Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1881-09-20
Worry and Oyerwork.

worry And oFer~ OKA.
q Nineteenth Century.
9 Overwork is impossible SO long IS the
feffort made is natural. The use of slim
sulants in aid of work is, perhaps, one of
sthe commonest forms of collateral infiu
Fence suspending the warning sense of
3exhaustion. When the laborious worker,
sovercome with fatigue, 4rouses" himself
with alcohol, coffee, tea, or any ether
sagent which may chance to suit him, he
sfdoes not add unit of force to his stock
gof energy. He simply narcotics the
Esense of WEAKNESS, and, the guard being
szdrugged, he appropristes the reserve.
s Not unfrequently the warning sense Is
ssstifed by the very intensity of the mo-
.stive power or impulse. Ambition. zeal
Hove, sometimes fear. will carry q man
sbeyond the bounds set by nature No
esmatter what suspends the functions of
4sthe guard set at the threshold of the re-
sfserve, if the residual stock is touched
1.-TWO consequences ensue, waste and de-
-gpreciation. Without reserve of mental
S.energy, the mind can no more continue
ssthe healthful exercise of its functions
than flabby muscle without tonicity can
1respond to the stimulus of strong volt
ftion, and lift heavy weight or strike a
ssheavy blow.
I The cause or condition which most
sscommonly exposes the reserve of mental
aenergy to loss and injury ls worry. The
tstone and strength of mind are seriously
Simpaired by its wearing influence, and
Elf it continue long enough, they will be
Sxdestroyed. 1t sets the organism of
Thought and feeling vibrating with emo
Sstions which are not consonsnt with the
Enatural liberation of energy in work.
EThe whole machinery Is thrown out of
ggear, and exercise, which otherwise
.lwould be pleasurable and innocuous, be
p3cOmes painful and even destructive. I'll
lis easy to see how this must be- The
;ilongest note in music, the most steady
ssand persistent ray of light-to use AM
Gold fashioned expression, the tonic mus
ocular contraction-are all, we know,
zproduced by a rapid succession of
ESminute motive impulses or acts, like the
zexplosion and discharge of electricity
afrom alternately connected and sepa-
rated points in a circuit-in fact, q series
'iof vibrations. Mental energy doubtless
atakes the same form of development. LII
Ia disturbing element is introduced byI
s{the obtrusion of some independent source|
4of anxiety, or if. out of the business in!
shand, the mind makes discord, confu-
emonious action ceases Working underI
Sthese conditions in obedience to the will,
Sthe mental organism sustains INJURY
(which must be great and may be lasting
/ The function of the warning sense is sus
6pended; the reserve is no longer stock
/ in allegiance, and it ceases to give stabil-l
fifty to the mind; the rhy thin of the men
7 tai forces is interrupted; crash is alwaysj
Impending, and too often sudden col
tlapse occurs. The point to be made5
sclear is this: Overwork is barely posi- +
I bile, and seldom, if ever, happens while1
: the mind is acting in the way prescribed
fby its constitution and in the normal
modes of mental exercise. The moment,
3however, the natural rhythm of work isl
] broken and discord ensues, the mind isl
slike an engine with the safety-valveS
blocked, the steam gauge falsified, theH
governing apparatus out of gear-a3
breakdown may occur at any time. Thee
state pictured is one of worry, and thes
sbssett'ng peril is n9t depicted 4ius ta9i
FEVER on the verge of a catastrophe; If he'd
escapes, the marvel is not at his strength +
sof intellect SO much as his good fortune
IVORY is disorder, however induced, ands1
idisorderly work is abhorred by the lawsI
aof nature, which leave it wholly without
remedy. The energy employed in indus
stry carried under this condition is lav-1
lished in producing small result, ands
speedily exhausted. The reserve comes :
Unto play very early in the task, and theR
faculty of recuperstion is speedily ar
rested Sometimes loss of appetite an
{nounces the cessation of nutrition; other
wise the sense of hunger present In thes
System is for time preternaturally acute, l
Hand marks the fact that the demand isl
1occasioned by loss of power to approprl-4
late, instead of any diminution of supply. I
THE effort to work becomes daily morei
Slaborious, the task of fixing the sttentions
ggrows Increasingly difficult, thoughts
7wander, memory fails, the reasoningy
spower is enfcebled, prejudice-the shaded
3of defuuct emotion or some past persua-
::sion-takes the place OF judgment; phys-i
heal nerve or brain disturbance mays
8supervene, and the crash will then GOMEZ
suddenly, unexpected by on-lookers, peri
Shaps unperceived by the sufferer himself.
aThis is the history of "worry," or disor
!der produced by mental disquietude and
abstraction, occasionally by physical dis