The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-06-13
HYPOCHONDRIA,
A Peculiar Condition of the Hannah Sub
jeet Closely Allied to Insanity.

A Peculiar Condition of the Hannah Sub
teet Closely Allied to Insanity.
An unreasonable anxiety as to health
rs the principal characteristic of what is
knowD as 1.-The vapors," 'the spleen"
or 1.-The hypo''-the latter being an
abbreviation OF the ancient name which
is given above. This term literally sig
miles under the cartilage" and refers
to the uneasy feeling located in the re-
gion of the stomach, just below the
cartilage which is attached to the end
OF the breast-bone. 1t is also applied to
the parts under the cartlages of the
ribs at each side, which cover the liver
on the right and the spleen on the left.
A diseased concentration Of the atten-
ton upon sensations, and lhus an exag-
geration of these feelings, results finally
In diStemper of the Imagination to
such a degree that slight bodily all
ments become of greater importance
than the gravest of real diseases. This
fact is sometimes well understood by
the sufferer. Thus the poet Cowper,
who was a confirmed hypochondriac,
writing to friend who had recently re-
covered from a severe disease, SAYS:
''TourEllneSs has indeed been sad one.
causing, no doubt, great distress to
yourself aud considerable anxiety to
your relations and friends; but, oh!
what are your bodily suferings, acute
as they undoubtedly were, to the I'M
ceasing mental torture | suffer from a
fever of the mind?"
Camerarius records that the great
Melancthon was much troubled with
hypochondria, and believed that it was
common to all men whenever grievous
trouble, passion or discomfort assails
them too continuously He therefore
held sit most necessary and prOfta-
bic study for every man to know the
accidents Of it, and dangerous thing
to be ignorant" The renowned author
of the Augsburg Confession was I'M
dOubtedly right, for every one at the
present day, at one time or another,
has unduly concentrated his attention
upon some trivial sensation, and thought
himself the victim of incurabe disease
without reasonable foundation in fact
for the idea.
The poet Burns describes his own
condition in the following characteristic
words: Il have been for some time
piniRg under secret wretchedness. The
pang OF disappointment, the sting of
pride and some wandering state of re-
morse settle on my life like yultures,
when my attention is not called away
by the claims of society or the vagaries
of music. Even in the hour of social
mirth, my gayety is the madness of an
intoxicated criminal under the hands of
an eXecutioner, My constitution was
blasted, db Orjgjne, with deep, incur
able faint of melancholy that poisons
my existence. 1t seems that from
early life, his digestion was diSordered,
he suffered from frequent head
aches, and the action of the
heart was very irregular-all of which
We're aggravated by his irregular life
Edgar A. Poe was subject to much the
same physical symptoms, but they
showed their influence more by depreS-
sion of spirits than by attention to i'm
aginary diseases Of the bodily frame,
characteristic of hypochondria. In
stances might be cited in considerable
numbers to show how much of our best
literature has been produced while the
authors were the prey to mental disease
of some sort, hypochondria particularly.
HypOchondria, in many of its phases,
must not be confounded with insanity.
At the same time, many cases of mad
ness first show themselves as hypochon-
dria, and all their symptoms are stamped
with the original motives of exaggerated
attention to bodily sensations. So long
as these ideas do not interfere with the
conduct or social relations, the case is
one of hypochondria, pure and simple.
When, however, absurd actions arise,
such as those attributed to the late Lord
Dudley. there is undeniablc insanity 1t
is difficult to draw the line where the
one ends and the other begins, as in
every case of mental disturbance. Many
a man for the sake of life neglects the
very causes for which life was granted
(JuvenaD without becoming insane
81. Louis Globe Democrat