Show kathleen kathle en norris norri s says homemade psychology bell syndicate features feature I 1 the boru is M lull of women once plain and superfluous injia have made themselves popular and useful and beloved by KATHLEEN NORRIS F YOU feel that you cant IF afford the high prices that psycho psychoanalysis analysts are char charging g in these days of nervous disorders there are less expensive ways of helping your young people ways that have been in fashion for many hundreds of years and not only work a certain cure today but prevent any recurrence of the trouble tomorrow there is always a reason it if your small girl of five begins to a act ct queerly to do inexplicable things there is a reason for adolescent adolescent ni depression insubordination timid atles insolence inhibitions but when a child is loved protected well fed carefully educated these symptoms toms are bewildering to a good mother she looks in perplexity at the baffling small girl and finally washes her hands of the whole problem and takes the child to a child psychologist and pays him 10 a visit my little boy is six writes mrs harris from newport he has always been the funniest sunniest sun sumi niest lest best balanced youngster alive but since the arrival of a small brother vance has been cc completely mple tely unmanageable he has gone back to baby tricks of wetting the bed wanting his food from a bottle crying in g a great deal starting his sentences seng with me wants or pease feed vanny my daughter beatrice Is 17 11 says cays martha johnson of seattle she has never been as attractive attra cAlve as her younger sister nor especially popular with her older brother she has an unfortunate skin rather heavy dark spanish features tures and owing to much illness s in childhood is backward in school nervous fearful and entirely lacking in initiative or self confidence let tie ble alone she takes the haughty po position I 1 that nobody likes her and the that t she care slams through the house Is never helpful or obliging and alternates dark moods of gloom with bursts of silly schoolgirl laughter we have spent good money on doctors and psychologists the latter can only remind her that she is young healthy loved by her family and leave it at that and any such treatment invariably angers and humiliates her so much that she now refuses to consult anyone saying irritably let me alone theres nothing the matter with me personally I 1 have small patience with nine tenths of this cho logic stuff although in perhaps one case out of ten I 1 have known it to be of invaluable help for healthy favored and fortunate americans to work themselves up to such a pitch of self pity and self gelf absorption that they have to retail the whole boring story of injustices and slights and imaginary wrongs to a complete stranger and pay him tor for listening seems to me in a world so full of real suffering to be not only foolish and weak but actually wrong of course it is a luxurious delight to go to the office of a fascinating physician lie ile on a couch and talk about yourself for exa exactly atly 60 minutes at a cost of 25 cents a minute it Is restful instead of straightening out your small boys problem yourself to pay 10 to have someone tell 0 homely wd and awkward 1 but bug popular end a nd useful TREAT YOUR OWN MIND we have all heard a lot bout about a psychoses and psychiatrists psychiatrist since the war true there are people with twisted minds and psychiatric treatment has done wonders in many cases bases but too many people have turned to this new science ol of the mind to escape cal oe from responsibilities and irksome situations altey all about all any psychiatrist can do is to help the patient to make the best of his circumstances to adjust to his environment viron ment miss bliss norris writes today about the many women monten who have to overcome some physical defects the woman who is homely and awkward has a hard time she is not wanted in many jobs and she s shunned socially it t is easy for her to slump into a defeatist attitude to I 1 wallow callow in tn self pity she feels that the she has no friends no opportunities and that there is no use trying to amount to anything it is to these women women that M miss iss norris addresses this article she tells them how they can surpass their lovely sisters by making themselves so useful and necessary that in time they will gain affection fec tion you that he be is jealous of baby brother that his naughtiness must be much ignored and all forgiven and that in a year or two the baby will be the one to get the spankings span kings and criticisms and big brother will be the lord of the nursery useful a and n d beloved As fo tor r beatrice beatri c e what she needs and what her family needs Is character no outside analyst can d do 0 any good there the family needs patience generosity love and confidence for its least fortunate member and beatrice needs a good strong dose of some such creed as this 1 I am homely awkward not popular with the family but I 1 am well and strong and my people certainly have tried to give me a fair start the world is full of women once plain and superfluous who have made themselves popular and useful and beloved how did they do it well by practicing humility cheerfulness service by making themselves as inconspicuous as possible making to no demands finding ways of helping everyone forgetting themselves by keeping to simple rules of eating and exercising always being physically fresh and scrupulously neat easy no this Is no easy mountain to climb my back will ache my breath will come short my so ul within me will sicken with disco discouragement ur but the reward will be very great slowly slowly I 1 will pass my lovely spoiled sister margot in charm and strength of character slowly I 1 will win my big brothers respect and love slowly I 1 will convince my mother and father that their middle child is the most devoted child of all it can be done and it is worth the doing often a serious study of the early chapters of saint mark where you find the beatitudes is worth all the he psychology in the worldly |