The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1890-04-18
SOME QUEER CASES.
Tho Secret of Curing Hystcr,a In All on
Its Humorous TUr,ms.

aus I<uttiCrttt!S kOriilys
short time ago, i'll the out patient de-
oai'tlnei:t OF a l;.i... liosm,ai. says II writer
ni.cis'!'c Hours, twolu:c,.y dressed la.:.cs
ifcod aaSious!y awaiting their turn toeuier
The doc'o:is room with a poor woman
wrapped in BLANKETS, whom they had
bra':S!t in an Invalid chair and an a,nbu-
lanre with the greatest difficulty from home.
When the doctor SAW thea he a>certaincd
that the poor creature had suffered fer
years from II diseased spl.lc, aid for the
iast % wars Ind been entirely supported
ana n.;i'sed by the t":o i,..;ics. who. not he
ing ii"ii Themselves, had ut last foHnd the
burden more ts:;!n they could bear, aud had
as u Last rgso.rca brought her To the hos.
ln';siia Tie hope THAT il would provide her a
bel Tor the rsniaindcr of lie. life.
lac pal 'esit WAS Il rcspcc:abie-looking
person aool;l forty five, with placid, Welt
ted appearance, bit emitting the most ug-
"~l.2;iisg c...cs Whenever an ATTEMPT was
l!;'a1to move her.
Tic l;:'.ies were tiereupon asked to with
ara" and wait. and t,ie back was carefully
eS;i.ni!es!. ;:.i,l, in spite of intcnsc apparent
pam, The conc!usinm arrived at was that
there was no disease but hYsteria.
Strong measures We're CT course needed
TIC bring the patient 10 tl.is point of view,
''''' - tH'>~ '..-Nt tbtstttt tIi' : ti.ilc WIN (lCttill-
- galvanized, aiil size W,.s then induced to
walk. Farther details wou!ll,c weariso1nc.
In two hours :i,nc. so effsc.ual were the
means usa,i. that the twola!les stared attle
lii!i;!ctloi;S am carancc OF the enc on whom
they had s.'cat so much care, walking all
ino';t tile W;.i.lng-roum with ease, :nicurcd
"f Her spinal complaint once and fura!i. In
ti!'3 case. AGAIN, 1T WAS carefully explained
tiiat tic woman was not Gcrc;ving them.
OIt t:iat IT was her nerves., not her sDinc
winch We're d~isorGcrcd.
as ~ rule it is better that hystcrlcal
patients should not be ut home, cs pccially
II The disease develops there, but should
at once be sent away.
WAT they Ito want, wherever they are,
In order TO ID: cured, is the power of a very
strong will and tine patience of q very kind
heart.
NOW, there was no deception in this case,
and yet such might easily be suspected.
One oil the most remarkable testimonies
as to the poWcrof tho hys.erical person to
simuiatc real disease is the fact that at q
leading, London hospital over fifty cases of
one fatal disease have been sent in by,nedi-
cal men and certified, and yet in every one
OF the fly the disease was hysteria, and
hystcria onlv.
Tue marvellous cures of historical loss of
vo'ca;re very Interesting. A patientco,nes,
~ t!:lcs u waiter i'll ~ hotel, wt.o has lost his
VOICE. ;,!id place i'll consequence; at others a
sovcr:icss, or perhaps the mother of 4 fam
lily, or some delicate young lady. None of
ti!cai can speak above IL very soft Whisper:
ard vet, without knowing it. they will c, ,g!l
ore'lrar their throat quite audibly. The his
toiyis ncarly always the same. The disease
didnot begin with hys;cria. The patient had
aseverc cod az first, and dill lose her voice.
This has, however, long since been cured.
5Gs .hc voicc.css state persists, and would
do 80 Till tho end of time. y careful exam
NATION ra.ca.s that every thing is normal.
Anthem, by the sl:iil.ul use of judicious
mems. the voiccicss condition, that has per-
sisted for sometimes years, gradually is
cured. These patients OCCASIONALLY act.
uail.N have slates to write on, and can not
speak at all.
And yet after treatment in five minutes
they sa." "Ch"' with wonderful vigor. In
i've minutes moro they can count, and in
half an hour can shout out every letter of
the aip!iioct so as to DC i,eard nifty yards off.
One extremely co.nical case, which we
may Just wind up With, was that of a very
attractive young lady, 'spoor, but respect
able Who entered the room of Il hospital
surgeon a short time ago u living skeleton,
pursued by her anxious and care-worn
mother, holding in one hand u pot of Lie
big and in the other u spoon. Sine apollo
Sized aud explained her extraordinary at,i-
'ude BY saying that her daughter had com
p!etely lost her power of swallowing for
weeks, and had solely been kept alive by a
mysterious process she called ssuction:'
that she had tried all that day to induce her
10 take IL lit'!c Liebig, that being a light,
nonllsiii'ig diet, but in vain. The young
lady suia suc!, was the case, that shc was
and besides ruin her WI health, but she
felt she was going fast, for she could swal-
low nothing.
A glass OF water on the table was tried
after mach persuasion, but produced such
%siasnis that not u drop was swallowed,
The mother was then requested to wait,
and the daughter WAS taken to the wards
upstairs aid Il brief course of treatment
entered upon.t the true nature of the disease
being at once discovered. 1t was SO sutis-
factory that after few minutes the patient
thought that she felt better, and managed
with difficulty 10 swallow IL little water.
This WIS not enough, however, soft was
continued, with the cmincntly happy and
satisfactory result that in half an hour the
young lazy %as sitting at Il table with a
p.a;cial of Boiled mutton, turnips and no.
tatocs before her; and her mother was
called UP. andin her presence the daughter,
w.,l Il radiant countenunce, completely fin
isllea the meal.
Ono curious thing is that all the distor.
tions aud contractions of hysteria disappear
under chloroform. One very obstinate case
of Il contracted and bent arm deficd all eff
forts 10 strengthen ii; but when Mt last
cliloroform was given it was at once per-
fac;ly straight. As the patient came round
j. contracted again, and i'll q few hours was
as rigid as ever. She was therefore nut to
sleep the second time, the arm Strengthened.
and then secured IN that position with
plaster of paris. Thu result was o perfect
cure.
The secret Of curing all hysteria is by
feeling true sympathy from the conviction
of tile reality of the disease, but showing
none. In fits. for instance, the friends
should not struggle with tho sufferer, or
express either alarm or interest; indeed,
the fewers spectators the better, US the pa
tient is nearly always partly conscious, and
any interest always increases the violence
of her performances. All alcohol should
invariably be avoided, as it only increases
the malady.
One Of the best and safest cures is to
pour steadily from q height q small
stream of cold water on the face. This will
be borne for q few minutes, and then efforts
made to avoid 1t, and then CONSCIOUSNESS
regained With q long-drawn sigh.
u