New-York tribune., 1910-12-24
TO PREVENT INSANITY
Public Meeting in Campaign Held
at Academy of Medicine.
PLEA FOR DISPENSARlES
Homer Folks Urges Educational
Methods-One Insane Person
to 279 in State.

Methods-One Insane PERSON
to 279 in State.
| eu-+ -r,h,,o meeting in the campaign
xo- ~. ,,revention Of insanity was heio at
.bo .o,aen,v of Medicine last night. ihe
..;r. vas conducted by the co1nmlttee
- ,-,a-+., bve.ene of the State Char1ties
.Is ASSOCIATION. with the view to s1'iiis
- ,-,ne+,,s TO the anti-insa11ity cause III
-, &c medical and educational FEATURES
nlsn of campaign was dlscusseu p9
roar Folks secretary OF the ot"'e
CHARITIES Aid Association, and the suoJeo'
-r.s aiscussed In its various phases by Dr'
AIbert Warren Ferris president oi 'N0
s.a+e Commission in Lunecy, ana OUTFITS
NJ FOLKS said that the campaigns
AGAINST tuberculosis and insanity We're 60
| eentauv similar although there must pe
..eeororcee in method. He urged the estdp-
,at,.,,+ of additional dispensar1es for
| r,o,,,ors and mental diseases IN TINS CITY
.,d throughout the state There are al
,eadv four such dispensaries IN Maiiii''
tan and one in Ogdensburg, he salu.
r-,ro,,eb nopuIar educational methoos'
such as have been employed In the ci
against tuberculosis, the average iian
| shou1d he famfliarized with the eaiiiei
sz-n,ntons of more serious mental troupie'
.rd should be led to seek the shllieu auFio0
OF SPECIALISTS when he becomes suiierer
f-on, such SYMPTOMS. For this purpose
/ ~. a,snensaries should be open at the
ho,,rs st which patients can most con-
yen,entIv go without losing employment
| e,,h es evenings and Sundays. he sa1o.
A IeaAet stating in simple language the
c.use svrnptorns and early method OF
treatment of insanity has been prepared.
revised and indorsed by the highest med1cai
authorities and will be distributed widely
In this city and throughout the state, Mr..
Folks said.
Dr. Ferris said there were 32,65S known
cases of insanity in the state yielding
ratio of one insane person to 2'5 OF the
pon,I1atfon Most of these cases are IN
state institutions. The greatest cause OF
insanity he said, is the use or 5dcohohc
beverages. Immoral habits, the use Oh
drugs, and "stress and strain all have
their long quota of victims In the state
insane asylums, he said.
immigrants Furnish Many Insane.
.Immigration has been responsible for
many of our insane wards" said Dr. Fer
ris 'Of the total number Of insane In New
York State hospitals 45.2 per cent are OF
foreign birth. Each year more than 6, 400 new
cases of insanity are admitted, providing
us with a net increase of over 1,2o0 an
nually. During the last year . per cent OF
those admitted were discharged recovered"
Speaking on Newer Forms Of Popular
Education DR.. Samuel McCune Lindsay,
director of the New York School OF Philan-
thropy, said:
Child labor is to be abolished Tuber-
culosis is to be made as negligible a factor
,I-1i, q
fever, typhoid fever is TO be made we'll
nigh Impossible, the congestion OF popula-
ton is to be dealt with through far
eaching plaa for city engineering, and
now insanity is to be checked in its in
cipiency.
ut will not do to rely on the psychology
of fear II we are to accomplish large social
results. It is rather the psychology Of a
new hope, of new faith, that inspires
The fear that my child may be the victim
| of the iniquitous industrial system IN which
child labor is possible. or the fear that 1
may contract tuberculosis, is not so i'm
portant or potent force for the eradica-
ton of both evils as the vision Of new
world in which children are free to play
and to grow into strong men and women.
Dr. NJ. Allen Starr, professor Of neurol-
ogy in the School Of Physicians and SuI-
geOnE, SPOKE upon OuT IrSSeAl hlo"I-
edge of the Causes Of Insanity" and said
| that while 1t was Impossible to control the
internal causes Of insanity, as inherited
tendencies and imperfect development Of
the brain, it was possible to control many
of the external causes. The faulty meth
DDS of early training and education in
nervous children had become a subject for
special training in the public schools. he
said with much success.
Strong Committee at Work.
Efforts are now being made to limit
alcoholism and the improper use of drugs,
the academy already having appointed a
strong committee on the prevention and
treatment of inehriety: legal measures TO
control the possibility of obtaining drugs.
like opium and cocaine can be enforced.
and certain constitutional affections. which
lead to d large number of cases. seem to
be nearly durable in view OF recent medical
discoveries he said.
Referring to the physical causes as more
difficult to deal with, DR.. Starr said the
crying need of the present day in this coun-
try was the realization that we live too
fast work too hard, that we strive too in
tensely and feel too keenly. The need of
moderation. both in work and in the In
diligence Of emotional excitement, should
be realized. he said.
THE types of insanity prevalent in the
cities are quite different from those prev
alent in the rural districts The former are
paresis. alcoholic insanity, and the insan-
tiles due to imperfect development and
training and overwork and emotional
strain The rural types are chiefly melan-
choIia of middle age and senile insanity
he said.
1.-THE two latter types form but small
proportion in the total number of cases in
the hospitals" he continued. "and it is
evident, therefore, that if the conditions of
country life can be produced In some ex~
tent In persons on the verge Of nervous