Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-08-31
UNREASONABLE DISLlKES
Bv H. Addington Bruce
TN ALKING one day with her physician,
Young woman confided to him that S

TN ALKING one day with her physician,
young woman confded to him that she
had an unreasonable dislike, almost
amounting to dread, of ugly people.
''I know it is wrong for me to feel this
way" she stated, "but simply cannot help
it. cannot bear to be in the company Of
any one who is exceptionally plain looking.
"For some reason it makes me nervous
even to see such a person. And if I cannot
make excuses and get away it is almost i'm
possible for me to avoid being boorish and
rude.
"You can imagine that this often produces
an embarrassing situation. / do wish L
could. overcome my hatred Of the ugly. But
I have tried in vain. I suppose it is some
popularity born in me, for I have had this
feeling as long as can remember"
The physician, who happened to be med
ical man with psychological training, prompt
ly corrected her, explaining:
"such dis1ikes and breads are never Unborn.
They are acquired And usually they are
acquired in early childhood.
"When you were very little 1t is altogether
prpbable that something occurred to you of
a distressing nature, associated with person
with an ugly face. You have forgotten the
occurrence ITSELF but the dread thus inspired
has persisted.
"That it should persist is proof both that
you were greatly disturbed by the occur
renee in question and that, though you can
not consciously remember it, you actually
have vivid memory-iInage of it in the
depths Of your mind.
"And, oddly enough, IL you could recall it
the likelihood is that your unreasonable dis
like would no longer trouble you. II you
wish, will try to help you recall it. This
can be done by what is known as psyche
analysis"
Gladly eonsenting, the young woman found
the psycho-analysis procedure bringing to
light many long-forgotten experiences of her
childhood. None of these, however, seemd
to have any bearing on her detestation Of the
ugly.
But suddenly, with poignant keenness,
there welled up the memory of long-forgot-
ten fright, when a relative had playfully
appeared to her wearing a false face She
not merely recalled, but actually seemed
again to live through, the terror then expe-
rienced.
Also as indicating that here was really
the origin of her dislike of ugly faces, she
found that this had lost it's force with the
remembrance of the early shock.
AS in her case, SO in countless others
Multitudes of people, as everybody knows,
have some pet aversion, some unreasonable
dread. Without knowing why, one person
hates dogs. Another is made morbidly ir-
ritable by the mere sight of a cat, and is
perhaps thrown into paroxysm of fear II
the cat approaches her.
There are people with extreme food dis
likes. Foods highly esteemed by the great
majority may become objects of adherence
to them. Or adherence may attach to a
certain flower or color.
In almost every case, there is reason for
saying, thorough psyeho-analysis would
bring to light forgotten experiences, usually
of the first years of life, accounting ade-
quately for the seemingly unaccountable and
irrational dislikes
Copyright, 1920, by the Associated News
papers.)