The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1910-01-21

+bo sound Of passing trains so long as
the engineer does not use the forced
draught. The noise produced by this
procedure annoys him beyond meas
IRE. because it seems to him unnec-
assary. In other words, 1t is not
noise that disturbs him, but the asso-
Citations he has grouped around par
ticular kind of noise.
DR.. G.. Il. Walton uses this incident
in his little book, Those Nerves
"a sort of sequel to why Worry?"
to 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
noise 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 a 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 supersensitiye, automo-
bile, elevator, theatre or crowd, we
may start a 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 earlierl life no thought of
danger intruded itself in such stu
atoms. 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
ire or of entering 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 I am
over-solicitous about the illnesses or
about the prospective Illnesses of my
friends it shows that my whole 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 OF
nervous prostration than its vegeta-
bic prototype if it's 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 all
kinds of aversion, whether for things
or for people.
The path to "a change of ideals is
not always diref b. Sometimes sug-
gestive thought will reach by chance
a point to viii BIZ it could not have
been driven byriogic or eloquence. 1t
may thus cause patient to carry Oh
line OF reasoning for himself.
The case is cited of a woman whose
sens1tlveness took the direction of in
ability to touch anything which had
been handled by another. She was in
danger OF abandoning work and play,
except as they could be pursued in
solitude. Many hours were spent by
her physician in the attempt by max
Inn and anecdote to alter her ideals.
She was led gradually to study how
much instead Of how little she could
stand. Finally, the desired frame OF
mind being brought about, she was
able to follow her vocation without