Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-01-16
.SHYNESS Is SERIOUS.
MEDICAL EXPERTS SAY 1T is A sYMP-
TOM OF MELANCHoLlA.

Forcrunncr of Dcmcntia-A Disease
That Should BE Carefully Treated In
! Tinrc-Afrccts Men as Well as Women.
at last it has been discovered that tho
soason the girl who seems exceedingly
shy acts i'll the fashion sho does is that
she is demcntcd.
This is the result of extensive investi-
cation by insanity experts on both sides
Of the water Exceptional bashfulness,
rs it is called, is really siyness. 1t is Il
morbid condition of tho mind, Il certain
sort of dementia.
Often is the expression heard that Il
person is painfully shy. Yet in such an
instance no doubt has been raised us to
tho 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 por-
sons who are living out'S tortured exist
ence within the walls of II madhouse.
1t is IA we'll known fact that ono Of
the most notable symptoms of insanity
is that which causes the person afflicted
to shun tie company of others. Loneli-
ness is an incentive to insanity. Con-
tnement i'll solitary cell i'll u prison
often breeds madness 1t is altogether
an unnatural mental condition which
impels Il person to avoid the society OF
/ humanity. No one whose condition is
normal ever consents TO such an exist
ence.
Just how the insanity expert locks at
shyness is shown by the following state.
ment, made by DR.. G. W. Kurz of New
York, whose wide experience makes his
opinion we'll worth considering:
'Shyness is us much n disease rs scar
let fever. Its recognized as Il 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 a
possible subject for acute parcsis
This shyness takes various forms,
such rs sudden feeling of faintness
and weakness ON looking down from
any extreme height. 1t is present when
IL woman persists III looking under the
bed before retiring, although she knows
| full well that there is no man there |
know of one case of q woman who,
when she turns cut the gas invariably
lights IL match to sec if she has turned
ii completely OIL, and nine times out of
ten she lights another match 10 see If
she threw the first match into the coal
scuttlo or fireplace. That is another form
of what may be termed shyncss.
"This shyness is due to variety of
causes. 1t is very often the case that Il
system which is run down leads to this
condition of mind The continual think
ing upon any subject, or what is termed
brooding over certain thing, leads to
this. If not checked in time, melan-
cholia results.
This shyness is rs common to men
as to women. Some men seem embar-
lussed and i'll ut ease when III the pres
ence of women, while. on the other
hand, it is often noticed that tho pres
ence of gentlemen makes some women
very i'll at ease. only, III justice 10 tho
sex, it must be stated that this very
rarely happens.
There are many reasons for these
facts, but the most common one is i'll
health. Should person so troubled go
to physician, lie or she would he re-
gardcd us possessing symptoms indicat-
ing a lack Of Will power and approach
ing insanity in some form. There arc
waves of morbid shyness, just as there
are waves of insanity. There are waves
of certain kinds of suicide. resulting
from insanity. There arc waves of
bridge jumping, killing with razors or
knives, shooting and death by poison.
s'Nlany suicides arc due to temporary
insanity, brought on by 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 swhen
they come, the shy, retiring man seeks
reller III 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 seen. Lacking the physical strength
Of man in most instances, they arc un-
able to withstand the depression that
sometimes seizes them. That depression
gives birth to "a desire to be unobserved.
Here is the lightning of the fit Of shy
ness which results III unbalancing the
mind and creating the idea that the
very sight of others is an atlliction TO be
avoided.
Several New York doctors who dis
cussed the question at length said that
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 in
the presence of young men were lacking
in that mental equipoisc necessary to the
normal BRAIN Modesty is one thing,
they said, shyncss quite another. The
one causes the young WOMAN To refrain
from action that would bring upon her
just criticism. The other is simply i'm
PEELED to "a course of action for which
there is neither rhyme nor reason, and
Que that only results i'll general discom-
fort. York Journal.
Musical Recitation.
Although tie Quakers, Us Il sect, do
mot favor r1rsir rrourfiinu i r IA n ,1rotit-