Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-09-13
MENTAL NURSING
By H. Addington Bruce

M srecial interest to the great army Of
I phobiacs-of unfortunate men and
women obessed by some fear that per-
petualIy torments them-is an episode in the
medical experience of DR.. John G. Gehring,
as related in his book, "The Hope of the
Variant"
To Dr. Gehring there was brought woman
suffering from an unreasonable dread of open
spaces In such a degree had this dread
enslaved her that even with a companion, she
could hardly bring herself to go far from her
house
The moment she set foot out Of her garden
gate she began to feel uneasy, and II she I'M
dertook to walk or drive any distance an
agony of apprehension overwhelmed her. Like
all problems having this particularly dread
one of the commonest of morbid fearhabits-
she could give no specific reason for the fear
she felt. She only knew that, try as she
might, she could not overcome it.
She had not always suffered from 1t, and
Dr. Behring's inquiries led him to infer that
it had gradually fastened upon her coincident
with the development Of digestive trouble.
This did not mean, however, that the diges-
tive trouble had been the sole, or even the
chief cause, Of the. phobia.
The origin Of that DR.. Gehring well knew,
would have to be sought in some forgotten
fear-inspiring occurrence perhaps of early
childhood. Though forgotten it had renal ned
latent in the patients subconsciousness,' TO
reassert itself and develop into a fearhabit
under the favoring influence of a disturbed
physical condition.
All of which DR.. Gehring explained to the
fear-obsessed woman, adding that it would
be possible by psychological analysis to ascer-
tain the forgotten experience that had been
the nucleus Of her phobia. 1t was his hope,
however, to avoid the necessity for such
analysis, always a tedious process, and &C
cordingly he attacked her obsessive fear by
the two-fold method of psychic re-education
and hygienic treatment for the digestive
weakness
"The patient was not argued with" he
states, "but asked to walk as for as she
could through the gate and to stand still
when the moment came she could go no fur
Their. After few moments of such surren-
der to the fear, the acuteness of her distress
would lessen and she was told to then go a
few steps further to some easily remembered
landmark such as a tree.
ARRIVED there, she was to retrace her
steps and consider the first lesson accom-
plished. Under no circumstances was she to
allow the first terror to brighten her back.
This lesson was to be repeated few days in
succession without any attempt at increasing
the distance"
To her establishment and delight the pa
tient found that every repetition made it
easier to reach the designated tree. Then Dr.
Behring began gradually to extend her walk
ing distance. With this result:
In less than two months from the begin
ming of the training, a half-mile accom-
plished and little later pleasure journey
of some two thousand miles The substitu
tion of the normal act, insistently, in the very
teeth Of the inhibtory fear, conquered by the
mere force of it's persistent displacement"
Obviously, here is curative method self
applicable by all victims of the fear of open
spaces. Only, to be sure, they need to remem,
Der that, contributory to their fear may be
some physical defect weakness, the correc-
ton of which by a competent physician will