| Show i i r 9 I I f ff f i. i rk I j L vORRY w Worse 7 a Any Any I DO Di e i t J i Why an Ordinary Case of the Blues Is Not a Serious 0 t. t Matter May Matter May Be Good for You You but but Continued Depression J Is a Warning of Some o Some Mental Ailment That Ought to Be Re Taken in Time 1 i and De Dealt lt With Withas y as Vigorously 1 as asAre asAre t Are Sym Symptoms moms toms toms' r o of Appendicitis cc SUICIDE while temporarily ins insane nel The financial world was shocked a afew afew few weeks ago when a famous banker killed himself in one of New Yorks York's most exclusive clubs Why An intimate family friend told the officials at the club that he had noticed for some time that the ther r banker had seemed to be worried and despondent but that so far as he knew it was simply a case of nerves or over over- work Nobody has yet found out why this favorite of good fortune committed suicide suicide probably probably never will ill find out It is a profound mystery To the psychiatrist however there are many possible explanations of such an act In the following article Dr George K Pratt gives some interesting information information information mation on depression its causes and cure taking his examples from cases in all walks of life Dr Pratt who was recently appointed to the New York staff of the National Committee for forMental forMental forMental Mental Hygiene has had a wide experience experience experience ex ex- in this branch of mental sick sick- ness Since 1921 he has been medical director director di- di rector lector of the Massachusetts Society for forMental forMental forMental Mental Hygiene in Boston Previous to that time he had served on the staff of ofa a hospital for mental diseases in Michigan Mich Mich- igan had igan-had had been in private practice specializing in psychiatry and had held helda a commission in the psychiatric Division of of- the Army Medical Corps during the war I By George K Pratt M.D. M.D.- i TH HE worst possible advice you can give to a deeply worried or depressed friend is Stop worrying or Cheer r. r up S If he is merely suffering from a fit of the blues it wont won't do him much harm v an ordinary fit of the blues is not not w serious On the other hand if your friend is suffering from depression of the prolonged prof pro prolonged pro pro- f longed harmful type out of all proportion proportion I tion to its ascribed cause he is in j need of help professional help professional help from a ar r psychiatrist Yo You cant can't help him him and merely telling him not to worry is about as effective as trying to put out outa r a raging fire with an atomizer A man whose business is going poorly r and whose son has run off with a chorus girl for instance has good cause to tot t worry and feel discouraged and blue t r He cant can't help feeling depressed over these conditions and it will need more than your empty advice to dispel the f gloom However the depression will t f clear up of itself when the business f rights itself and the son settles down to toa tow w a useful existence t The depression I am discussing here is a pathological depression which works Wt a serious mental change in an individual life c MR R. R AS A'S case is an example of this He owned a small prosperous business busi busi- r f ness a wife and three children All his life he had been happy and apparently contented Physically he was in good health As he neared middle life he began began be be- gan to complain gradually that he was wast unworthy of the success and happiness t v that were his The family didn't pay much attention f to these expressions of self-depreciation self t at first When he insisted to them that he be was unworthy of their love they passed over his protestations as lightly as ns possible but when he began to confide confide confide con con- fide in his neighbors that he was unworthy unworthy unworthy un un- worthy of their respect because he had committed the unforgivable sin they began to look on him as being a bit queer He lie was quite vague as to what the unforgivable sin was but i. i was quite sure that it made him unfit to associate with decent citizens and would ban him from heaven t He spent hours in his office worrying and dreaming day trivial dreaming trivial things as assumed assumed assumed as- as small happenings happenings hap hap- gigantic importance c began to have tremendous sig sig- sig- sig When he was at his place of business he constantly worried about it his family and when he was at home he ho hei worried about the tho house catching on fire i i After a time he began to sleep poorly had intestinal his appetite fell off and he upsets V All these symptoms the family attributed attributed attributed attrib attrib- to overwork y Dr George Y He served K Pratt a at in the Army M na nationally t a 1 y Medical d known as an 1 Corps authority Y during durin the theon on mental World illnesses War Var Are re You ou aH a Stepper Side-Stepper t H HAVE AVE you met the man v who ho is al always worrying ab about ut losing his position or falling down do on the job Or the woman who vho frets herself into torments over the dire disaster that is just sure sur to overtake her child child but but never does Dr George K Pratt tells us here that frequently the thing a person thinks he is worrying about is not the real cause of the worry vorry at all but only a mask for something else deeply hidden in his inner life He says worry vorry very often is just a disinclination to face the realities of life Coming face to face with a difficult situation situation situation situa situa- tion the worrier tries to dodge around it instead of meeting it squarely and solving r ra the pr problem bl m. m A convenient headache or or ora f a ca case se of nervous indigestion Is is at on one onetime and the same time the alibi and and the ailment of this type of willful worrier The family physician who was wasn't t skilled in mental diagnosis said Go to Florida for a change and you will be all right Forget business for a awhile awhile awhile while and cheer up The result was that he went to Florida Florida Florida Flor Flor- ida with his wife and the day after they arrived he committed suicide by jumping out of the hotel window This might have been prevented if his family had recognized his disturbed mental condition for what it really was and taken him to a psychiatrist who would probably have undertaken his treatment in in a suitable hospital until the danger had passed Instead of that they had refused to recognize the mental symptoms and the poor man had lived in a gloomy pathologic realm of his own where values and perspectives were morbidly distorted until serious mental sickness overwhelmed him This maniac-depressive maniac type of in insanity insanity insanity in- in sanity is fairly common In its classical form the patient sometimes suffers al alternately alternately alternately al- al from elation and depression and sometimes from one or the other alone and just like any other self limit ing disease like measles or mumps it usually ends in recovery if taken in time If the families or friends of such sucha a patient would recognize this depression depression depression depres depres- sion as a danger signal as they recognize recognize recognize nize a rash as a symptom of scarlet fever they would prevent many suicides sui- sui UT people have a peculiar horror of B BUT mental diseases there diseases there is still something something something some some- thing ghastly and mysterious about them in the lay mind One of the things which the National Committee for Mental Hygiene is trying to do is to disseminate the knowledge that a certain amount of mental disorder is preventable if the public will observe two conditions First That warning symptoms of approaching approaching approaching ap ap- ap- ap mental disease no matter what the variety be early recognized Second That once recognized and a willingness instilled to acknowledge them themas as incipient mental disorders prompt and and efficient treatment be given Until information about the nature and prevention of mental disorder is gained b by the tle public and the stigma and ignorance that surround the mentally sick is removed and until mental disorder disorder disorder dis dis- dis- dis order is accepted as a disease and not a disgrace we shall constantly find our our- s selves lve up against this atti atti- tude Pathologic depressions are usually found in persons who have all their lives been moody and subject to ex extremes in their daily ups and downs Either they have tended to ride the crest of elation or sink to the depths of gloom over everyday happenings Their emotions emotions emotions emo emo- fluctuate widely Sometimes the cause cause can be traced back to faulty training training training train train- ing of the child toward life in general which later on prevents him from mingling with his fellow-beings fellow without undue friction and ever- ever fretting parents not infrequently im impose impose impose im- im pose on their children in in early eaIly life certain certain certain tain ideas which unfit them for livin living in the world of reality There was Lester for example He was an only child and his father Was nas as dead That meant he was pampered and overindulged The greatest possible precautions to preserve his health were taken from almost the day of his birth Later equally rigid safeguards safeguard were thrown about his moral development Only the choicest playmates could have access to him and his books and amusements amusements amusements amuse amuse- ments were all figuratively sterilized Lesters Lester's mother insisted on doing everything for him herself No nursemaid nurse maid trundled him in ever a carriage or put on his clothes These and many other intimate attentions were mothers mother's jealously preserved rights As he grew up she begrudged every change in his nature As long as she dared she kept him in fluffy curls Short trousers were worn until he was well in his year At 16 she still rocked him to sleep in her arms and nothing de delighted her more than to dress him She knew some day of course cours she lose him that he would have to togo togo togo go out and face the world alone but she she resolutely shut her eyes to this unhappy unhappy unhappy un un- happy day and devised new schemes to endear him to her a little little- little longer She tried her hers best to make him feel his bis complete dependency on her All his childhood years she had chosen for him his clothes his books his companions and most of all his very thoughts As a n natural tural result of all this he found fo nd himself at 18 unable to make mak the healthy emancipation from home ties which all adolescents should do if they are to face the world and stand on their own feet However some stifled spark of revolt did lead him to insist on going away to college His mother protested tearfully Finally they compromised by her taking an apartment in the college town But college demanded many adjustments adjustments adjustments adjust adjust- ments which Lester had never b been entrained en entrained trained to make He found difficult difficulty in thinking for himself and in making the many small but vexing decisions that arise every day Always before some someone someone someone one had been on hand to make his decisions decisions decisions de de- de- de for him and a sturdy self de was vas something he knew little about That he should fail was to be ex ex- But failure wasn't due to any lack of intelligence Lester had quite enough intelligence to make good in his classes The trouble was that campus life was such a contrast to his previously previously previously sheltered existence that he felt bewildered and helpless The college authorities finally dropped him and shortly afterward his mother suddenly died At once he found himself himself himself him him- self an adult orphan alone confused and as helpless as any juvenile orphan He made a few feeble attempts to enter business but he had never been taught to meet others on a mutual level and the necessity for competing with predatory rivals in the sordid world of commerce proved too much for him He grew discouraged discouraged discouraged dis dis- dis- dis and depressed and ultimately became a patient in a hospital for the mentally sick ORE fortunate was a student at a MORE large womans woman's college This girl had passed her entrance examination examination examination ex ex- brilliantly but after the first Christmas vacation the faculty noticed that she was going down in her studies At first when after being w warned she shedid shedid shedid did not speed up they considered sending sending sending send send- ing her home The college physician however was interested in the case and persuaded the faculty to consult a psychiatrist when the girls girl's roommate told them that she V 2 p L 4 r. r t I O y 4 r f y 1 A i 1 AV f 1 l 1 4 Ira l m Y The man who is harried by the devils of worry has lias a double burden to carry carry he he must meet f the he problems that actually actually actually actu actu- ally exist and face the million disasters that are creatures of his imagination was staying up to 2 and 3 o'clock in inthe inthe inthe the morning worrying about something and had begun going off on long walks by by hers lf Gradually the psychiatrist found out the truth Her father was a stern and quite ec eccentric eccentric eccentric ec- ec centric if not mildly insane person and her mother an going easy-going superficial butterfly type of individual al When she was a child the father had taught her a avery avery avery very peculiar and morbid code of ethics but when sh she reached the age of 14 or 15 she began to take her mothers mother's side During the Christmas vacation her father had accused her of trying to set sether sether sether her mother against him and a double upset occurred when the mother confessed confessed confessed con con- to having a lover and asked for fora a divorce The poor conscientious youngster youngster youngster young young- ster believed that she was somehow to blame for the up mix-up and thought it was up to her to fix it at any cost She was naturally worried to death over the problem and the more she worried the worse it became involved The psychiatrist after bringing all the facts of the case to light showed her that she had bad assumed a responsibility responsibility responsibility which wasn't hers at all He convinced convinced convinced con con- vinced her that she was helpless in the matter of preventing the divorce and of her lack of blame in connection with it He showed her how abnormal according according according accord accord- ing to the standards of the rest of the world were the teachings of her father and submitted to her instead more commonly commonly commonly com com- accepted and rational ones The girls girl's condition gradually improved andin and in a short time her studies were again up to the mark Of course the psychiatrist in this case did nothing that any practical and observant observant observant ob ob- ob- ob servant person could not do even if he lacked a medical training g. g Such help helpas as this is not strictly psychiatry but in actual practice the psychiatrist often finds it necessary to adopt such measures measures meas meas- ures simply because no one else appears to have seen the need of it These two cases show that depression sion or worry was not the tho cause of trouble I u 4 Some chronic neurotic individuals are a always ways worrying worrying they they seem to enjoy worrying just justas as other neurotics seem to enjoy poor health A mother for instance is always worrying that little Harry is going to get run over or that something is going to happen to Sister Sue L 1 1 S 5 Q f but a symptom which might grow into J. i a pathological condition f not corrected A good thing for a person to do who is worrying about his |
