Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-27
BY DIR. MENAs s. GREGORY.

eral pubic nave SHOWN an utter
lack of concern regarding the vital
labor and countless dollars have been
spent on the treatment of physical dis
orders The list of institutions caring
for the physically Ill has long recorded
rapid and continuous increase. Re-
search laboratories have considered
every aspect of the diseases OF the body.
Yet the problem of mental maladjuSt-
ment has been showed into an igno-
minious place in the background.
Mental health is obviously bound up
with successful living. And every one
will readily admit that the inefticiency
resulting from mental shortcomings Is
an infinitely greater handicap than
physical inadequacy or inf1rmity. This
holds TRUE today as never before. AT
every period in history, mans happiness
in life has depended on his mental
equipment. But in the present machine
age. there is an added premium upon
mental efficiency. Life has become in
creasingly battle of wits. Success to-
day is determined to an unprecedented
degree by Mental caliber.
Signs Of Awakening.
But there are signs of an awakening
to the Importance Of mental health.
People in general seem to be slowly
comprehending the fact that mental
and nervous disorders require just as
much interest and attention as has
| hitherto been bestowed almost exclu-
sively upon bodily Illness.
That this glaring deficiency is about
| to be remedied is therefore an event of
Importance, not only to scientists but
| to the thousands of patients who will
surely, as result, be restored TO lives
OF usefulness and happiness.
The result of this awakening Is the
modern psychiatric hospital-a place
where mental illness may be treated
with unlimited opportunity for tnten-
Sive individual attention and correla-
ton with the bodily conditions.
The reason for the general lethargy
so apparent heretofore Is that man Is
materialistic in his thinking. He thinks
| in terms of the concrete. He can easily
grasp the significance of bodily disor-
! ders. To him they represent concrete
| facts that he can understand. But he
shunS instinctively the less tangible
disorders of the mind. They require
abstract thought. and as such he feels
! that they are beyond his comprehen-
sion.
In prehistoric times mans existence
depended overwhelmingly upon his
meant extinction, Only the physically
At survived. Social evolution has les
sened the necessity for physical fitness,
| and yet man is still concerned with
! bodily health almost to the exclusion OF
| the problem of mental fitness.
The greatest reason, however. Tor this
astonishing lack of concern In mental
| hygiene has been an incomprehensibie
! ignorance and prejudice.
People Fear Mind Disorders.
| For many years it has been believed
4 70
| ily faint, that it is based on family in
heritance and thus is hopeless from the
| first The world draws back in distruSt
at any hint of mental frailty. A withered
| limb or defective eyeSight elicit SYM
| pathy. but psychologist inadequacy i'm
| plies a social stigma. Physical weak
! ness is greeted with constructive treat
ment: since physical diseases, the pub
lie feels certain, can frequently be cured
| Disorders of the mind. however. meet
with different reception. People fear
them as the sinister outcome Of tainted
| inheritance. This fear has clouded the
| issue with bathing sense Of impotence.
| If mental disease is inherited, surely 1t
| cannot be cured. Thus reasons the gen.
eral public. Segregation seems the only
| solution.
This colossal error lies in the fact
| that mental disease Is thought OF IN
|
| garded with all the hopelessneSS which
| that word still connoteS. Since confess
! sion of mental weakness means riSking
| the stigma of insanity, a person suffer-
| ing from even q slight mental disorder
is generally shielded by his family from
any outside observation. An individual
| beset with nervous fears guards them
| jealousy, lest any hint that he may be
abnormal reach the ears of the world
4 hi 20 c
believed, two distinct classes-the sane
| and the insane. And the only treat
ment for the insane Is complete social
! segregation.
The awakening Of the scientific atti-
| tude, even in regard to physical Illness,
| has been a slow process when measured
| by mans age on the earth. 1t Is only
! natural that the problem of mental dis
orders should have been wrapped so
| long in prejudice and ignorance. for
mental disease is to the mind of man
infinitely more intangible than the NAL
aides of the body. While its cause can
be comprehended, this ancient prejudice
| has left a trail of tragedy and sorrow.
| The policy of hiding the slightest trace
of mental abnormality has resulted all
too often in bitter aftermath Of seri-
Gus mental disease. If. however, mental
disorders were regarded in the same
1
malities would be brought to treatment
early and lurking tragedy would be
routed by the possibility of cure.
Disease of Brain Physical
The miSconception that mental dis
| order is a thing apart from physical
| one has also greatly contributed to the
| prejudice against coming oct into the
open The fact is that the diseases of
the brain, which is the organ OF the
mind, are just as much physical dis
| eases as those of other organs OF the
body-the liver, the heart, the kidneys.
etc. One may speak of the diseases Of
| the mind just as one speaks of diseases
| of the liver, heart or kidneys when
those organs do not function properly.
All the bodily organs, including the
nervous system, work in unison. dis
turbance or disorder of the mind is re-
Elected in the body. Likewise, in phySi-
cal diseases there are always mental re-.
| actions. The functions OF the body and
! the mind are intimately related and in
| terdependent.
| A striking and clear example of how
mental conflicts influence the physical
condition was shown by the So-called
''shcll-Shock" cases of the World War.
Individual mental conflicts, fears and
anXieties in 'shock" cases. expressed
| themselves in bodily disorders such as
PnA0iySASS OiAAuAiSso, ASoAAaSSo' HPSSSA
| impediments, etc. When the causative
factors In the mental disorders were re-
| lieved, the physical disability diSap-
peared. Undoubtedly, many physical in
| firmitieS are mental In their origin and
are not recognized as such by the pa
tent, or even by the physician. To this
category belong those long-standing
physical disorders which have been con-
| Sidered hopeless, yet under certain cir
cumStanceS suddenly disappear
The role of heredity In mental dis
/ eases has been, unfortunately, greatly
exaggerated Although it is true that
| a innIhrnfin faink afnnaarS To r,,r, In,