The Morris County chronicle., 1909-12-28

mere Is Tue SIOTy OIL u SOJOuTu6T ny
the railway who is not disturbed by
the sound Of passing trains so long as
the engineer oces net use the forced
draught. The noise produced by this
procedure annoys him beyond meas
ure, because it seems to him unnec-
essary. In other words, it is not
noise that disturbs him, bat the asso-
Citations he has grouped around a par
ticular kind of noise.
DR.. G. L. Walton uses this incident
In his little book, "Those Nerves
Ia sort Of sequel to why Worry?''
! Ito illustrate the effects of "associa-
tive, memories" and to demonstrate
his point that in nervousness" as a
condition it is not the nerves that
give trouble, but the brain behind
them.
To advise the man by the railway
to stop fussing would only increase
his worry. To restore his mental
poise he must abate his insistence on
the disagreeableness of the unneces-
sary in general and modify his atti-
tude toward the forced draught in
particular.
Without doubt says DR.. Walton,
'the wet hen could keep her temper
If she would only cease to insist on
being dry
The ticking of watch may arouse
many memories of people who have
worn watches and of watches them
selves, also of ideas some other time
suggested by watches. 1t may even
reawaken emotions stirred in the
past by the sight or sound of a watch.
Nothing harmful is likely to come OF
all this. But if we select the word
tunnel, thunderstorm, fire, poison, or
even for the supersensitive, automo-
bile. elevator, theatre or crowd, we
may start train of vivid memories
arousing emotions so potent as to af-
feet the conduct.
Persons obsessed by the fear OF
closed places and of crowds have test
flied that in earlier life no thought OF
danger intruded itself in such situ-
ations. A single experience, or the
report of a theatre fire, has started a
train of thought associations which
have become so dominant that the
mere thought of attending the thea
tire or of entering a railway tunnel
produces mental panic.
The more fixed such memories be-
come the harder the task of displac-
ing the old by the new and healthier
habit of thought which shall dislodge
the unreasoning fears. Says the doc
tor:
"If an overwhelming fear keeps
me from entering an elevator it is
because the memories grouped in my
mind around the elevator are so dis
torted that the emotion fear has. be-
come unduly prominent. If / am
over-solicitous about the illnesses OF
about the prospective illnesses of my
friends it shows that my who'll series
of memories regarding life needs
overhauling. 1t is such dominance
that we can train away by the rear
rangement of existing associations
and by the establishment of new ones
This is education"
We are not gifted from birth with
susceptibility to definite sources OF
annoyance. Most of us have, rather
an insistent desire to have all things
ordered to our liking. The direction
of this liking will depend upon cir
cumstances. DR.. Walton strongly
suspects that the human sensitive
plant would be in no more danger oil
nervous prostration than its vegeta.
Bile prototype il its reaction to pro.
miscuous touch were likewise purely
physical 1t is worth while for every
one who detects in his makeup the
elements of supersensitiveness to cul,
tivate for his ideal the commonplace
instead of the dainty. To do this he
must. train himself to overcome al
kinds Of aversion, whether for things
or for people.
The path to change OF ideals l:
not always direct. SometimesNa sug
gestive thought will reach by chance
a, point to which it could not Rave
been driven by logic or eloquence. II
may thus cause a patient to carry or
line OF reasoning FOR himself.
The case is cited of woman whose
sensitiveness took the direction of in
ability 10 touch anything which hat
been handled by another. She was il
danger of abandoning work and play
except as they could be pursued il
solitude. Many hours were spent by
her physician in the attempt by max
i'm and anecdote to alter her ideals
She was led gradually to study how
much instead of how little she coulc
stand. Finally, the desired frame Of
mind being brought about, she wa:
able to follow her vocation without
trouble. And she protested the ply
A GCTDENTTC TINT