Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-06
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLEs E. rRACEWELL.

individual; the more quickly he will be
he will be to hurl the terrible word
crazy"
johnson had habit of making pecul-
lar motions and starts. He was all the
time searching himself for symptoms of
Illnesses, real or imaginary. And those
who did not like him took full advan-
tage of this in their unsympathetic way.
No doubt many man without a tenth
Of his ability called him crazy"
The study of nervous maladies in re-
cent years has resulted in many books
and scores of queer words, but one may
wonder if any particular real progress
has been made.
1t is interesting to know there are
such things as projections" and "fiXa-
lions" and "ceremonials." AS words
they are good and intriguing ones. 1t
is interesting to know that n person
who must go back to try the locked
door to see if it is really locked is suf-
ter1ng from a ceremonial complex"
The same applies to the person who
insists on stepping upon every iron
grating or Waterman he encounters.
Yet when these small nervous disor-
derS are given new name, what par
ticular good has been done the patient
in the remaining? Can a search into
the things he fears prevent him from
stepping on iron after he gets the
habit? We doubt it.
Some years ago a disease name be-
came very fashionable. "NeuraSthenia"
was all the rage for while, but today
the word is in disuse because it only
gave a new combination of syllables for
an old malady, more honestly called
simply nervous troubles
The person who inheritS or acquires
some popularity of the nervous system
(and we are sure such may be either
inherited or acquired-a case of mi
graine is an example of the former, and
any nervous habit, such as tWiddling the
thumbs, Of the latter such as I'M
fortunate person must be willing to be
misunderstood. Business men who get
nervous breakdown" must expect the
boys to slap them on the shoulder and
cry, Why, you old loafer, you never
looked better in your life!"
II you can reel or faint, or throw a
fit or something, most people will be-
lieve you sick, but if your malady is
10 times worse but only one-tenth as
apparent, you will ever run the danger
of being misjudged
The saddest case is that of the
nervously afflicted person in a family
of healthy human beings. The poor
patient is popularity held to be no
patient at all. He could throw it off"
if he wanted to. Yes, that is the only
trouble with him, the rest of them say,
he doesn't want to-!
Nothing could be more cruel and
untrue. He who wants to get rid of
his woe more than any one else is the
least able to help himself.
1t will do no good to tell him, "You
must exert VOIlr will TOu,er - rTI0ocn 1t,Ioo
make such a remark to nervously i'll
patients ought to be put in jail until
the danger which they constitute is
averted.
There has been no more bunk about
anything than about will power" Emile
Coue did a great deal of good in the
world by diverting the attention for
a while to the subject of imagination.
Will power is mostly a myth We do
what we want to do when we can, and
that is about all there is to this legend
of power of will" To tell a nervous
person to stop being nervous is like
commanding a fisherman to catch a
fish when there is not single pisca-
torial specimen to be found. It Just
can't be done.
To make fun Of the small peculiari-
ties OF nervous persons is to show ones
self cruel, unintelligent and essentially
common and i'll bred AS a matter of
fact, it is only unsympathetic, unintelli-
gent and Ill bred people who do. BY
their willingness to laugh at such
harmless manifestations they show an
innate streak of meanness in their
natures. Men with a full appreciation
of the part which nervous instability
has played in the history of human
intelligence at all times have the fullest
sympathy with those who suffer from
nervous disorders. They profess not to
see small variations from Grass animal
normality, and thereby display to the
world their right to be called gentlemen