The dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1919-2001, 1922-05-03
sMENTAL HYGIENE-WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE
FEEBLEAIINDED

the subject Of Mental Hygiene we'll
known expert on mental diseases
found to his great astoniShment that
he had iotted down no less than
seventy-nine headings. Needless to say
he did not present the subject in full
to his audience. However the TACT
illustrates the scope Of this very I'M
portant medical subject.
Mental Hygiene is that division OF
medicine which has to do with the
proper recognition. 1t is concerned
with the health of the individual and
for this reason all physical, social ana
industrial factors affecting him must
be included. 1t is concerned WIFI
the human being 'in toto, but WITH
special reference to the mental. II Is
concerned with all conditions tha'
make for i'll health and consequent
social mal-adjustment, in order 10
eradicate them; it is also concerned
very deeply with those that make 1ol
normal health and success in order 10
preserve those present and to deVei-
op those that are latent.
Mental Hygiene, therefore, is SUD-
iect that has place and need in every
state. county and city activity; yes
it's goal takes it still farther into the
very heart of socety-the home, and
the human beings living there.
The laity and the medical protes-
sion need no warning about the lndl-
zy;duafity in the human being. How
aver, II does seen, that in training the
laree groups Of children in the public
schools and in dealing with the de-
fendantA in the court. or the inmate IN
tho institution that the interest Of the
individual is lost sight Of or clouded.
And all this in spite Of the fact that
the rock upon which social progress
is founded is consideration of the in
dividual.'
TO make possible more intelligent
a more humane handling of our delln-
auent problems especially, it is neces-
sary to convince these authorities that
in the final analysis it is not gov
lernment they are serving, but society;
and it is not society collectively that
is 80 important as it's individual con-
stituents-man woman and child.
X. To solve these problems, made nee
essary by the inability of so many in
diyiduals, to adjust themselves prop
;erly to the demands of our present
complex society, we must consider
more the needs and less the deeds as
we have so often failed to do.
How many Of the general public
know that many o., the insane in our
state hospital today could have been
from ever becoming state
wards if they were rightly understood
when they were young and properly?
How many of the general public know
that a large proportion Of our delin-
:quents need never had become such
if they were properly handled at a
time when much could have been done
for them? How many know that
many of the dependents today are in
our almshouses because they were neg
lected by the state during that period
when early recognition and proper
education would have changed them
into self supporting members of So
ciety? Finally, how many realize that
hundreds of thousands of dollars are
needlessly being spent yearly for the
permanent care Of these state wards
and only because of wanton neglect.
Human beings do not become So
cially maladjusted by accident nor do
they become so by the directing force
of divine will. The law of cause and
effect applies just as accurately to hu-
man beings and their response to their
particular environment, as it does in
any other condition. II is because we
more fortunate creatures are too apt
to feel that our duty is we'll done when
we spend thousands of dollars to take
care Of these unfortunates when little
else for their good can be given them
other than custodial care. E..
The curriculum in our public schools
is arranged on the assumption that
all children are like Cor if they not
not we will make them alike; that
they have the same capa bilities, possi-
bilities and propensites, and there is
practically no provision made for the
child who prove the exception to the
rule. The courts. in most cases judi
cate and sentence the accused accord
ing to their deeds and never by their
needs: the institutional authorities
fnl r.