The Parker post., 1914-07-25
NEURASTHENIA-(BRAIN FAG)-
ITS CAUSE AND CORRECTION
PART ONE.
copyright, 1914. by A. S. Cray

OF all the ills with which humanity
is afflicted, undoubtedly the most prev.
alent, certainly that one most effectu.
ally destroying the happiness and the
general efficiency of the American peo-
pie, is what has come of be universal
ly known as "The Great American Dis.
ease," popularity called brain-fag or
nervous prostration, and more spe-
c1fcally known as neurasthenia.
Neurasthenia is a condition induced
by severe shock or serious illness; OF
by the cumulative effects Of slight but
long continued and persistent irrita
tion OF one particular set of nerves;
or as the result of a general physical
and moral softening from the lack Of
normal body functioning. All these
several causes may bring about a cen.
tral nerve cell exhaustion identical in
results. Just as too frequent or too
lohg holding Of the finger on the push
button will quickly run down and ex.
haust the primary battery cells of an
electric call bell circuit, so the too
frequent or too long continued work
ing OF our nerve cells will produce ex-
haustion.
With reasonable care and use prt
mary battery cells have long life, be-
cause they recuperate between dis
charges; but if the signals follow too
closely or they are operated too con-
tinuously the battery plates lose this
recuperative power and tend to polar
ize, and even disintegrate; and with
the same treatment the very same
thing happens to our nerve cells for
the same reason. Nerve cells may be
worked beyond the point Of possible
recuperation; hence, to maintain nor.
NAL physical, mental and moral
health our cells must be given nor
NAL physiological use with time to
recuperate between discharges.
The symptoms of the disease OF
neurasthenia are multitudinous, and t.
attempt to enumerate them would take
us far beyond the scope Of this short
article. Suffice it to say that begin
ming with simple CD nervous indiges-
ton, insomnia, and an occasional touch
Of "the blues" the symptoms range
through disturbances involving all the
special senses and most of tt g abb
dominal organs in almost endless com
bination and degrees Of severity
functional diseases" abound, a new
one usually breaking out about as rap
idly as the old one is controlled, so
that the victim endures practically a
continuous round Of i'll health. Pos
sibly the one general UNIVERSAL symp-
tom is "a tired feeling" The sufferer
wakes In the morning tired and is apt
to remain tired all day until evening,
when the average neurasthenic wakes
up and wants to start something.
Besides that tired feeling so char
acteristic in the neurasthenic the chief
symptom is worry. A neurasthenic is
busy most of the time worrying about
something: either worrying about
what has happened, what is now hap
pening, or what is likely to happen
some day. 1t is proved and accepted
physiological truth that the adult is
more gravely injured by worry than
by fatigue, the effect Of worry on the
brain cells being exactly the same as
that resulting from hard physical la
bOr
But hard physical labor accomplishes
something presumably worth while,
and there is certain tonic and rest
full effect in contemplating the product
of labor; but worry produces nothing,
can never reach conclusion because it
is absolutely illogical in origin and in
application, and can only serve to de-
stroy the most valuable thing man pos
sesses, the very foundation Of all
Wealth-thought the creative concept,
To think is to exercise the faculties
Of Judgment; to worry is to harass
with care and anxiety. No two things
can occupy the same space at the
same time, and no man can think Or
do two things at the same time. There
fore we cannot think when we worry,
and conversely we cannot worry when
we think: either one absolutely de-
stroys the other. Hence neurasthenlcs
are only worrying when they think
that they are thinking. That they are
adrift on a mental sea without com
pass, chart or rudder is what dis
tresses and makes them weary, for,
when they can think clearly and
definitely to a conclusion and then
follow it, they are no longer neuras'
themes
All that we possess that the animals
do not we have developed out of the
material wealth of the earth by the
power OK our thoughts, and without
thought this world would still be
wilderness and we remain nothing but
animals. Without thought man Is
weak, helpless and hopeless creature;
but by using thought he has seized
dominion over all the earth, except
himself, and now boldly reaches out
to conquer the air. Obviously we
should use and guard the source OF
our greatest power most jealousy
But do we?