New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-12-29
RELIGION AND INSANITY.

An idea prevails that because the ucluSloHS
and freaks of the insane often take religious
turn. religion is To be accounted one OF the
causes of insanity; and that If there were less
religion in the community, Ct II 1t were less
earnest and emo tional, there would be fewer
Iunatics. Some persons have said, apropos OF
the Guiteau case, that ministers should ibc care
full how they teach high view of inspiration,
or preach on the story of Abraham, or inculcate
the more solemn doctrines of the Church, Tor
they may make their parishioners insane In
so far rs this idea arises from attGibuting reliS-
ious decisions 10 religion, it Is simply FOOLISH
The topic, Of lunatics wandering thoughts
are not the cause Of his alteration, and no one
supposcs they are except when religious dclu-
sions are in question. a man imaglncs he X \
glass lar no one calls the art OF glassmalInS
the cause Of the vacary. 4 woman is over
come by a diseased propensity 10 take goods
from shop counters no one thinks the shops
must be closed. I'm dclirium tremcns the pa
ti,nt sees snakes are snakes the cause of de
lirium trcmcns7 Or would there be less of the
disease if there were fewer reptiles Insanity
is an impairment Of the physical condition and
poveIs of the brain, and its causes must be
sought either in original defects or in influences
which have hinderod normal brain action. The
tendrs Of the vine wind around the oak, but
the oak has nothing 20 do with causing the
vines growth. So the wandering thoughts Of
a lunatic stray toward all sorts Of subjects, but
that is no indication that the subjects have pro-
duced the malady. The insane tclief that one
is Jesus Christ, or that he is inspired, or that
he has committed the objectionable sin, is not
in any sense caused by the doctrine Of the in
/. IF C,,4,,
ishment. The cause is always physiological.
There is another aspect of the idea in which
it is more plausible. Strong cmotiOns-anxicty,
fear, sympathetic cxcitcment-may, as is now
known, 80 affect the brain as TO produce physi-
cal disturbance, and ultimately insanity. Re-
ligiOus methods dO-some more than others
arouse the emotions hence erroneous methods
may have tendency in feeble or susceptible
natures to unhinge the mind. But il is not the
religion in them which is the dangerous ele
ment. Whenever n case OF insanity is trace
able to religious exercises, labOrs or meetings,
as an exciting cause of brain dstuI bance, it
will be found that these contained another
element quite distinct from the religion.
Journals say that in Louisville lately loving
husband sat up night after night tending his
sick wife, until continued anxiety and loss Of
sleep disordcrcd the brain. He was seized at
midnight while Others were away and asleep,
with the dclusiOn that she needed to be bcd
and made seventeen cuts with pcnlsnifc one
of which severed an artery from which she blcd
to death. Their son, returning to the room
next morning, was shocked to find his mother
dead and his father raving. The healing art
nursing-was not the cause of this but NAL
nj ,,,ct a,,I
of sleep, exercise and food. So in the case of
farmers wife who becomes insane under the
excitement of a camp-mceting. She is perhaps
naturally Of weak, easily pcrturbcd brain
organization. She has always been accustomed
to an uncventful, Unconditional life, to a plain
diet, daily routine labor. and early sleep. From
these she goes to "a scene of stirring excite
ment, an entire change of food, diminished
exercise, and evening meetings in which OK
hortation, prayer and praise are spun ont until
toward midnight. II the brain succumts to
the change, the cause of the disturbance will
commonly be found in some of the novel and
unwhoesome physiological innuences-not in
the religions element viewed by itself
Accordingly recent medical writers on in
sanity are frank and cordial in disavowing that
religion is to be accounted one of its causes,
and teach that mental acceptance of religious
truths as commonly held in America and Eng
land cOnseryes the powers and tends to avert
insanity Wharton and Stille Il Med. Juris.
sec. GG2) quote many opinions to this general
effect, and state as the result of their reading
and observation, that Christianity, taken in its
practical sense, has no tendency to produce in
sanity What is called religious insanity is
produced by some departure from Christianity,
either in the direction of scepticism or super
sttion. DR.. Cheyne says-and DIR. Duncan in
dorses the sentiment: We firmly believe that
the Gosnel. received aimDlY. never since it,