Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-06-22
FREAKS OF INSANITY.
A DISEASE MORE PREVALENT MONO
MEN THAN WOMEN.

tHsAi q feopte NOT Deceifed oy the Deiu-
sioas of Their Fellow Pxtients-A Novel
Expersence-slental Diseases Almost Un-
known Among Savage Nations
Insanity Is peculiar disease. more
prevalent among men than women As q
rule. insane men either die or are cured In
the course Of a few years and OF the for.
mer probably so per cent die OF general
paralysis II is the result either Of over
work or bodily excesses and generally at
lacks a man between the ages of 80 and
40 An interesting fact In connection
with the insane is the great age TO which
SO many female lunatics live mad
woman is really first class insurance
risk In almost every lunatic asylum the
women greatly outnumber the men. not
only because they are SO long lived, but
also because they are SO seldom cured
1t commonly surprises visitors to
lunatic asylum to find that insane people
ere not for a moment deceived by the de
lusions of their fellow patients Each
will think himself perfectly sane and
healthy. while knowing that all the others
are hopelessly mad Although lunatics
mental freedom may he destroyed, it does
not follow that his consciousness Is abol
ished. minister who was called upon
once to preach to a congregation Of luna
tics treated them to q sermon be had
written for children Much 70 his sur.
prise, he received an Indignant letter from
one OF his listeners afterward, reminding
him that while they might be insane, they
were not idiots. and that many of them
were fully his equals In education and In
telligence.
1t is G novel experience to attend a re-
tgious service at an insane asylum I'm
agine congregation of lInatics and I'm
beetles, men Oh one side. women on the
other. in all stages of physical decay and
all degrees of madness Helpless. old.
gray haired fellows, with staring sunken
eyes and hollow cheeks. mumbling and
groaning TO themselves. in utter uncon
sciousness of their surroundings Gaunt
looking. wild eyed women, with nothing
human about them but their vanity
Wellington and Napoleon, Elizabeth and
Mary Queen of Scots. Catherine de Medicis
and Diana of Poitiers. in full costume,
facing each other: God and the devil, side
by side, restless girls. who make their
handkerchiefs into dolls and rabbits and
talk baby talk to them. occasionally beat
ing them and tossing them in the air
lnterspersed throughout this motley
crowd are bright, keen. young faces. with
no apparent trace OF their terrible curse
to any but an expert observer. refined and
cultivated women. who in their lucid in
tervals are as pure and spiritual minded
as angels. and yet are like the devil in
ccrnate when the mania seizes them, fine,
manly looking gentlemen. devout. digni
hed and scholarly today. to morrow like
the herd of swine into whom the evil
spirit enters On either side Of the chapel
sit the keepers. alert and watchful In case
of an emergency Facing them Is the
chaplain, stupid. listless looking man
relegated to this depressing field by his
own lazy inetficiency
All writers on disorders of the mind
have found il difficult to define insanity
In medical Jurisprudence, illusions. delu
sions. hallucinations incoherence and de
iirium are all phases of insanity The
Christian Science people say that all sin
and all sickness are insanity Insane
people frequently reason correctly. but |
from erroneous premises delusion IL
nothing but a false premise-the conclu
sions drawn from it may be entirely logi |
cal There is no reason why a man who |
thinks be has legs of glass. and in other |
respects is in possession of all his facul |
ties, should not be capable of making con
tracts. and responsible for legal acts
which have no connection with the sub |
ject Of his madness Such a species OF |
insanity seldom prevents q man from J
his own affairs or undertaking
any legal relations for others
Most people are prone 70 delusions or
Illusions of some form or other Many |
peopie never see things exactly as they |
are II delnsions and hallucinations are |
! test of insanity. half the world would
be in lunatic asylums
II is an interesting fact, recorded by /
Pritchard and others. that among savage
nations mental diseases are almost un
Known They come forward with the
iawning of civilization. and keep pace
With the advancement of mental culture
The restraints imposed by social order.
he diversity of interests. the pressure Of
universal competition. overwork. griefs,
lnxieties and disappointed hopes the arti
lcial life OF cities, are among the causes
most influential among civilized people in
he development of insanity Among
weak minded and half educated people |
emotional religious revivals also operate
o a great extent In France. however.
he opposite extreme is found, for while
Indifference to religion saves the people
rom religions insanity. great numbers
ose their reason through the vices for
which their low moral standard is respon
tible.
1t is curious fact that raving maniacs
re never attacked by any contagious
disease Even consumptive disorders
lropsies and other chronic maladies have
disappeared on the accession Of violent
York Post.
Among the few things that refuse to die