Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-05-01

mental balance. 1t is also destructive
of all high and noble aspirations The
business man or capitalist who lives
this high-pressure existence, "who has
gained much to retire upon, and finds at
last that he has nothing to retire to.
Literature, science, domestic ties, public
interests, nature itself, have all been ne
elected and lost; and these are treasures
the key to which soon grows rusty,
friends are lost and existence is desc
latiOn." The neglect of mental disease
was remarked by old Burton in his "An-
atOmy of Melancholy" who says that we
take no notice of it" and although we
have improved since his time, there is
still great margin for further atten-
ton. 1t Is often obscure in its origin
and insidlous in in progress, and very
difficult to treat successfully when
permitted to develop. The premonitory
signs need not excite alarm or morbid
apprehension, but they should at once
be attended to. Very often the first sus-
picion is aroused only when the afflicted
one has committed some awful crime,
such as homicide or suicide. 1t should
be noted that its appearance is not alb
rupt; that when the catastrophe arises
then his or her eccentricities and pedu-
| liarities are remembered and form a
chain of proofs, very easily demonstra-
ted after the event. In our country, the
early age at which our people enter bu-
siness and social life, is shown in the
fact that fifty-eight per ceut of commit
ments to asylums are from twenty to
forty years of age. The Pennsylvania
reports of Drs. Evans and WOrthingtOn
prove that our early and peculiar educa-
ton tend powerfully to develop mental
! disease in the United States.
But all the insane are not in the asy-
lums. How much of the bitterness,
misery and wretehedness so often wit
messed in the bosom of families arise
from concealed and undetected mental
alienation? How often do we witness
ruin, beggary, disgrace and death result
from such unrecognized morbid mental
condition These are expressions of
Winslow, in his "Obsbure Diseases of
the Brain and Mind" And LOngfellOw
expresses the experience of all aged peO-
pie, when he says Tin "HyperiOn'O: ''The
little l have seen of the world, and know
of the History of Mankind, teaches me
to look upon the errors of others in sor-
row, not in anger" The mistake made
by people generally in relation to the
insane is that they expect them to ex-
hibit the stereotyped, artistic, poetic
and melodramic characteristics of mad
ness. They look for such types as Lear
and Ophelia, when it is well known that
most insane people retain their manners,
habits and personal characteristics.
In all acute affections of The brain, the
cure and even the life of the patient de-
pend on, firstly, the speedy detection of
incipient symptoms, secondly, on accura-
cy of diagnosis as to the nature of the
affection, and lastly on prompt remedial
treatment. The prospect of cure is low
est in cases of domestic trouble and
grief, next comes intemperance then
epilepsy, followed by affections of the
head and spine, uterine disorders, sexual
vice, fevers, fear and fright, intense stu
dy, political md other excitement and
wounded feelings, in the order named.
Religious anxiety is very difficult to cure,
and in this connection we cannot too
strongly condemn the methods of peri
patetie fanatics, who present terrible
pictures of the wrath of God and the
danger of man, to mixed audiences,
many of whom are perhaps infected with
cerebral disturbance already and only
need this strong excitement to precipi-
tate the calalamity incurably. True re-
ligion presents the hopeful as well as
the less bright side of our human life,
and he who fulfils his duties to his neigh
Dor and society, merits the love of God
in the measure of his attention to them.
Contrary to general opinion, there are
more inmates of asylums from religious
exaltatiOn or depression than from Spi-
ritualism, although it is fact that ex-
perts are prepared to suspect the correct
balance of those who habitually attend
seances. There is a species of insanity
termed general paralysis technically,
Paresis), whose victims are almost inva-
riably from the wealthy and well-to-do
members of society. Its first symptom
is softening of the brain, but its remote
causes are due to high living, luxury and
fast living generally. The powers of
both body and mind surely decay, and
the patient can only be made as comfort
able as possible Although some may
live for many years, death usually su-
pervenes in few years after the dis
ease becomes apparent.
Sometimes the patient improves in
the habit of body and becomes portly,
suggesting to the Impractical eye good
state of health; but it is delusiOn, for
source of strength is sapped, never to be
recovered. The final state is total de-
mentia, when death sets in to end the
worthless life.
Some experts note a disease termed
"moral idiocy," which indicates congeni-
tai depravity. The victim seems to have
no conception of right and wrong; is
brutal and cruel, and entirely void of
conscientiOusness. The noted bOy-mur-
derer, Pomeroy, of Boston, is shining
instance of this class, and received his
proper punishment in a sentence of life
Imprisonment. Our readers will, many
of them, recall in their own experience