.
+
+ "When I lie waking all alone,
+  Recounting what I have ill done,
+    My thoughts on me they tyrannize,
+    Feare and sorrow me surprise,
+  Whether I tarry still or go,
+  Me thinks the time moves very slow.
+    All my griefs to this are jolly,
+    Naught so sad as melancholy."
+
+     *       *       *       *       *
+
+ "I'll not change my life with any King,
+  I ravisht am: can the world bring
+    More joy, than still to laugh and smile,
+    In pleasant toyes time to beguile?
+  Do not, O do not trouble me,
+  So sweet content I feel and see.
+    All my joyes to this are folly,
+    None so divine as melancholy.
+
+ "I'll change my state with any wretch
+  Thou canst from goale or dunghill fetch:
+    My pain's past cure, another hell,
+    I may not in this torment dwell,
+  Now desperate I hate my life,
+  Lend me a halter or a knife;
+    All my griefs to this are jolly,
+    None so damn'd as melancholy."
+
+The depressed stage of this disorder is commonly shown by retardation
+of thought and motion, the excited stage by pressure of activity and
+acceleration of thought. In the so-called "flight of ideas" words succeed
+each other with incredible rapidity, without goal idea, but each word
+suggesting the next by sound or other association, thus:
+
+"Are you blue?"
+
+"Blue, true blue, red white and blue, one flag and one nation, one kingdom,
+one king, no not one king, one president, we are going to have a president
+first, cursed, the worst."
+
+Who does not recognize the modest prototype of this elaborate rigmarole
+chasing itself through his mind as he walks the street in jaunty mood, and
+who of us would not surprise and alarm his friends if he should suddenly
+let go his habitual control, express his every thought and materialize his
+every passing impulse to action? Who can doubt that the person who has
+trained himself for years to repress his obsessions is less likely to
+give way to this form of insanity than one who has never practiced such
+training? Let us then endeavor to pursue "the even tenor of our way"
+without giving way to the obsession that we must inflict our feelings upon
+our associates. We may in this way maintain a mental balance that shall
+stand us in good stead in time of stress.
+
+The autumnal tendency to melancholy is recognized by Thoreau. The
+characteristic suggestion of this nature-lover is that the melancholic go
+to the woods and study the _symplocarpus foetidus_ (skunk cabbage), whose
+English name savors of contempt, but whose courage is such that it is
+already in the autumn jauntily thrusting forth its buds for the coming
+year.
+
+An admirable reflection for the victim of moods, as for many another, is
+the old saying in which Abraham Lincoln is said to have taken peculiar
+comfort, namely, "This also will pass."
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+RECAPITULATORY
+
+And found no end in wandering mazes lost.
+
+_Paradise Lost_.
+
+
+We have reviewed the various phases of worry and the elements out of which
+worry is assembled. It has been seen that exaggerated self-consciousness
+blocks effort through fear of criticism, ridicule or comment. The insistent
+habit of mind in the worrier has been found to permeate the content of
+thought, and unfavorably to influence action. The fact has been pointed
+out that the obsession to do the right thing may be carried so far as to
+produce querulous doubt and chronic indecision--hence worry.
+
+It has been pointed out that over-anxiety on the score of health
+(hypochondria) aggravates existing symptoms, and itself develops symptoms;
+that these symptoms in turn increase the solicitude which gave them birth.
+Attention has been called to the influence of over-anxious and fretful
+days in precluding the restful state of mind that favors sleep, and to the
+influence of the loss of sleep upon the anxieties of the following day; in
+other words, worry prevents sleep, and inability to sleep adds to worry.
+
+We have seen that doubts of fitness lead to unfitness, and that the worry
+of such doubts, combined with futile regrets for the past and forebodings
+for the future, hamper the mind which should be cleared for present action.
+
+The injurious effect upon the nervous system of these faulty mental states
+has been emphasized, together with their influence as potent underlying
+causes of so-called nervous prostration, preparing the worrier for
+breakdown from an amount of work which, if undertaken with tranquil mind,
+could have been accomplished with comparative ease.
+
+The question is, will the possessor of these faulty mental tendencies grasp
+the importance of giving thought to the training that shall free him
+from the incubus? He certainly has the intelligence, for it is among the
+intelligent that these states are mostly found; he certainly has the
+will-power, for lack of will-power is not a failing of the obsessed. The
+question is, can he bring himself to make, at the suggestion of another,
+a fundamental change of attitude, and will he take these suggestions on
+faith, though many seem trivial, others, perhaps, unreasonable, and will he
+at least give them a trial? I hope so.
+
+In the next sections will be summed up such commonplace and simple
+suggestions as may aid emergence from the maze of worry. Many of the
+suggestions have been scattered through preceding sections. The worrier and
+folly-doubter is more likely to be benefited by trying them than by arguing
+about them, and it is within the realms of possibility that some may come
+to realize the truth of the paradox that he who loses himself shall find
+himself.
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+MAXIMS MISAPPLIED
+
+  "Beware! yet once again beware!
+    Ere round thy inexperienced mind,
+  With voice and semblance falsely fair,
+    A chain Thessalian magic bind,--"
+
+_Thomas Love Peacock_.
+
+
+A friend of mine has a highbred Boston terrier named "Betty." Betty is a
+bundle of nerves, has a well-developed "New-England Conscience," and among
+other deviative (not degenerative) signs is possessed of an insatiate
+desire to climb trees. More than once I have watched her frantic efforts to
+achieve this end, and she really almost succeeds--at least she can reach
+a higher point on the trunk of a tree than any other dog of her size I
+know--say six feet; if the bark is rough, perhaps seven feet would not be
+an overestimate. Her attempts are unremitting--once the frenzy is on it
+is with the greatest difficulty that she can be separated, panting and
+exhausted, from her task.
+
+Betty's case furnishes an illustration of an inborn tendency, fostered
+neither by precept nor example, persistently to attempt the impossible,
+and to fret and fume when forced to discontinue. Some children are by
+inheritance similarly endowed. Imagine Betty a child. It is safe to assume
+that the mental trait which prompts this expenditure of tireless and
+misdirected energy has sifted down through her ancestry; the chances are,
+of course, against its having skipped the generation immediately preceding;
+in other words, one or both her parents are probably obsessive. It follows
+almost as a matter of course that the "indomitable will" of the child is
+viewed with pride by the parent. Instead of being kept within reasonable
+bounds, and directed into proper channels, it is encouraged in every
+direction, and fostered by every available means. Prominent among the
+incentives to renewed activity furnished by the solicitous parent, possibly
+by the undiscriminating teacher, will be found such precepts as: "In the
+bright lexicon of youth there's no such word as fail," "Never give up the
+ship," "Never say die," "There's always room at the top."
+
+Excellent maxims these, for the average child, particularly for the child
+who is under average as regards ambition to excel. But what of their effect
+upon the already over-conscientious and self-exacting child? Simply to
+tighten fetters which should rather be relaxed.
+
+Life becomes a serious problem to a child of this kind at a much earlier
+age than is generally realized. I have been surprised to learn at what
+tender years such children have been borne down by a weight of self-imposed
+responsibility quite as heavy as can burden an adult, without the power
+of the adult to carry it. Such, for example, are anxieties regarding the
+health or the financial status of the parents, matters freely discussed
+without a thought that the child will make these cares his own.
+
+I realize that this line of thought will seem to some revolutionary. A
+friend to whom I submitted the proposition that it did harm rather than
+good to encourage a child of this kind to attempt the impossible answered,
+"Nothing is impossible," and he said it as if he more than half believed
+it. Here we have the ambitious maxim challenging truth itself. It is
+certainly not impossible that Mozart wrote a difficult concerto at the age
+of five; nor is it impossible that, in precocious children of a different
+type, worry from failure to accomplish the desired may cause profound
+despair productive of disastrous results.
+
+Nor are such children either geniuses or freaks--they are merely inheritors
+of the "New England Conscience," so named, I suppose, because the trait
+has multiplied in this section more rapidly even than the furniture and
+fittings of the Mayflower. Without underrating the sterling qualities of
+the devoted band who founded this community it may safely be suggested that
+neither the effectiveness nor the staying qualities of their descendants
+will be lessened by a certain modification of the querulous insistence
+which dominates the overtrained adult in the rearing of the nervously
+precocious child.
+
+The maxim "What is worth doing at all is worth doing well," if carried to
+its ultimate conclusion by the over-careful, would justify the expenditure
+of a quarter of an hour in sharpening a lead-pencil. This maxim, while
+losing in sententiousness would gain in reason if it ran thus: "What is
+worth doing at all is worth doing as well as the situation demands." "Never
+put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day," an excellent maxim for
+the shiftless, must not be taken too literally by the individual already
+obsessed to do to-day twice what he can and quadruple what he ought.
+
+Neither the chronic doubter nor the prematurely thoughtful need be
+admonished, "Look before you leap," or "Be sure you're right, then go
+ahead." Such guides to conduct, however effective in the case of three
+individuals, in the fourth hinder accomplishment by encouraging querulous
+doubt;--it is for the benefit of the fourth that these pages are written. A
+revolutionary effort must be made before the worrier and the folly-doubter
+can throw off his shackles.
+
+It may be questioned whether this sort of philosophy does not savor of
+_laissez-faire_, and tend to produce indifference; but the worry against
+which these efforts are directed is a state of _undue_ solicitude,--_due_
+solicitude is not discouraged. Fortunately, as partial offset to the many
+maxims stirring to increased activity, there exist certain maxims of less
+strenuous, but not unreasonable, trend, thus:--"What can't be cured must be
+endured," "Patient waiters are no losers." Such maxims are quite as worthy
+of consideration by the obsessive as any of those previously cited.
+While they modify overzeal, they detract in no way from effective, even
+strenuous, endeavor.
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+THE FAD
+
+"Fads may be said to constitute a perfect mental antitoxin for the poison
+generated by cerebral acuity."
+
+_Courtney_.
+
+
+There is nothing occult in the suggestion that the worrier cultivate a fad.
+Its object is to interest him in something outside of himself and of the
+monotony of his accustomed round. If it seems to him too much trouble to
+enter upon the details of the fad there is all the more reason for freeing
+himself from such mental inertia.
+
+How shall we set to work to acquire a fad, without special opportunity or
+education, and with but little time at our disposal? Suppose we take the
+study of botany as an illustration, not necessitating class instruction.
+This useful study may be made also a charming fad, and one not beneath the
+notice of so learned and busy a man as Sir Francis Bacon, who found time
+and inclination to write an essay "Of Gardens," in which he mentions by
+name and shows intimate acquaintance with, over one hundred distinct
+varieties of plant life.
+
+Sir John Lubbock (the Right Honourable Lord Avebury) in "The Pleasures of
+Life," says:
+
+"The botanist, on the contrary--nay, I will not say the botanist, but one
+with even a slight knowledge of that delightful science--when he goes
+out into the woods, or out into one of those fairy forests which we call
+fields, finds himself welcomed by a glad company of friends, every one with
+something interesting to tell."
+
+There are two ways of cultivating botanical as well as other knowledge;
+namely, the passive and the active. The passive method is to let someone
+inform us; the active is to find out something for ourselves. The latter is
+the only effective method. Suppose we start with the wild flowers:
+
+The first step is to purchase a popular illustrated book on this subject,
+preferably one in which the flowers are arranged according to color. We
+first learn, in the introduction, the principal parts of the flower, as
+the calyx, the corolla, the stamen and the pistil. We find that the
+arrangements of leaves and flowers are quite constant, that the leaves of
+some plants are opposite, of others alternate; of still others from the
+root only, that flowers are solitary, in raceme, head, spike or otherwise
+clustered.
+
+It now behooves us to take a walk upon a country road with our eyes open
+and our book under our arm. Along the roadsides passing vehicles have
+scattered the seeds of many flowering plants. We decide to pick and learn
+the first white blossom we see. This blossom appears, we will say, upon a
+plant about a foot high. We notice that its leaves are opposite, that its
+corolla has five petals and that its calyx is inflated. We now look through
+the section on white flowers. The first plant described has leaves from
+the root only; the second is a tall shrub, these we pass, therefore, and
+continue until we find one answering the description, leaves opposite,
+calyx inflated, corolla of five petals. When we reach it we have identified
+the plant; we now feel a sense of ownership in the _Bladder Campion_, and
+are quite shocked when our friend calls it only "a weed." Meantime we have
+noted many familiar names and some familiar illustrations which we must
+identify on our next ramble.
+
+On consulting our timepiece we find that we have absolutely spent a couple
+of hours in complete forgetfulness of the daily grind, to say nothing of
+having filled our lungs with comparatively fresh air, and having taken a
+little exercise. Best of all, we have started a new set of associations; we
+have paved the way for new acquaintances, Linnaeus, Gray, Dioscorides and
+Theophrastus, to say nothing of our friend _so-and-so_ whom we always
+thought rather tiresome but with whom we now have something in common.
+We shall take up our daily grind to-morrow with a new zest for having
+forgotten it for a few hours, and find it less of a grind than usual;
+moreover, we now have an object to encourage another stroll in the country.
+
+If we continue as we have begun we shall soon find ourselves prying into
+the more scientific works on botany, and perhaps eventually extending our
+interest to the birds, the beasts and the boulders. One of these days we
+may become quite proficient amateur naturalists, but this is only by the
+way; the real advantage to us has been the externalizing of our interests.
+
+This is the most desultory way possible of cultivating the fad. One may go
+a step further and transplant the wild flowers and the weeds. A busy and
+successful professional friend of mine, besides having a cabinet shop in
+his stable, finds (or makes) time to go to the woods with his trowel.
+He has quite a wild-flower bank in his garden. I cannot give definite
+directions as to their setting out--I think he just throws them down
+anywhere--a fair percentage seem to thrive,--I can remember the
+larger bur-marigold, the red and white bane-berry, rattlesnake-weed,
+rattlesnake-plantain, blood root, live-for-ever, wood betony, pale
+corydalis, and fern-leaved foxglove, and there are many more.
+
+Mushrooms and ferns offer fertile fields for special study. If the worrier
+has an altruistic turn he will find satisfaction in bestowing duplicates
+upon his friends, thus still further externalizing his interests. He will
+be surprised to find how many things there are in the world that he never
+noticed.
+
+Whether our tastes lead us in the direction of photography, pottery,
+mechanics, collecting china, books and old furniture, of philosophy or
+a foreign language, we need not aim to pursue these avocations too
+profoundly. We must not compare our acquisitions with those of the savant
+or the skilled laborer, but must console ourselves with the reflection that
+we at least know more, or can do more, than yesterday. If our fads, now
+and then, make us do something that gives us a little trouble, so much the
+better, if it is only to go to the library for a book,--the worrier whose
+idea of rest and recuperation is to remain forever glued to an easy-chair
+is indeed to be pitied.
+
+Collecting old prints, stamps, and coins, is by no means a waste of time.
+Fads of this nature offer the additional inducement of an asset which may
+serve, in a material way, to banish worry in time of stress. To reap the
+full advantage of the collection fads one should take pains to acquire a
+knowledge of the geography and history with which they are associated. Few
+are so unfortunately placed that they have no access to information on
+these subjects. The encyclopaedia, at least, is within general reach, though
+rarely consulted by those who most need its aid.
+
+Suppose one takes up history for an indoor fad. How shall he start in?
+Since he pursues this study only as a fad, he can commence almost anywhere.
+Let him decide to become familiar with the fifteenth century. The first
+step is to familiarize himself with the principal rulers and the principal
+battles of that time. Suppose he spends half an hour every evening upon the
+life of one or another ruler, as given in the encyclopaedia or elsewhere.
+If he is sufficiently inventive to construct a pictorial or other plan in
+which to give each his place, so much the better. Having thus constructed a
+framework he can begin to fill in the details, and now the study begins to
+interest him. At any public library he can find a catalogue of historical
+fiction arranged according to centuries. Under the fifteenth century
+he will find Quentin Durward, The Broad Arrow, Anne of Geierstein, The
+Cloister and the Hearth, Every Inch a King, Marietta, The Dove in the
+Eagle's Nest, and other standard works, all of which he may have read
+before, but every page of which will have for him a new interest since he
+can now place the characters, appreciate the customs, and form a consistent
+picture of what was doing in different countries at this time.
+
+The next step is to acquire, in the same way, equal familiarity with the
+preceding and succeeding centuries, particularly with the interrelations of
+the different countries, old and new.
+
+The reader who has followed to this point will need no further hint. If he
+continues as he has begun, he will be surprised to find how soon he will
+be able to instruct, on one subject at least, the college graduate, unless
+that graduate has happily continued as a fad what he once perfunctorily
+acquired.
+
+Another way of commencing this study, and the one, I confess, which appeals
+more to me, is first to establish a framework which shall cover a long
+period of time, then study special epochs. An interesting way to start
+this method is to purchase Creasy's "Decisive Battles of the World," and
+familiarize one's self with its contents. This will furnish pegs on which
+to hang further items of information, and will impart a running familiarity
+with different nations involved in war from the time of the supremacy of
+Greece, down to the battle of Manila, in the recent edition,--in earlier
+editions to the time of Napoleon.
+
+The only absolutely essential reference book for this study is Ploetz's
+"Epitome of Universal History."
+
+To make this fad interesting, the mere commitment to memory of facts and
+dates will not suffice. Items of history thus acquired will inevitably
+fade. The conscientious but ill-advised student who attempts to commit
+the "Epitome" to memory will fall by the way-side. Time is not wasted in
+dwelling sufficiently long on one subject to feel a sense of ownership in
+it, and there is opportunity for the exercise of individual ingenuity in
+devising means to accomplish this end. If one has the knack, for
+example, of writing nonsense verse (and this is a talent all too easy of
+cultivation) it will aid him in fixing by rhyme names and dates otherwise
+difficult to master, thus:
+
+"Ten sixty-six is a date you must fix;" or "Drake was not late in fifteen
+eighty-eight."
+
+The study of music, history, trees, flowers, or birds doubtless seems of
+trivial interest to one who occupies his leisure hours with such weighty
+problems as figuring out how rich he would have been to-day if he had
+bought Bell Telephone at 15, but such study is far more restful, and in the
+long run quite as useful for the over-busy man.
+
+It is not necessary to devote an enormous amount of time to such pursuits.
+One has only to purchase Miss Huntington's "Studies of Trees in Winter"
+and learn the trees in his own doorway, or upon his street, to awaken an
+interest that will serve him in good stead upon a railroad journey, or
+during an otherwise monotonous sojourn in the country. A walk around the
+block before dinner with such an object in view is more restful than
+pondering in one's easy-chair over the fluctuations of the stock market,
+and the man who is "too busy" for such mental relaxation is paving the way
+for ultimate, perhaps early, breakdown.
+
+Once started on the trees, the man who did not even know that their buds
+were visible in the winter, after absorbing the contents of the popular
+tree-books may find himself looking for something more elaborate. He
+may even look forward to his next western trip with pleasure instead of
+disgust, now that he anticipates seeing at close hand the eucalyptus, the
+Monterey cypress, and the _pinus ponderosa_.
+
+Courtney says "to all this will undoubtedly be objected the plea of lack of
+time. The answer to arguments formed on such flimsy basis is that all the
+time which is spent in preparing one's self as a candidate for a sanitarium
+is like the proverbial edged tool in the hands of children and fools."
+
+A little time spent in such simple pursuits as I have indicated, and a few
+weeks' vacation _before exhaustion appears_, may prevent a year's enforced
+abstinence from work on account of nervous invalidism. I am tempted here to
+say "A stitch in time saves nine," but adages are sometimes dangerous. Thus
+the adage, "If you want a thing well done you must do it yourself," has
+caused many a business and professional man to burden himself with details
+which in the long run he might better have intrusted to subordinates, even
+at the risk of an occasional blunder.
+
+It is not wise to specialize too much in the pursuit of the fad. Suppose
+the busy man, having conceded the value of some out-of-door study, decides
+that he will learn the lumber industry, but take no interest in the shade
+trees. He will not materially broaden his interests in this way. He will
+rather add to his burdens another business. If he applies to this new
+business the same conscientious methods which are wearing him out in his
+present one, the value of the fad is gone, the new study has done him more
+harm than good, and when on his vacation, unless there is a sawmill in
+the neighborhood, he finds himself stranded with only worry for company.
+Similarly, if the study of history is taken up in the way a fad should be
+taken up, anything in the way of a book will now interest the worrier,
+for hardly a book worth reading fails to contain either a bit of travel,
+geography, biography, law, or something on manners and customs.
+
+Permanent freedom from worry involves a change in one's whole view of
+life and method of thought. But the means by which introspection may be
+_temporarily_ alleviated are by no means to be despised. Among these comes
+the pursuit of the golf-ball. Many a business and professional man who
+thinks he has no time for golf can easily escape for an hour's play at the
+end of the day, twice a week, and in the long run it will prove to be time
+well expended. In point of fact, most are hindered rather by the notion
+that it is not worth while to visit the links unless one can play eighteen
+holes, or that it is not worth while to take up the game at all unless
+one can excel. But the exercise is the same, and the air equally bracing
+whether we win or lose; the shower-bath will refresh us just the same
+whether we have played nine holes or twenty-seven.
+
+The automobile ride, the drive, and, best of all, the ride on horseback,
+will often serve to banish the vapors. Many neglect these methods, not from
+lack of time or money, but from indisposition.
+
+A busy professional man recently assured me that he had renewed his youth
+by going three times a week to the gymnasium and joining the "old man's
+class." Here is an opportunity open to practically everyone; it is a
+desirable practice if continued. The drawback is the lack of incentive when
+the novelty has passed. Such incentive is furnished by the fad, in
+the satisfaction of gaining new knowledge and broadening the
+thought-associations.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+HOME TREATMENT
+
+Submit to what is unavoidable, banish the impossible from the mind, and
+look around for some new object of interest in life.
+
+_Goethe_.
+
+
+In the treatment of faulty mental habits the chief reliance is the training
+of the mind; physical measures are merely supplementary. This fact has
+always been recognized in a general way. The need of such training was
+emphasized by Epictetus thus:
+
+"Not to be disappointed of our desire, nor incur our aversion. To this
+ought our training be directed. For without vigorous and steady training,
+it is not possible to preserve our desire undisappointed and our aversion
+unincurred."
+
+But there has always been an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with purely
+mental treatment, and a desire for the drug, which has more than once,
+doubtless, been prescribed for the purpose of "suggestion" only.
+
+The movement for psychic treatment on scientific principles, of faulty
+mental disorders, not of organic nature, is well under way. That the
+American profession takes an active interest in this movement is shown by
+the exhaustive paper on psycho-therapy by Dr. E. W. Taylor, recently read
+at a combined meeting held in Boston and discussed by such representative
+neurologists as Drs. Mills, Dercum, J. K. Mitchell, and Sinkler, of
+Philadelphia; Drs. Dana, Sachs, Collins, Hunt, Meacham, and Jelliffe, of
+New York; Dr. White of Washington, and Drs. Putnam and Prince, of Boston.
+
+Such faulty mental habits as worry and obsession, doubting folly, and
+hypochondria, are no more amenable to physical treatment than the habit
+of swearing, or of over-indulgence in food and drink. Even the psychic
+treatment, by another, of such disorders, as of such habits, labors under
+the disadvantage that all attempts to influence another by exhortation,
+ridicule, or reproach are met by active or passive resistance on the part
+of the individual toward whom these efforts are directed. A conscientious
+resolve on the part of the individual himself, whether started by a casual
+hint or by a new line of thought, is often more effective than any amount
+of outside pressure, however well directed.
+
+It is my hope and belief that the over-solicitous individual will be
+influenced by reading these descriptions to adopt, of his own initiative,
+some of these suggestions. His most striking peculiarity is his conviction
+that he cannot take the chances others do, that the criticisms he receives
+are peculiarly annoying, and that his sources of worry are something set
+apart from the experience of ordinary mortals. This conviction leads him to
+meet argument by argument, reproach and ridicule by indignant protest or
+brooding silence. The perusal of these sections may lead him to alter his
+ideals. Suggestions for home treatment have been scattered through the
+various pages; it only remains to sum them up.
+
+We have traced worry back to exaggerated self-consciousness and obsession;
+it is against these two faulty tendencies that training may be directed.
+
+The first step is the initiation of a new attitude, namely, the
+commonplace. The establishment of this attitude involves the sacrifice
+of self-love, and of the melancholy pleasure of playing the martyr. The
+oversensitive individual must recognize the fact that if people do not want
+him round it may be because he inflicts his _ego_ too obtrusively upon his
+associates. He must realize that others are more interested in their own
+affairs than in his, and that however cutting their comments and unjust
+their criticisms, and however deeply these may sink into his soul, they are
+only passing incidents with them.
+
+He must realize that if two people whisper they are not necessarily
+whispering about him, and if they are it is of no consequence, and merely
+shows their lack of breeding. On public occasions he must remember that
+others are thinking of themselves, or of the subject in hand, quite as much
+as they are of him and how he behaves. He must realize that even if he does
+something foolish it will only make a passing impression on others, and
+that they will like him none the less for it.
+
+He must practice externalizing his thoughts. If criticised, he must ask
+himself whether the criticism is just or unjust. If just, he must learn to
+accept and act upon it; if unjust, he must learn to classify the critic,
+as unreasonable, thoughtless, or ill-natured, place him in the appropriate
+mental compartment, throw the criticism into the intellectual waste-basket,
+and proceed upon his way. This practice, difficult at first, will, if
+assiduously cultivated, become more and more automatic, and will materially
+modify a fruitful source of worry.
+
+The next step is to practice the control of the dominating impulses
+(obsessions). If one finds himself impelled continually to drum, or walk
+the floor, he will find the habit cannot be dropped at once, but if he can
+refrain from it for a few moments once or twice in the day, no matter how
+lost he feels without it, and sit for a few minutes relaxed and motionless,
+the intervals can be gradually increased. Even the chronic doubter may
+appreciate the fact that this practice aids in preparing one for taking and
+keeping, at night, the quiet and immobile position which favors sleep. The
+bearing of this training upon worry may not be immediately obvious, but if
+one cannot overcome these simple physical compulsions he will find it still
+harder to overcome the doubts, the fears, and the scruples which underlie
+his worry.
+
+It is hard to give up the idea that we are so peculiarly constituted that
+it produces a special disgust in our case if another constantly clears his
+throat, and a peculiar annoyance if he rocks. It is difficult to relinquish
+the belief that, however callous others may be, our nervous system is so
+delicately adjusted that we cannot work when others make unnecessary
+noise, and we cannot sleep if a clock ticks in our hearing. But if one
+persistently cultivates the commonplace, he will at last find himself
+seeking instead of avoiding the objects of his former torture, merely to
+exercise his new-found mastery of himself, and to realize that "He that
+ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city."
+
+It is the imperative duty of every sufferer from doubting folly to say to
+himself, "I will perform this act once with my whole attention, then leave
+it and turn my mind in other channels before I have dulled my perception by
+repetition."
+
+If one is prone to chronic indecision, he must remind himself that it is
+better to do the wrong thing with single mind, than to work himself into
+a frenzy of anxious doubt. In case the choice is not an important one, he
+must learn to _pounce_ upon either task, and waste no further time. If
+the doubt concerns an important matter, he must learn to devote only that
+attention to the matter which is commensurate with its importance, then
+decide it one way or the other, realizing that it is better to make a
+mistake, even in an important matter than to worry one's self into utter
+helplessness by conflicting emotions.
+
+If insistent fear attacks one, he must remind himself that the worst that
+can happen to him is not so bad as the state of the chronic coward and the
+hypochondriac. He must practice taking the chances that others do, and must
+learn to go through the dreaded experiences, not with his nervous system
+stimulated into undue tension, but with body and mind relaxed by such
+considerations as I have indicated.
+
+The maxim is a useful aid in suggestion, but it should be carefully
+selected. Most children seem to be brought up on maxims which presuppose
+mental deficiency and constitutional carelessness. But the naturally
+over-thoughtful and too-conscientious child, the child to whom applies Sir
+John Lubbock's observation that the term "happy childhood" is sometimes a
+misnomer, needs no admonition to "Try, try again," and to "Never weary of
+well doing."
+
+Among other sayings, whether of home manufacture or acquired, I have often
+found comfort in a suggestion first called to my attention by my friend,
+Dr. Maurice Richardson, who carries, I believe, Epictetus in his bag, but
+who does not despise the lesser prophets. One day when I was borrowing
+trouble about some prospective calamity, he said he always drew consolation
+from the old farmer's observation:
+
+"Mebbe 'taint so!"
+
+Much unintentional self-suggestion is conveyed in one's habitual method of
+expressing his attitude toward annoyances, thus: "That simply drives me
+wild." Suppose, now, one should try a little substitution; for example:
+
+
+  That    \
+            drives me wild.
+  Nothing /
+
+
+                       (but that).
+  I can stand anything
+                       (at all).
+
+
+        (not)          (this)
+  I can       sleep in        position.
+        (---)           (any)
+
+
+The quieting effect is immediately perceptible.
+
+Nor is the injurious effect of the explosive habit of speech limited to
+the person who indulges it. The other day a lady, apparently in no haste,
+sauntered into a station of the "Elevated" ahead of me, holding by the hand
+a small boy. The boy was enjoying himself immensely, gazing about him
+with the wide-awake, but calmly contemplative air peculiar to childhood.
+Suddenly the lady saw that a train was about to leave the station, and was
+seized by the not uncommon compulsion to take the last train instead of the
+next one. She hurried the boy across the platform only to meet the closed
+door of the departing train.
+
+"_Isn't_ that _provoking_!" she exclaimed. And the boy began to whimper.
+
+Although the main object of this book is to call attention to the mental
+rather than the physical treatment of these states, I cannot forbear
+reminding the reader of certain routine measures which facilitate the
+desired improvement in mental attitude.
+
+It is well to start the day with a quick plunge in cold water, that is, in
+water of the natural temperature excepting in the cold season, when the
+extreme chill may be taken off to advantage. A brisk rub with rough towels
+should follow. One should proceed immediately from the warm bed to the
+bath, and should not first "cool off." A few setting-up exercises (bending
+the trunk forward and back, sidewise, and with a twist) may precede the
+bath, and a few simple arm exercises follow it. A few deep breaths will
+inevitably accompany these procedures. When one returns to his room he
+no longer notices the chill in the air, and he has made a start toward
+accustoming himself to, and really enjoying, lower temperatures than he
+fancied he could stand at all.
+
+Every healthy adult should walk at least two miles daily in the open. We
+have been forced to readjust our ideas as to the distance even an elderly
+person can walk without harm since a pedestrian of sixty-nine has, without
+apparent injury, covered over one thousand miles, over ordinary roads, at
+an average of fifty miles a day.
+
+The day's work should be started with the resolution that every task shall
+be taken up in its turn, without doubts and without forebodings, that
+bridges shall not be crossed until they are reached, that the vagaries of
+others shall amuse and interest, not distress us, and that we will live in
+the present, not in the past or the future. We must avoid undertaking too
+much, and whatever we do undertake we must try not to worry as to whether
+we shall succeed. This only prevents our succeeding. We should devote all
+our efforts to the task itself, and remember that even failure under these
+circumstances may be better than success at the expense of prolonged
+nervous agitation.
+
+"Rest must be complete when taken and must balance the effort in work--rest
+meaning often some form of recreation as well as the passive rest of sleep.
+Economy of effort should be gained through normal concentration--that is,
+the power of erasing all previous impressions and allowing a subject to
+hold and carry us, by dropping every thought or effort that interferes
+with it, in muscle, nerve, and mind." (Annie Payson Call, "Power Through
+Repose.")
+
+The over-scrupulous and methodical individual who can neither sleep nor
+take a vacation until all the affairs of his life are arranged must remind
+himself that this happy consummation will not be attained in his lifetime.
+It behooves him, therefore, if he is ever to sleep, or if he is ever to
+take a vacation, to do it now, nor need he postpone indefinitely
+
+    "That blessed mood
+  In which the burden of the mystery,
+  In which the heavy and the weary weight
+  Of all this unintelligible world
+  Is lightened."
+
+
+
+
+XIX.
+
+HOME TREATMENT (CONTINUED)
+
+Happiness and success in life do not depend on circumstances, but on
+ourselves.
+
+_Sir John Lubbock_.
+
+
+The obsession to "arrive" is a fertile source of fret and worry. This habit
+of mind leads to frantic and impatient labor and blocks our pleasure at
+every point. The person who plays a game only to see who wins loses half
+the benefit of the recreation. Here are two ways of walking the half-mile
+to and from my office:
+
+Suppose I start out with my mind on my destination, thinking only of what I
+shall do when I get there, and how I shall do it. This thought influences
+my whole body. I am all "keyed up," my muscles are tense, my breathing,
+even, is constricted and the walk does me comparatively little good.
+
+Suppose, now, I decide I am making a mistake, and determine to live in the
+present. General relaxation follows, I take a deep breath, and begin to
+notice my surroundings. I may even observe the sky-line of the buildings I
+have passed daily for years without knowing they had a sky-line; my gait
+becomes free and life takes on a different aspect. I have taken a long step
+toward mental tranquility as well as gaining "power through repose."
+
+One of the hardest obsessions to overcome is the _unduly_ insistent habit
+of mind regarding orderliness and cleanliness. It is not undue to desire
+and practice a reasonable degree of these virtues, but when it gives one a
+"fit" to see a picture slightly off the level, and drives one "wild" to see
+a speck of dust, it is time to modify the ideal. This is the frame of mind
+which encourages worry over trifles. If one really wishes to lessen worry
+he must cultivate a certain degree of tolerance for what does not square
+with his ideas, even if it does violence to a pet virtue.
+
+The careful housekeeper may object that so long as she can regulate her
+household to her liking, the habit of orderliness, even though extreme,
+causes her no worry. But it is only the hermit housekeeper who can entirely
+control her household. And further, the possessor of the over-orderly
+temperament, whether applied to housekeeping, business, or play (if he ever
+plays), is bound sooner or later to impinge his ideas of orderliness
+upon the domain of other peoples' affairs, in which his wishes cannot be
+paramount. In this event, at least, he will experience a worry only to be
+allayed by learning to stand something he does not like.
+
+Worry about the mental condition is disastrous. The habit should be
+cultivated of taking the mind for what it is, and using it, wasting no
+time in vain regrets that it is not nimbler or more profound. Just as the
+digestion is impeded by solicitude, so the working of the brain is hampered
+by using the energy in worry which should be devoted directly to the task
+in hand. Children frequently worry because their memory is poor. It should
+be explained to them that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred apparent
+lack of memory is only lack of attention, and they should be urged to cease
+distracting the attention by wandering in the fields of idle speculation or
+in making frantic leaps to surmount imaginary obstacles.
+
+It is important for parents of morbidly sensitive and over-scrupulous
+children, with acute likes and dislikes, to discourage the tendency of the
+child to become more and more peculiar. Sensitive children are inclined to
+worry because they think others do not care for them or want them round. If
+such children can be led to take a bird's-eye view of themselves, they may
+be made to realize that others crave their society according as they are
+helpful, entertaining, sympathetic, or tactful, because they instil courage
+and give comfort. They should be urged, therefore, to cultivate these
+qualities instead of wasting their energy in tears and recriminations; and
+they should be encouraged to practice such of these traits as they can
+master instead of becoming moody in society, or withdrawing to brood in
+solitude, either of which errors may result in producing on the part of
+others a genuine dislike. In other words, teach them to avoid enforcing too
+far their _ego_ on themselves or their environment.
+
+Parents must also remember that over-solicitous attention on their part
+is bound to react to the disadvantage of the child. The story is told of
+Phillips Brooks that, when a child, he put a newly sharpened pencil into
+his mouth further and further until it slipped down his throat. He asked
+his mother what would happen if anyone should swallow a pencil. She
+answered that she supposed it would kill him. Phillips kept silence, and
+his mother made no further inquiry.
+
+This incident would indicate that Phillips Brooks had already, as a child,
+attained a mental equipoise which the average individual hardly achieves in
+a lifetime. The story appeals to me no less as evidence of self-control
+on the part of the mother; and I like to imagine that she suppressed the
+question a startled parent naturally would ask, realizing that no amount of
+worry would recall the pencil if he had swallowed it, and that nothing was
+to be gained by overturning the household, or by giving the boy an example
+of agitation sure to react to the detriment of the mind unfolding under
+her supervision. Unless, therefore, the facts of this story have become
+distorted by imagery, it shows exceptional heredity and unusual training.
+
+Not every one can claim such heredity, and not every one can look back on
+such training; but it is not too much to say that every one can so direct
+his thoughts and so order his actions as gradually to attain a somewhat
+higher level of self-control than either his mental endowment or his early
+training would have promised. For mental training is no more limited to
+feats of memory, and to practice in the solution of difficult problems,
+than is physical training comprised in the lifting of heavy weights in
+harness. In fact, such exercises are always in danger of leaving the mental
+athlete intellectually muscle-bound, if I may use such an expression;
+whereas the kind of training I have in mind tends to establish mental
+poise, to improve the disposition, to fit the mind (and indirectly the
+body) better to meet the varied exigencies of daily life, and to help the
+individual to react in every way more comfortably to his surroundings.
+
+I have only hinted at the detailed suggestions by which the worry habit and
+allied faulty mental tendencies may be combated. The obsessive who is able
+to alter his ideals and systematically pursue the line of thought here
+sketched will himself find other directions in which control can be
+exercised. It is true that no one is likely to reach any of the extreme
+degrees of incapacity we have considered unless he is naturally endowed
+with a mind predestined to unbalance. At the same time any of us who have a
+nervous temperament ever so slightly above the average of intensity will
+do well to check these tendencies as far as possible in their incipiency,
+realizing that no physical evil we may dread can be worse than the lot of
+the confirmed hypochondriac or the compulsively insane.
+
+Perhaps I have dwelt too much upon the extreme results of morbid mental
+tendencies, and too little upon the ideal for which we should strive.
+This ideal I shall not attempt to portray, but leave it rather to the
+imagination. Suffice it to say that the ladder by which self-control is
+attained is so long that there is ample room to ascend and descend without
+reaching either end. Some of us are started high on the ladder, some low;
+but it is certainly within the power of each to alter somewhat his level.
+We can slide down, but must climb up; and that such commonplaces as are
+here presented may help some of my fellow worriers to gain a rung or two is
+my earnest wish. Even when we slip back we can appreciate the sentiment of
+Ironsides:
+
+  "Night after night the cards were fairly shuffled
+    And fairly dealt, but still I got no hand.
+  The morning came, but I with mind unruffled
+    Did simply say, 'I do not understand.'
+
+  "Life is a game of whist; from unseen sources
+    The cards are shuffled and the hands are dealt.
+  Vain are our efforts to control the forces,
+    Which, though unseen, are no less strongly felt.
+
+  "I do not like the way the cards are shuffled,
+    But still I like the game and want to play,
+  And through the long, long night with mind unruffled,
+    Play what I get until the dawn of day."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Why Worry?, by George Lincoln Walton, M.D.
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