Evening star., 1927-11-13

students did not like her and she
did not like teaching. The work
bored her. the children irrtated her
and she was constantly having trouble
with their parents.
In the middle Of the second year
she had what she called nervous
breakdown and resigned from her
school. Thinking to find more con-
genial work. she took business
course. After this she tried several
stenographic positions. but left each
one because of minor difficulties with
the people around her. Running
short of money, she then took
job AS a clerk in a store. but because
Of her unprepOssesslng manner with
customers was denoted from the
sales department to the bookkeeping,
at a decrease in salary.
This work Mary did well. but was
so depressed over what she consid-
cred her business disgrace. that she
quit after a few weeks. Finally from
sheer necessity she became waitress
in restaurant. While she was
floundering around in this a friend
who had nown her in her better
days and was aware of her good edu-
cation and talents along certain lines.
introduced her to a firm which need
ed patient, persistent, intelligent
person in peculiar and isolated de-
partment. TO her great surprise.
Mary made an immediate and perma
nent success OF this work. She is
still doing it at salary OF three
times what she was getting as
waitress and with infinitely more sat
isfacton to herself.
THE origin of seclusiveness Is
matter. which Is Of great theo-
retical and practical interest to
psychiatrists at the present time.
How much ia due to faulty home
aiming. how much to inherited con-
stitutional makeup. and how much
to accidents in childhood they are
not all agreed. 1t is probable. how
ever, that to large extent 1t Is
determined by the attitude and tech
nique Of the parents during the forma'
tive years Of life.
The child who is overprotected by
its parents. either because Of illness
or imagined illness. or because OF
ne,Totic tendencies on the part or
the mother. is very likely to grow
Up with seclusiveness and other
schlZoid traits. Such child never
has enough experience with the en-
counters Of social existence to know
how to deal with them except by
flight. Other seclusive children are
proba bly, made so by a different sort
of failure on the part OF the parents
Some parents frichten or bulldoZe or
shame their children into secluslve
ncss.
One Of the simplest reactions is that
Of fight, pulling into ones shell like
the snail. An interesting illustra ton
of this was that Of young man OF
twenty-five whose parents had striVen
for ten wears to get him to leave
home. He insisted on staying on the
farm. refused to go TO dances. thea. :.
ters, movies" parties or any form or
social activity. His parents provided
him with n car In the hope that ne
would drive out and see his TRENDS.
He would never go unless he went
with them to town or TO some of the
social events which they attended for
the sake of getting him there. lie
was a good looking young man and
had many male and female admirers.
'"rhey care for me, but don't care
for them
In this instance some OF the causa-
tive factors were quite apparent. The
| father was man Of iron. with loud.
harsh voice, enormous arms ana BODY,
a clustering manner, ana II HeFce lacl-
! al expression which made him really
rather formidab BILE person on the
surface His heart was soft; he loved
| his boy very much. but there can
| be no doubt but that the child had
been terrified by his father at one
| time and that his later excessive
| fondness for him was, partly at least
disguise for unconscious hatred and
What can ~ person who Is failing