Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-06-25

popularity a few months ago (HumoreSque)
because the crippled hero of the film sudden
ly found the use of his limbs when His sweet
heart was in danger. These critics thought
they were being asked to grant credence to
something little unreasonable
Other Gases
But Public Health Service doctors cite many
such cases of recovery, especially where there
is present in the individual no fundamental or
organic impairment. Following An accident
persons sometimes believe that their arms or
legs are not capable of performing their usual
functions. The belief, the physicians state,
grows stronger as the limbs grow weaker
through disuse, but before the patient can be
successfully treated, this belief must be up
rooted.
Fright often provokes the hasty Punishment
of negative belief, and permits the positive
81 CAM thought to gain predominance Slight
| fright, such as that accompanying an ordinarily
insignificant fall, the slamming of a door, {
near accident, or perhaps repetition OF the
| very cause of the voice loss, will often prove
! the only medicine to effect recovery. The pa
tient, however, is not "Scared' into recovery
but rather suddenly permits the positive belief
| to gain rightful rule.
This may or may not be form of Christian
| Science, but it is practiced in many cases
in which doctors have first proven to their
own satisfaction that no organic wrong exists
| in the patient.
| Prevalence of such miS-belefS is noticeable
| in many overseas veterans. UnconSciouSly the
men will nurse some imagined injury which
provides them with compensation. At hear1
| they have no thought of defrauding the gov
eminent. They would be sorely inSuited II II
were suggested that they were playing make
believe merely to gain the checks Uncle Sam
has provided for them in lieu of perfect health
If compensation were suddenly removed ana
they were thrown on their own resources
their faculties might suddenly return. 1t is
all Sub-conSciouS process over winch the
Individual has no control. Gradually the doc
tors are helping these men to believe positive
w. and are thereby adding to the list OF re-
coverieS.
One of the Public Health Service doctors en-
gagged in treating these nerve-attlicted patients
tells of woman who figured in street car
accident. She complained that she could no
longer use her arm though doctors failed to
find an injury Several months later the Wom-
an obtained a settlement from the traction
company and shortly afterWard her arm read
ily functioned in pre-accident style. Inc doc
tors explained that sub-consciouSly the Wom-
an had anticipated financial settlement tor
the supposed injury, and that once settlement
had been accomplished there existed no longer
the belief that such impairment was an ad-
vantage.
A fraud No. say the doctors, for the wom-
an was so situated that the use of her arm
would have meant much more to her than the
sum she collected. 1t was merely sub-con-
scious belief that would not be baniShed until
all chance for future financial gain was re-
moved.
1t would be easy, of course, to exaggerate
this idea into a superstition. What these
cases really show is that a person can be
functionally injured by an idea, and that the
injury can be cured by substituting another
idea for the damaging one. If the vocal chords
of REM had been actually impaired, the doc
tors say, airplane flights would have done
nothing for him.
But this power of ideas to i1jure and aid
us is interesting. There are probably few of
us who are not being bullied and weakened
by some idea or other.