Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-03-13
Work and Worry.

N~~N@t
says one of Burton's favorite old authors,
look to their tools painter will wash
his pencils; smith will look to his
hammer, anvil forge a husbandman will
mind his plowshare, and grind his
Ratchet if it besdull falconer or hunts
man will have special care of his hawks,
horses and dogs; a musician will string
and unstring his lutte; only scholars neg
lect that instrument which they daily use,
and by which they range over all the
world" But there is an essential differ
ence between the two classes of cases
here contrasted, which constitutes some
sort of apology for the brain worker. A
handicraftsman is able to observe at a
glance the very first indications of his
tools getting the worse for wear; but it is
by no means so easy matter to tell at
what point the brain has done enough of
work. The indications of muscular ex-
haustion after labor are quite unmistaka-
BILE, and the demand for rest correspond
ingly imperious. One cannot afford to
disregard the monitions of jaded body and
aching limbs. But the signs of BRAIN
WEAKNESS in healthy worker are by no
means uniform or well defined, nor are
they so urgent as to give rise to
e a peremptory demand for repose. The
healthy thinker has seldom any feel
ing of mental fatigue referable to
the brain, analogous to the uneasy
sensation from wearied muscle The long
catalogue of symptoms familiar to ply
sicians, of exhaustion consequent on
mental strain, develop themselves
only after g prolonged course of
overwork. They tell, in fact, not that the
brain is tired merely but that it is dis
eased 1t is this absence of any unmis-
takably prohibitory sensation which
makes it somewhat difficult to determine
the point at which, for the time, mental
work should be stopped
The nearest thing to an indication that
the brain has been working rather more
than is good for it is the persistence in
the mind during the period of rest of the
thoughts which have engaged it during
its period of activity. After a good spell
OF hard work the brain-worker is often
tormented by finding it difficult, all at
once, to turn off the steam. His work
day thoughts will intrude themselves, in
spite OF every effort to keep them out.
A symptom of mental exhaustion quite
allied in kind to the last, but indicative
of greater degree of mental strain, is
persistent wakefulness. The physiologi-
cal cause of this condition is we'll under
stood. During the excessive labor of the
brain there is an increased flow OF blood
to the working organ, the vessels Of the
head and neck becoming distended with
blood, as is shown by the flushing of the
face. If this condition of distension is
long continued the vessels are apt to lose
the power of contracting when mental
activity is diminished Hence arises the
impossibility of fulfilling the physical
conditions of sleep, the most important of
which is the diminution Of the flow of
vital fluid to the brain.
The fact, well known to every medical
man, that persistent sleeplessness is fire.
quently the precursor or initiatory stage
of several most intractable maladies
physical and mental, always invests the
presence of this indication of mental over
strain with grave interest. But a continued
course OF excessive mental labor generally
manifests its effects on the mind itself in
various ways, all more or less premonitory
of approaching collapse. The brain
worker begins to perceive an unwonted
want of clearness in his ideas; work be-
comes gradually less easy to him; he is
alarmed at sudden awkward failures of
memory; feeling of surfeit or disgust
will steal over him in the midst of work :;
he becomes unable long to fix his atten
ergy was crushed out of him. If these
warnings of an overweight brain, now
speaking distinctly with the tongue of
disease, are disregarded, the wonder fire.
quently is, not that the inevitable retribu-
ton follows, but that it should have been
SO long delayed. What particular form
the Nemesis shall assume-whether of
physical or mental disease-will be deter
mined by accidents partly of personal
habit and temperament, and partly of in
herlted predispositiOn. 1t is noteworthy
however, that the common opinion that
excessive mental occupation gravitates
toward insanity does not appear to be
verified by facts. Indeed, one of the fore
most of living physicians doubts whether
alienation of mind is ever the result of
simple mental overstrain. 1t is to phys
lcal, not to mental, arrangement that ex-
cesslve work of the brain generally gives
rise.
1t is not, however, the mere quantity of
brain-work which is the chief factor in
the production of disease. The emotional
condition under which the work is per-
formed is far more important matter A
man of trained mental habits can bear
with safety an almost incredible amount
OF brain-toil, provided he is permitted to
work without distraction or excitement,
in the absence of disquieting cares and
anxieties. 1t is not brain-work, in fact,
that kills. but brain-worry
That the effects OF worry are more to be
dreaded than those of simple hard work
Is also evident from noting the classes of
persons who suffer most from the effects
of mental overstrain. The case-book of
the physician shows that il is the specula-
tor, the betting man, the railway manager,
the great merchant, the superintendent of
large manufacturing or commercial
works, who most frequently exhibit the
symptoms of cerebral exhaustion. Mental
cares accompanied with suppressed emo
ton, occupations liable to great vicissi-
tudes Of fortune, and those which involve
the bearing on the mind multiplicity of
intricate details, eventually break down
the lives of the strongest.
1t will appear, then, from what we have
said, that brain-work, even hard brain
work, does not necessarily cCnduce to dis
ease. Ii, in given case, it is produc-
tive of this result it will invariably be
found, on investigation, that the work has
been done under injurious emotional con-
dltions, such as the distractions arising
from anxiety, hurry, or the pressing sense
of responsibility. OF all the organs of
the body, the brain is the hardest, the
most capable of exceeding its ordinary
duties with impunity. Any extraordinary
exertlon thrown on the other organs is
sooner or later emphatically resented
The quality of the brain which is most
conservative of its health is its versatility.
One part of the organ may be fresh,
while another is .iaded, and it has the
power of reStinC In partc thot ORC nv