Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1913-08-22
NO CURE FOR FEAR H0W CHINESE Wed
Purely a Mental Condition Sci.
dom Overcome.
Maiady Without Physical Reason, Say
Scientists, That Causes Much SUI.
ferino and 10 Subject Of Great
Interest Little Investigated.

ferinp and 10 Subject Of Great I.
Interest Little investigated.
Fear Is coming to be looked upon by
scientists as disease. This least gov
ernable Of emotions Is one Of the most
disastrous to the race OF man. 1t Is
responsible for countless absolute fail
u-cs. in life. and there is no cure
for 1t. >
Once fear takes a grip upon man
or woman 1t is unlikely he or she ever
will be able to shake loose from its
tentacles. 1t grows In intensity and a
slight mental depression only helps
to increase Its acuteness.
There are the fears Of disease, the
fear OF failure and fear Of success.
Men who have begun life in their
youth with all the mental and physical
requisite for success in the financial
world. have, unaccountably to their
friends, failed miserably. And the
specific causes of these failures never
have been revealed even to their most
intimate associates. They know the
reason In their own hearts, but man
with a morbid fear never let's his Sc
cret escape from his brain cells.
While the many fatal maladies of hui
mainly are being combated by science,
and in many cases with marvellous sue
cess, little attention, says the New
York Press. is being paid to this men
tai disease that Of all agencies Is the
greatest hampering influence in life.
No specific remedy has yet been found
to relieve it. There have been in
stances Of where IL has been over
come in a great measure, but never
entirely. Fear, onte part Of hu-
man beings mentality, may desert
temporarily, but it Invariably returns
In the least expected instances.
AS no physical reasons for its exist
ence have as yet been positively
proved, it must for the present be con-
sidered as purely mental condition
and from the standpoint Of personal
observation and experience
1t is subject OF the utmost impor.
lance, as the occurrence of fear as q
malsdy in an individual may spell his
misery or happiness, his success or
failure, 70 matter what his calling
In life may be. 1t is of more than
medical interest, as it may concern
the welfare Of the lawyer, banker, ed
itor, man Of business-in fact, every
body, often even the physician him
self.
y man may face a cannon's mouth
as calmly as he would sit down to
lunch, with all thought of death far re-
moved from his mind, and yet be at.
ficted in everyday civil life with the
malady of fear!
A soldier of fortune who has fought
under the British flag in all parts Of
the empire struggled for years after
his return to civil life against mys-
ferrous feeling Of fear. Unable to bear
it any longer, he went to physician.
to whom he confessed as follows: II
have fought in II battles, and have
been decorated with the Victoria
Cross; have never been a coward,
bur now l am as fearful as a woman.
| dare not even venture to cross q
street If there Is single vehicle in
sight, and l am heartily ashamed Of
myself Help mel"
This is one kind of fear which Is
here considered as a malady, and it
is unnecessary to add that this SOL
der of fortune suffered most lament
ably from his unreasonable affection.
The fact that he was relieved In a
very short length of time throws some
light on the Importance of looking on
such condition as veritablE>dis-
ease.
A we'll known writer always had a
dread of beginning any new literary
work for fear that it might not be up
to his usual standard, and consequent
ly might not prove acceptable. He
mad noticed, in reviewing his condi-
ton, when whenever he commenced
anything in that dreadful frame Of
mind the result was invariably fail
ur&. ~
When that fear was not present,
anything he wrote was always favor
ably received. He could never tell
whether that state of fear would be
present or not when he sat down to
his daily task. This condition be-
came more and more frequent. until
finally he could not trust himself to
write a single word. A psychologist
relieved him ultimately. D..
But there is one thing which dis
tinguishes fear as a ma]ady from fear
as commonly known, and that Is Its
unreasonableness. There Is as rule
no apparen, cause to justify such
strange and unexpected results.
OF course, any one confronted on .
dark night by a pistol thrust under the
nose would be apt to feel more or
less frightened-that is reasonable
fear-but to feel just as badly fright
ened in the absence of all visible dan.
ger serves to class the condition un-
der discussion as distinct malady.
There is one thing common to all
persons afflicted with this condition Of
year, and that is, all mental activity
is more or less suspended or paralyzed
at the time of attack. The capacity
for mental work and even the desire
are absent in varying degree.
Rapid thought is impossible, and
the victim complains that he cannot
work aa he did formerly. As the feel