Evening journal., 1897-01-20
SHYNESS is SERIOUS.
MEDICAL EXPERTS SAY 1T Is A SYMP-
TOM OF MELANcHoLlA.

AT last it has been discovered that the
reason the girl who seems exceedingly
shy acts in the fashion she does is that
she is demented.
This is the result of extensive investi-
cation by insanity experts on both sides
Of the water. Exceptional bashfulness,
as it is called, is really shyness 1t is a
morbid condition OF the mind, certain
sort of dementia.
Often is the expression heard that
person is painfully shy. Yet in such an
instance no doubt has been raised as to
the mental condition Of the object Of
the remark. Nevertheless, it is far more
than probable that the individual refer
red to was suffering from insanity just
as much if not more, than many per-
sons who are living out tortured exist
ence within the walls of a madhouse.
1t is well known fact that one Of
the most notable symptoms of insanity
is that which causes the person afflicted
to shun the company Of others. Loneli-
ness is an incentive to insanity. Con-
inement in a solitary cell in a prison
often breeds madness. 1t is altogether
an unnatural mental condition which
impels person to avoid tho society Of
humanity. No one whose condition is
normal ever consents 10 such an exist
ence.
Just how the insanity expert looks at
shyness is shown by the following state
ment, made by DR.. G. w. Kunz of New
York, whose wide experience makes his
opinion well worth considering:
"Shyness is as much a disease as scar
let fever. Itis recognized as a symptom
Of dementia or melancholia, just as an
extremely strong willed person, or one
who is what is termed unusually self
assertive, is regarded by physicians as r
| possible subject for acute paresis
"This shyness takes various forms,
such as sudden feeling of faintnoss
and weakness on looking down from
any extreme height. 1t is present when
a woman persists in looking under the
bed before retiring, although she knows
/ full well that there is no man there.
/ know of one case Of woman who,
when she turns cut the gas, invariably
lights a match to see if she has turned
it completely off, and nine times out of
ten she lights another match TO see if
she threw the first match into the coal
scuttle or fireplace. That is another form
of what may be termed shyness.
''Ihis shyness is due to a variety Of
causes. 1t is very often the case that 4
system which is run down leads to this
condition of mind. The continual think.
ing upon any subject, or what is termed
brooding over a certain thing, leads to
this. If not checked in time, molan-
cholia results.
''This shyness is as common TO men
as to women. Some men seem embar-
rassed and i'll at ease when in the pres
ence Of women, while. on the other
hand, it is often noticed that the pres
ence of gentlemen makes some women
very i'll at ease, only, in justice TO the
sex, it must be stated that this very
rarely happens.
''There are many reasons for these
facts, but the most common one is iii
health. Should a person so troubled go
10 a physician, he or she would be re-
garded as possessing symptoms indicat-
ing lack of will power and approach
ing insanity in some form. There are
waves of morbid shyness, just as there
are waves of insanity. There are waves
of certain kinds of suicide, resulting
from insanity. There are waves of
bridge jumping, killing with razors or
knives, shooting and death by poison.
"Many suicides arc due to temporary
insanity, brought on by q variety Of
causes. One Of the first symptoms is
shyness. Persons afflicted with this
shyness never take up any of the sciences
or professions or become students. They
lack the will power necessary to do so.
Where the normal mind of man over
comes difficulties and troubles when
they come, the shy, retiring man seeks
relief in suicide "
DR.. Henry Campbell, who is the ply
sician in charge of the Northwest Lon.
don hospital, says that morbid shyness
is, like other mental disorders, an exag-
geration of an unnatural physical state.
1t is among women, he declares, that
this symptom of mental disorder is most
often scor. Lacking the physical strength
of rrn ia most instances, they are un-
abl1 t1 st-4 4lslanu tnt ueplesslun tnhl
somci Mes .eizes them. That depression
gives ..Ith 10 a desire to be unobserved.
Here the beginning Of the fit Of shy
ness " hich results in unbalancing the
mind and creating the idea that the
very sight Of others is an affiiction to b'
avoided.
Several New York doctors who dis
cussed the question at length said thai
they had noticed particularly among
young women whom they had been call
ed upon to see that those who had ex
hibited the greatest embarrassment il
the presence Of young men were lacking
IN that mental equipoise necessary TO th'
normal brain. Modesty is one thing
they said, shynoss quite another. Tn,
one causes the young woman to refrain
from action that would bring upon he
just criticism. The other is simply i'm
PEELED TO a course of action for whicl
: there is neither rhyme nor reason, an,
one that only results in general discom
fort New York journal.