Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1920-11-17
MENTAL SICKNESS.

Many people are mind sick, but the,
should not be called insane until the
are legally adjudged to be insane.
There are many sufferers from men
tai, trouble who get along fairly vel
id every day life. Until such person.
make an ATTEMPT at suicide. or indulg
In very unusual conduct they shoul'
not be adjudged legally insane or de
prived Of their liberty. It is importap
that the public should understand thu
point. and give up the idea that insan
tiy Is synonymous with mental sick
ness. It is very unjust for the publi'
to consider person as insane who y
only mentally sick. Sufferers from
mental sickness are enibrought be
fore commissioners OF insanity ant
found not to be insane, although tn
mental sickness remains as before
The sickness in such cases has no
reached stage sufficient to requirt
detention.
1t is not possible to draw line and
saw that those on this -side OF. It are
& normal and those on the other side are
abnormal. Environment as well as the
nbvsicaI health of the patient must
always be, considered. Joan OF Arc
who has just been cannonized, saw
things. heard things, and did things
which seemed quite normal to the
French people of her day. But young
woman of this day who saw ana heaFa
and did similar things would pc au-
indeed abnormal, if not positively IN
sane. At least Is per cent OF the m
mates Of all hospitals for the IN
sane are mentally SICK although II
would not be possible to prove them
to be legally insane.
Mental sickness may be SO sligns
that the person afflicted may De con-
sidered only peculiar or eccentric g
II may manifest itself in raying mama
In some cases no one can say TOT
certainty whether the mind sickness
80 cansed by some injury to the physlc-
al body or is purely psychic. we
know that injuries to the brain Amos,
always, for a time atsleast, cause Dram.
disturbance.
Now 4 few words about the cause
and the the cure Of the mentally SICK.
The cause Of the mental disturbance
NAV be removed, but, before It's re-
moyal. it may have DESTROYED brain
tissue that can never be restored. In
such cases the patient may be re-
leased from the hospital as improved
but not cured. Alcohol, for iliustra-
tion. sometimes injuries the brain It's
sue to such an extent that restora-
ton Is not possible Il ssa
Quite 4 large group Of those who arel
mentally sick consists Of cases where
no injury to the brain can be found.
such cases are most serious mental al
fections. They constitute probably
one-fourth Of the mentally sick now
detained in state hospitals. The men
.aI trouble Id such cases is. usually
the result of an unfavorable growth
not infrequently commencing in child
hood. although sometimes not, becom-
ing very noticeable until the age q
puberty. In such cases the continuance
of the unfavorable growth may pc
prevented if taken in time. The STUDY
of these cases has given q great I'M
petus to the mental hygiene move
ment. which has IN recent years at
tracted SO much interest. Mental n.y.
b y e. -. u
p;ene offers as, fruitful field for
medicine as does bodily
hygiene. to which SO much attention
is paid. Stimulation OF interest IN
some concrete work is useful in the
Of an unfavorable mental
growth.
A recent line OF treatment Is that
OF gland theraphy based upon the
tnowledge Of the effect of secretions
Of ductless glands upon the nervous
system, the Thyroid gland Tor ex-
ample. It is still, however, an open
question whether the mental trouble
or the disturbance Of the secretions
is- the primary cause of the mental
sickness.
Many types of mental sickness are
durable. Fully 20 per cent OF the
patients admitted to state hospitals
are discharged as recovered, and
there are many cases Of mental sick
ness from which the patient RECEIVERS
spontaneously.
There are many reasons why the
mentally sick can derive more benefit
in hospitals than elsewhere. And there
is no more reason for people to be
ashamed of having member Of their
c.~~.I1,x ~ /, yxapto1 bnopito1 than In l