The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-11-23
Our Special Contributors---ISos.
,PER TREATMENT OF INSANE pEOpI
Views of the Chief of the Department of Grim
inal Statistics,
FREDERICK HOWARD WINES.

~ S'S"S"S"sNsNShSVNs
! ness. Egotism in some form, whether
that of self-appreciation or self-depre-
ciation, is an almost invariable symp-
tom and accompaniment of insanity.
Nothing, therefore, is more important
than to divert the patients thoughts
from himself, which can be accom-
plished only by recreation and useful
occupation.
8. In leading patient from under
cloud into the light, or from the
wilderness back into the travelled
road, it is most important to humor
him, so far as this can be done with
out encouraging his delusions. It
must be remembered that abnormal
impulses and desires are often nor
NAL ia an abnormal condition of body
or mind; and that nature herself sug-
gests remedies which reason could
not discover. The patient must be
coaxed, not driven.
9. Restraint is nevertheless some
times necessary, to prevent the patient
from injuring himself or others, or to
insure the continued application of
indispensable curative measures.
This restraint may be simple confne-
ment, to keep him from straying
away; it may be isolation; it may
be the removal of objects of tempta-
ton from his reach; it may be en-
forced sleep by the administering of
hypnotics; it may be personal at
tendant; it may be the application of
bandages, as broken leg is placed
in splints. Whatever form it may
take, it is therapeutic agency, under
the exclusive control of the attending
physician, for whose skillful employ
ment the physician alone can and
must be responsible.
Treatment at Home.
Ii such care as is here outlined
could be given at home, home would
be the best place for the insane pa
tient. But such care is in nearly all
cases impossible, because, first, of the
poverty of the family; or, if that is
not the reason, because of the igno-
rance, inexperience, incapacity of the
patients friends or near relatives.
How many private persons could so
manage an insane member of the
household as to secure for him the
requisites to recovery which | have
named: rest, sleep, adequate and
suitable food, exercise, medication,
mental and moral support, recreation,
occupation and restraint7 How many
could furnish these requisites, even
with the aid of their own family doc
tor? Probably not one in ten thous-
and. Of all persons, as a rule, rela-
tives are least fitted to take charge of
the insane, on account of their exces-
sive interest and sympathy, the aver
sion which the insane are apt to con-
ceive for them, ard the contempt
which is bred by too great familiar
ity. Removal from home and from
all familiar surroundings is, for the
vast majority of patients, an indis-
pensable prerequisite to recovery.
To return to our original PROPOSE
ton, insanity, in the popular s;gnif-
cation of the word, is due to lesion
of the brain. The symptoms which
indicate the existence of lesion are
often, especially in incipient insanity.
most obscure, and they are not easily
recognized, except by physicians.
But it is precisely while they are thus
obscure, that is to say, while the le-
sion is still recent, that the hope of
recovery is greatest and the need for
appropriate treatment most impera-
ative. How often do we hear the
foolish remark, "He is insane, but not
insane enough to be sent to an insti-
tution;" as if one were to say, "He is
insane, but not insane enough to be
curedp People who take this ground
too often fool away the precious mo-
ments during which cure is still
possible, and, when they have pretty
much lost hope, but not until then,
commit their loved ones to the care
of experts, to find, alas! that the gol-
den opportunity is past, and that re-
covery is now practically impossible.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL.