OCR Text |
Show Insanity in the City. London alono Is responsible for tho manufacture of seventy lunatics' a week, and no limit can bo placed to tbo Increaso of this number, stated tho president of the psychological modi-cine modi-cine section of the British Medical Congress In an address deploring tho . Influence of tho largo town on tho mental condition of its inhabitants. Tho ono saving circumstance in tbo situation Is the natural law which decrees de-crees that town bred folk becomo storllo after threo or four generations of town life. So complicated Is tho environment of those who live In tho groat towns so mnny aud so varied aro tho calls upon thoir solf-control and upon their effort making powers, that their mental men-tal machinery is apt to becomo moro complex, its parts require nicer construction con-struction and adjustment, and tho 'wholo machine Is moro apt to got out of gear and to suffer derangement than In tho moro primitive and less emotional life of oven half a contury ago. It Is not overwork that is tho determining causo of tho disturbance of mental equilibrium, but carking caro, worry, and anxiety. To tho rich Insanity Is brought by Indulgence In ' sensuous luxuries. To tho poor, who aro nt tho mercy of overy economic crisis, whoso financial circumstances spell indifferent nutrition, nutri-tion, overcrowding, and unmoral sur roundlngs, tho conditions of modern llfo bring depression and despair. Tho natural result Is that they attempt to drown their sorrows in tho flowing bowl. Alcohol Is tho causo of ono-fifth ono-fifth of tho Insanity In males and of more than n hnlf of thnt In tho weaker sox. What Is then, tho best romody for tho baneful and unnatural tonslon of tho nervous system Incurred ns tho Inevitable In-evitable price of tho advantages of living In towns? How Is tho mind of man to bo adjusted to his progressively progress-ively complicated environment? Thoso aro questions which tho medical fraternity fra-ternity has yet to solve. |