The Washington herald., 1921-03-16

DON'T sPnEAD SOUL SICKNESS.
Did you ever think that there isI
nothing so contagious As our
moods? =.
They are more catching than the
au. The time win come when we
will be intelligent enough to pay as
much attention to mental hygiene
as we now do to physical hygiene.
Then, when we perceive that we
are suffering from a grumpy,
grouchy feeling, accompanied by a
dark brown pessimistic taste, ana
other symptoms of soul sickness.
we shaR be humane enough to
Quarantine ourselves in our own
rooms and hang out q sign on our
door to warn other people away
until the attack is over, and the
danger of infection is past.
Perhaps we shall even go SO far
as to have isolation hospitals where
the glooms will be forcibiy inn
INJURED. as are smallpox and leprosy
cases. and thus the general public
will be protected against those who
go about scattering broadcast the
germs of woe. Undoubtedly this
Will be hard on the melancholy
themselves. but it would make the
world a healthier and happier place
for the balance of, US to live in.
For none of us are immune to the
moods of those about us. Our Door.
nabby. gelatinous minds offer a
perfect culture medium for a mi
crobc OF an idea or emotion that
II. we have caught just the attitude
towards life OF the person with
whom We are associated.
All OF US have exTerienced this
a thousand times. We start out in
the morning feeling well, and cheer
lul. and convinced that this is the
best OF all possible good worlds.
We meet two or three people who
tell us all the terrible details of
insidious diseases, that bring a
man to the brink of his grave with
out his even knowing that he is
sick. and unconsciously we begin to
explore our own systems for symp-
toms OF fatal maladies. We have
been infected with imaginary sick
ness just as surely as we could have
been affected with tuberculosis
bacilli.
Then another friend comes along
afflicted with the nervous, irritable
cantankerousness, and We catch
that. Before we can say scat" we
are fractions, and cross. and ILL
natured also.
Then comes the pessimist, who
passes on to you great gobs of
gloom-the country is going to the
dogs: all business is bankrupt: all
labor is Bolsheviki; all capitalists
are thieves; all men and women are
liars. Everything in the world is
rotten, and when he leaves you, you
are sick with the despair that you
have caught from him.
Or the reverse of this happens to
you. You start out your day feel
ing half sick, worried, depressed.
You are thrown with people who
| radiate health and happiness. and
good cheer. and they buck you UP.
I and put new life and courage into
you, and you find yourself telling
funny stories instead of going to
the doctor. or shedding tears of
| self-pity in your handkerchief.
For cheerfulness. thank God, is as
contagious as melancholy.
Chief among these carriers" las
doctors call those who have an abb
normal sfacility for harboring
germs) are women. and this makes
it of vital Importance that every wo-
man who is at the head of a house
hold should be very careful that
she disseminates benefcent bacilli
instead of the deadly kind that
slays all the peace and JOY OF q
home.
For Il is the wife and mother
| whose moods are most catching. Did
| you ever see a nice, jolly, easy-go-
ing woman who laughed instead Of
| scolded over the little inevitable do
meStic mishaps, who didn't have q
pleasant, genial. amiabie and anec-
tionate husband and children? /
have never known that kind OF a
woman to have a husband who
| gloomed around the house. or
knocked everything that everybody
did, or whose children were afraid
of him.
| Nor have / ever known the chill
dren of such a family to be always