The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-26
VAGARIES OF LUNATICS.
The Cause of Insanity May, as a
Rule, Be Found.

1.-THE vagaries of diseased minds,'
said Insanity Commissioner LuStig to
San Francisco Post reporter the other
day, form study of psychological
phenomena of which the student never
tires. Insanity is a strange condition,
produced in a perfectly natural way in
most instances, and it finds expression
when the conditions for the develop
ment are propitious.
The principal expressions of insan-
lty are founded on the human passions
such as love, hatred, revenge and the
Indulgence of enervating pleasures.
Every case of insanity may be traced
to some direct cause, but at times even
an expert is baff1ed when asked to sup
| ply the cause. Generally IT is due to
some defect of brain structure. but
often an injury or long continued suf-
fering will bring about abnormal men
tai conditions which we recognize as
| insanity
You remember the man who fell IN
love with Madame Media, the great
| soprano? He had q wife and three
children, and yet one day he imagined
himself to be single and the accepted
sutton of the great sOngStress. How to
account for his mania, which found
! expression only in one way, was puz-
zling. In fact, it could not be done ex-
! cept in the One-idea theory, which alb
serbs the mind to the exclusion Of every
/ other thought, finally bringing about an
! abnormal condition, which could only
| be cured by isolating the patient and
! feeding him on stimulating brain food
l understand that the patient referred
! 10 is rapidly being cured Of his infatua-
| ton.
I know of a case of a woman who
| imagined herself to be a balloon. She
/ yxrCc vic Of
from a distressing sensation of full
ness after eating, which finally affected
/ her mind so that the balloon mania
| possessed her. She was rational in
! everything else, and when we exam
| ined her we traced her trouble TO dYs-
pepsia and dependency. We subjected
her to a rigid diet for some months,
and, of course, her balloon mania dis
| appeared completely.
'BroOding over troubles is one of the
| principal agents in the development Of
insanity. l have examined hundreds
of cases of persons who have become
| daft over the loss Of money, relatives,
| health, etc. By first ascertaining the
cause of the trouble we treat it scien-
| tifiC lllY, and in most instances perma-
nent cures are effected.
Il remember the case of q man Of
| herculean frame who imagined women
we're pursuing MIN III OIQSE 20 marry
| him against his viii. He was quite a
brilliant fellow in many respects, but
| when a woman came near him he would
| go into Spasms. 1 suspected his trouble
| Immediately. He was a recluse, and
/ had once been deceived in a money
| matter by a woman. / caused q woman
/ to offer him some money. He seemed
dazed, and when the operation was re-
! peated several times his mania disap-
! peared. 1 believe that fellow instead
of running from women, today courts
| their society. You may expect almost
| anything from a man who was at enc
| time or other insane.
They say that there is a streak of
! insanity more or less pronounced in
every human being. That is a radical
/ idea, but there is some truth in it,
/ nevertheless. The man who drinks to
| excess is the victim Of a mental weak
/ ness one step removed from insanity.
! The man who CANDLES continually
when he can't Oxford to lose is not gwen
/ ~ balanced. The housewife whta at
! tends Women's meetings While her
! children are neglected at home may
| find herself in the grip Of a distressing
mania at an early date. Very few Der
/ sons have evenly balanced brains, and
! hence there are few who have not some
/ distinguishing trait which may be re-
! garded as being peculiar. Yes, insan-
/ ity is a great study, and l firmly be-
lieve that it will command the atten-
ton of men until the end Of lime. I'M
less the conditions in which men live
change greatly in The ages TO come.