Evening star., 1927-05-19

ganic basis. Questioning finally re
vealed that the woman's husband re
Gently had lost his fortune and that
| their social position had been changed
| The emotional stress which resulted
from this had caused the whole
| trouble.
The condition usually disappears
! DR.. Wholey said. when the patient is
| induced to reveal the cause of worry
but this information often can be OBJ
| tained only by the trained psychia
! trist.
Case of Boy Cited.
| An instance was told of a 12-year
| old boy, recovering from diphtheria
who would suffer paralysis of the re
| spiratory muscles at intervals, which
was accompanied by coughing, chok
| ing and fainting. The physician final
| ly found that the whole trouble was
due to the child's fear of death and
disappeared when this fear was re
moved.
Pneurotic conditions usually appear
| in persons who have no philosophy OF
| life. DR.. George B. Lake told the sec
| ton.
''One is likely to get dislocated in
his own cosmos without a philoso
ply" he said, 'and to place the wrong
evaluation on things within and
without"
1t is essential, he said, that the
| physician have a philosophy Of his
own in order to help the patient work
| out system Of values.
DR.. William House of Portland
Greg, in his presidential address
pleaded for the treatment of mental
cases on the same basis as those OF
other organs, and protested against
State laws which condemn every in
sane person to a State asylum, evi.
| IDENTIFY based on the belief that there
| is a close connection between insan.
| ity and crime.
Discusses Mental Diseases.
Every large city, he said, should
have a privately endowed hospital for
mental diseases, where the patient
could pay according to his means,
just as now is done for every other
sort of illness. He defended the
private sanitarium. for those who
could afford it, against the charge
that it often is used by unscrupulous
relatives, conspiring with unscrupu'
lous physicians, to get rich, elderly
fortunes could be squandered. He
said that there might be some such
cases. but by no means so many per.
sons were detained unjustly in pri.
vate as in public institutions.
The system which condemns all in.
sane persons to public institutions, he
| said, prevents persons who may feel
the incipient stages of a mental dis
ease from going to a physician and
taking treatment which would result
in complete cure. They fear that If
it becomes known that their minds
are slipping they will be confined in
such an institution, with all the unfor-
tunate social consequences. When the
cases finally come to light nothing
| can be done for them.
Calls States View Wrong.
'The State seems to think" said
DR.. House, that the insane person
has no right which the State is bound
to respect. When man is condemn.
ed to State hospital he loses the
right to such nursing, comfort and
care as his financial means would
entitle him to if he were suffering
from such a disease as tuberculosis. ~
DR.. Philip r. Lehrman of New
York told of the need of investigating
the phantasies Of a patient suffering
from neuroses or many of the con.
duct disorders. Phantasies, he said
may be perfectly normal, but are apt
to develop abnormally under favor
able circumstances.
DR.. L. n. Cazenavette of New Or.
leans stated that mental disease in
lepers is more frequent than is gener.
ally believed. He reported a study OF
| 400 cases of leprosy in the national
leprosarium at Carville. La, covering
| period of more than 80 years.