Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1914-07-10

NAOCHCNCAcHCACAHAcAHA0oo
copyright. 1914. BY A. S. Sray)
NEURAsTHENIA-(BRAIN FAo)-
ITS CAUSE AND CORRECTION
or all the ills with which humanity
Ii 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-
cifically known as neurasthenia.
Neurasthenia Is q condition induced
by severe shock or serious illness; or
by the cumulative effects of slight but
long continued and persistent irrita'
ton OF one particular set Of nerves;
or a. the result of a general physical
and moral softening from the lack Of
normal body functionipg. All these
several causes may bring about CEN
trail nerve cell exhaustion Identical In
results. Just as too frequent or too
long 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 pri.
mary battery cells have long life, be-
cause they recuperate between dis
charges; but II the signals follow too
closely or they are operated too con.
tinuously the battery plates lose this
recuperative power and tend to polar
lie. 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 to
attempt to enumerate them would take
us far beyond the scope of this short
article. Suffice 1t 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 the alb.
dominal organs In almost endless com
bination and degrees of severity
Functional diseases" abound. q new
one usually breaking out about as rap
idly 40 the old one 10 controlled, 90
that the victim endures practically q
continuous round of iii health. Pos
sibly the one general UNIVERSAL symp
tom IL - tired feeling" The sufferer
wakes In the morning tired and IL APT
to remain tired all day until evening
when the average neurasthenic wakes
mp and wants to start something.
Besides that tired feeling" 90 char
acteristic In the neurasthenio the chief
symptom IL worry. A neurasthenic Is
busy most Of the time worrying about
something: either worrying about
what has happened. what il now hap
pening. or what IL likely to happen
some day. It 10 Q proved and accepted
physiological truth that the adult ID
more gravely injured by worry than
by fatigue. the effect Of worry on the
brain cells being exactly the same a.
that resulting from hard physical Ia
Dor.
But hard physical labor accomplished
something presumably worth while.
and there Is q certain tonic and rest
ful effect in contemplating the product
Of labor: but worry produces nothing.
can never reach conclusion because 1t
10 absolutely illogical in origin and In
application. and can only serve to de-
stroy the most valuable thing man DOS
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
san occupy the same space at the
anne 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 neurasthenics
are only worrying when they think
that they are thinking. That they are
adrift on Q mental sea without COM
pass. chart or rudder IL what dis
tresses and makes them weary. for.
when they can think clearly and
definitely to . conclusion and then
follow 1t. 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
~~~~~~~~~-~S~~> ~~~s~-~-~s~-~~
Drink and the Navy.
Apropos Of the secretary of the
navy's establishment of q teetotal
navy. DR.. Hiram Corson Wilson. the
noted economist. said in an address in
Pittsburgh:
We'll, speaking as an economist, I
think the new order will do good.