The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-29
SHALL WE 60 cRAZY7
IS THE WORLD GOING MAD IS AN
IMPORTANT AND PERTINENT
QUESTION.
INSANITY ON THE INCREASE.
NUMBER OF PATIENTS IN HosPI-
TAILS GROWING GREATER
EACH YEAR.
LOVE DRIVES PEOPLE TO MADNESS
Cause of Over Half the Cases, So 1t
Is Claimed by Some
Doctors.

Cause of Over Half the Cases, So 1t
Is Claimed by Some
Doctors.
Special to the Globe.
LONDON, Nov. 18.-Is the world go
ing mad? This question IS rendered
entirely legitimate by the discovery
that every year the percentage of cases
of madness among human beings is
steadily increasing. The march of
progress is apparently affecting our
brains, and some day, If the present
ratio continues, we may all be insane
or so many Of us that we shall shut
the sane people up in the asylums and
do just what our disordered brains
may impel. The suggestion of all this
has been made before, but never as
now backed by actual medical figures.
1t cannot be argued that this in
crease in the number Of cases Of in
sanity is the result of the worlds pop
ulation growing greater, for taking all
that into the calculation the increased
proportion is unchanged. 1t is true
that the same statistics show that the
siderably less than formerly and that
the proportion of persons who become
again clothed in their right minds is
greater, but these facts do not at all
alter the truth that there are more
persons who become insane and remain
in that condition each year than used
to be the case.
Look at these figures: The total pres
ent number of lunatics IN England and
Wales is 1886, as compared with &C.
446 on the corresponding day of 1895.
1t requires no mathematician to dis
cover the fact that this shows an in
crease of 2,919 persons who have joined
the lunacy contingent. Some of our
great doctors argue that the increase
in recoveries is due to the fact that
more of the insane are placed under
the control of the medical profession
than was formerly the case. but that is
only matter of theory, for no one ever
will know the correct number of luna
tics that are treated in their own
homes or the homes of their friends.
1t is in May that the majority of
persons go mad. 1t may seem strange
that one month should create appar-
emily such a fearful amount of mental
disorder, but the facts demonstrate it
beyond controversy. Beside May,
March, April, June and July are re-
sponsible for the filling of the asylums,
so far as statistics of occurrence can
make them so. 1t has always been
known that the springtime was par
ticularly favorable to the development
of mental disorders, but few persons
l, Oft 1n 60 iy1 oil re,
fullnesS.
1t is also in the spring that the
young mans fancy lightly turns to
thoughts of love, and yet the same sta
tistics mentioned show that the pro-
portion of young women who are driv-
en- mad by Cupid's wiles in the spring
is far greater than the number of
young male lunatics. A prominent ply
sician when asked the cause of this
stated that in his judgment it was be-
cause the mental organization of wom-
an was much more delicate than
that of man, and therefore a shock
of mental nature at the season of
the year when Cupid is supposed to be
in the zenith of his power IS infinitely
more likely to be productive of i'll re-
suits to the female than the male.
1t is interesting to note the great
part that loves plays in the creation
of insanity. To thoroughly appreci-
ate it, it must be understood that half
of the cases which appear on the in
sanity records as due to various causes
are really the result of love. This is
what medical men say, experts as to
the causes which drive people mad.
Marriage, which is the natural result
of love, unquestionably helps the
growth of the insanity record. 1t is a
fact that the number of insane mar
ried men proportionately exceeds that
of insane single men by at least one
third. During the five years from 1891
to 1895, inclusive, 962 married men with
suicidal propensities were treated
while, during the same time, there I'M
derwent treatment 1873 bachelors and
III widowers. Turning to the other
sex, the records now show u.s. during
the same period, the married women
treated numbered 1922 the spinsters
$50, and the widows 1853.
These figures are necessarily con-
vincing, and they are hard to explain
One of the very best known physicians
in discussing the matter the other day
said: 1T simply unsets the theory
that marriage renders people long
lived and less prone to mental dis
turbance. l find no solution of the
problem, except that AFFORDED by the
divorce courts. The number Of di-
vorces has increased in even greater
proportion than the number of cases
of insanity. 1 sincerely believe that
the marriage covenant is so lightly
considered nowadays that people hast
lily assume all the obligations it i'm
plies, and, when 1t is too late, realize
what they have really done.
"Of course, it does not follow that all
marriages are by any means like the
sort referred to, but think almost any
person who has studied the problem
as closely as 1 have will tell you the
same thing. If people didn't plunge
into the sea Of matrimony with no
more thought than they do when they
take dip in the ocean, believe we
should soon see a reduction in the per-
centage of the insane"
An interesting feature of this ques-
ton is the causes of insanity in gen
eral, and how these causes operate in
members of tf1e two sexes Here are
some instances, in which the sex per-
centage is given:
Females Males
Hereditary influences ..........29.9 20.8
Previous attacks -. ............22 .0 16. 4
Domestic troubles ........ go 4.3
Intemperanee in drink .......... S.5 20.9