Evening journal., 1902-09-25
SOMBTIMRS JOY
LEADS TO MADNESS
hind Is Unable to Stand The
Shock Of Good
TidingS


It is no exaggeration TO assert, sale !
an asylum doctor of long and varicd
experience, that there are scores Of incr
and women in our asylums who have
literally been sent there through excess
Of joy. Many of these cases which are,
In my opinion, the saddest Of all have
come under my own observation.
remember in the very FIRST asylum
with which was connected one Of the
patients was a stril1lngly handsome
and very well educated man, who was
as sane as you or 1 except ON one point
He was really n man Of considerable
wealth, but his delusion was that he
was a pauper and he would tell the
most pitiful tales Of his destitution,
begging, with tears in his eyes, for n
few coppers with which to buy bread.
According to the story told me, he
was the only son Of a wealthy mer-
chant. In his youth he had fallen
among evil companions and had led
such a dlssolute life that his father
not only threatened TO dislnherit him,
but forbade him ever to enter his house
again. After that he seems to have
sunk into the lowest depths Of poverty
until he was glad TO earn few cop
pers by selling papers OF matches In
the streets
1t was at this last and lowest stage
that news came to him that his father
had died intestate and that he was heir
to all his vast fortune. The sudden
news completely turned the mans
brain and brought on such condition
of excitement that he had TO be sent
to an asylum, and when he Gained
down again he had lost all recollection
of his good fortune, and nothing can
shake his delusion that he is on the
verge of starvation.
Another patient in the same asylum
was n young and in his lucid moments
q most intelligent fellow, whose "brain
was turned" as the saying is, on learn
ing that he had passed an examination.
He had sat for the matriculation exam
nation at the University Of London, on
passing which he had set his heart
and had asked q friend In London to
wire the result as soon as the names
were screened at Burlington House.
About three weeks later came a fatal
telegram, "Falled-sorry," which sent
the young man into the lowest depths
Of despair, for he was too old to sit
again. Not many hours later, however,
came another telegram. PASSED honors
very sorry crush so great did not see
name this morning" Tho revulsion
Of feeling was so great that the stu
dents reason gave way, and he be-
came 60 violent in his excitement that
he had to be confined. Fortunately he
was not with us long and is now, I am
glad to know. doing very well as a So
llcitor.
Disappointed love sends many peO-
pie to asylums, but It Is very seldom
that success In wooing drives a man
mad It had this strange effect, how
7 ever, on one Of my late patients. The
girl he loved had gone out to India to
keep house for her brother before he
had screwed up his courage to the point
. of proposing to her, but an offer fol
lowed by mail very quickly after her.
, Weeks and months passed, and no an
swer came TO the impatient lover until,
after waiting two years I'm despair hC
became engaged to q girl who had
, nothing but her money bags TO recon-
mend her and for whom he had not 9
particle of love. Scarcely, however, was
, his fate sealed than he received the
long despaired of letter from India, ac
cepting his offer and explaining tha
the girls brother had received and mis-
. laid the letter, which had only JUS
{ been found and had come into hei
. hands.
Within an hour Of tho receipt Of thi'
letter the man was n raving maniac
, and although his condition is improved
, 1 doubt whether he viii ever recove
his reason.
, In another remarkable case it wal
[ the Joy at seeing her husband agall
that robbed lady patient Of her rea
son. Her husband was the captain o
a merchant ship which was reported
TO have gone down with all hands. Th
widow had deeply mourned her hus
band for nearly a year, when one da.
? on returning from a walk she foun'
him sitting in the drawing room a
hale and robust as ever
With a shrek she fell unconscious ol
the floor, and when she recovered he
reason was gone. 1t seems that he
r husband. after floating for some time
? had been picked up by n passini
2 tramp" and had been landed on tn
r west coast of Africa, from which h
g had returned home by the first ayaila
BILE vessel.-LOndon Tit-Bits.