Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-01-26
Morbid Action of the Mind.

EUpon this subject late number Of the Edin-
bnT9h Rtotw has the iollowiUg;-
There can be found no more curious chap
ter in the history Of the human body and mind
than That which relates to the phenomenon OF
morbid attention directed to It's different organs.
The power Of Influencing any pir:icuIar portion
oil the animal economy by the concentration of
our attention upon it, is 60 marvellous that we
wonder che method Of it's action has not been
more Thoroughly Investigated than it appears to
have been. IL would seem as though the mind
possessed the power OF modifying The functions
OF distant parts of the body, aud OF exciting
sensations quite independently of any act Of
violation The mere act Of attention 10 apy
PARTICULAR organ over which We possess no mus.
culsr contiol il sufficient to produce some
alteration OF its functions Thus, wo NAV
vii! !ha5 spot 10 the skiu shall itch,
and 1t will itch, II we cen only local
ize our attention upon the point sufficiently; by
directing cur thoughts to the heart it RAPIDLY
beats, by soliciting the loger intestine il is
quickly brought into action. There is scarcely
an organ OF the body that Is not liable 20 be in.
teriered With by simply concentrating the ottep.
ton'upon il. Whole regons of super ficial nerves,
such as those OF the skin in the neck, NAV be
exalted in their action to the highest ceeree.
by the mere oGpectstation Of being tickled
there. This nervous sLteatiou may become so
persistent az to cause actual disease We have
familiar Instance in dyspepsia, vhere the pa
tient is forever thinking OF bis stomach, and al
last diseased function degeDerates into diseased
organization, and he falls into the'condision of
helpless hypoehoGdriac. But II an attitude
OF concentrated attention'upon his mere animal
functions is thus capable Of producing disease in
them, what effect hGs it upon the mind ilself7
Sir Henry Holland hes remarked tina. il appears
TO be condition OF Our wonderful existence,
that while we can safely use Our faculties in
exploring every part OF outward nature. that
we caDnot eustain those powers when directed
inward the source and center Of their opera
tlcns--in other words, the mind, when u per-
sists for any length OF time ia anal yzing itself,
scorpion-like stings and destroys its own action
That We can as readily iDjure our brains as our
stomachs by pertinaciously directing our stten.
ton to faGcied diseases in them car not be
doubted, and that mere perversion of ordinary
modes of thought, such as may exist il minds
only functionaily disordered, may be fixed by
the action OF morbid attention, so as to con-
sutute permanent alteration, is equally GER
tain. Hence, as Doctor WnsloH ssys, "the
extreme danger of no: exercising, like trust
worthy sentinels, watchful supervision and
active controlling influence over every
thought, and the evil that alises from not
keeping u a state Of strict subordn0tion the
mental emo.ions. The fearful mischief from
eglectiDg by resolute mental efforts to battle
with the erratic suggertioDs of an unduly excl
ted and Eighty imagination, to keep in abeyGnce,
and even to strangle, in their birth, unhealthy
Impressions struggling to FIX and engraft them
selves upon the easily moulded, plastic, and
yielding fancy, cannot be over-estimated or ex.
aggoisted." And let it not be supposed that
this is needless advice, or that it is rare thing
to fad reason struggling manfully with the
promptings Of insanity Bishop Butler tells US
that he was all his life struggling agains. dew
ilish suggestions, and nothing but the sternest
aatchfulness enabled him to beat down thoughts
that otherwise would; have maddened him. His
case is but an example Of that of thousands of
persons with whom we come in contacs every
day, who under q calm exterior conceal con-
ticts between the reason and the frat prompt
ings of insanity of the most terrible kind.