The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-10-29
Worry.


The cause, or condition, which most
commonly exposes the reserve of mem
tai energy to loss and injury is worry.
The tone and strength of mind are seri-
ously impaired by its wearing influence,
and, if it continue long enough, they
will be destroyed. 1t sets the organ.
ism of thought and feeling vibrating
with emotions which are not consonant
with the natural liberation of energy in
work. The whole machinery is thrown
out of gear, and exercise, which would
otherwise be pleasurable and innocu-
Gus, become painful and even destruct-
i've. 1t is easy to see how this must be.
The longest note in music. the most
steady and persistent ray of light-to
use an old-fashioned expression-th
tonic muscular contraction, are all, we
know, produced by rapid succession
OF minute motive impulses or acts, like
the explosion and discharge of electric
ity from alternately connected and sep
arated points in circuit; in fact, Sc.
ries of vibrations. Mental energy,
doubtless takes the same form of deVel-
opment. If a disturbing element is in
PRODUCED by the obtrusion of some in.
dependent source of anxiety, or if out
u the business in hand the mind makes
dlscord, confusion ensues, and for the
time being harmonious action ceases.
Working under these conditions in ODE.
dience to the will, the mental organism
sustains injury which must be great and
may be lasting. The function of the
warning sense is suspended; the reserve
is no longer stock in allegiance, and it
ceases to give stability to the mind; the
rhythm of the mental forces is inter-
rupted; crash is always impending,
and too often sudden collapse occurs.
The point to be made clear is this:
overwork is barely possible, and sell
dom, if ever, happens, while the mind
is acting in the way prescribed by its
constitution and in the normal modes
of mental exercise. The moment, how.
ever, the natural rhythm of work is
broken and discord ensues, the mind is
like an engine with the safety-valve
locked, the steam gauge falsifed, the
governing apparatus out of gear;
breakdown may occur at any instant.
The state pictured is one of worry, and
the besetting peril is not depicted in toe
lurid colors. The victim of worry is
ever on the verge of catastrophe; if
he escape, the marvel is not at his
strength ofintellect so much as his good
fortune. Worry is disorder, however
induced, and disorderly work is alb
horred by the laws of nature, which
leave it wholly without remedy. The
energy employed in industry carried on
under this condition is lavished in pro-
ducing a small result, and speedily eX-
hausted The reserve comes into play
very early in the task, and the faculty
of regeneration is speedily arrested.
Sometimes loss of appetite announces
the cessation of nutrition: otherwise the
sense of hunger, present in the system,
is for time preternaturally acute, and
marks the fact that the demand is &C.
casioned by loss of power TO appropri-
ate, instead of any diminution of sup
ply. The effort to work becomes daily
more laborious, the task of fixing the
attention grows increasingly difficult,
thoughts wander, memory fails, the
reasoning power is enfeebled; prejudice
the shade of defunct emotion or some
past persuasion-takes the place OF
judgment; physical nerve or brain dis.
turbance may supervene, and the crash
will then come suddenly, unexpected
by onlookers. perhaps unperceived by
the sufferer himself. This is the history
of L" worry" or disorder produced by
mental disquietude and distraction, &C.
casionally by physical disease.-7he
Nineteenth Century.