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diff --git a/8554-h/8554-h.htm b/8554-h/8554-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0cd21e --- /dev/null +++ b/8554-h/8554-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4850 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<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; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .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; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + .side { float: right; font-size: 75%; width: 25%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; margin-left: 0.8em; text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + + +<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 + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHY WORRY? *** + + + + +Text file produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + + +</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?—<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,— + </p> + <p> + "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." + </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—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—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." + </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,—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." + </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—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,—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,—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—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." + </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—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—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—or doubt— + </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—sensation produces fear—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—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—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—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, <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—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,—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,—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,—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—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—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"—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,— + </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.—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— + </p> + <p> + 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. + </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— + + 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,"—"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: + </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—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,"—"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—"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—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,—" +</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—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. + </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—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;—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,—<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:—"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—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." + </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—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. + </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,—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,—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. + (—-) (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—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.") + </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. + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHY WORRY? *** + +***** This file should be named 8554-h.htm or 8554-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/5/5/8554/ + + +Text file produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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