Evening star., 1933-05-07

mean that they are crazy" They are
far from 1t. But actual insanity, In
some OF its forms, appears to be all
extreme accentuation of behavior trends
which are present in everybody. The
psychiatrist has studied the physical
and psychic mechanism of these beha-
vior trends. Not that he Is a super
man, or pretends to be. He has the
same trends in his own behavior and
probably is as little able to recognize
them as the average man or woman.
He sometimes needs the services Of
pSychiatrist. But he is better able to
consider effectively the troubles Of 9TH
ers, resolve them into their basic ele-
ments. and find out what part of the
personality structure Is cracking under
the strain. When he locates the diff
Guilty he sometimes can do something
about it. Sometimes he can't It is
much like locating and finding a dis
eased condition In the body Actually
the Life Adjustment Center Is saving
a good many Washington families which
otherwise would break up.
Majority From Two Glasses.
The greatest numbers Of its pa
tients" come from two classes-those
who quit college before graduating and
those who quit high school before grad
uating. The implication is that both
classes broke off without any adequate
preparation for the station in life into
which they were to fall. They got by
In good times. They have been the
first to 60 under in bad times. Per-
haps the very fact that they quit indi-
Gated some instability. They were not
fitted for the grind"
Then there is the significant age di-
eyPa Yn1ry tSor foil tv.
age range between 20 and 30 and 40
and SO. Few between 80 and 40 are
seeking help.
The first age group, Miss Smith said,
are those who can't get started. They
are just emerging from the compare
lively sheltered life Of school days into
such storm Of economic distress as
the world seldom has known before.
They can't find anchorage anywhere.
Their hopes and aspirations are blasted
at the outset
With the 80 to 40 age group 1t is
different: For the most part they made
a place for themselves during the pros
porous era that followed the war. They
are married. Their children are in
school, They are, for the most part,
hanging on hopefully They stu viii
have plenty of vim and vigor left in
that uncertain time when the depres-
sion will be over.'
1880 Class Tragic.
But for those between 40 and so 1t
Is different and very tragic They are
the disillusioned. Their children are
Of high school and college age-very
expensive and very much Of q worry.
The glamor Of marriage has worn of.
Attachment between husband and wife
Is rather prosaic and matter of fact.
The home has grown dingy. The house
was bright and shiny when they
bought 1t on the installment plan. with
high hopes ten years before. Now 1t
is dilapidated, the paint is peeling, the
furnace smokes There are moth holes
in the furniture. The old familiar pic
tu1es on 1H the walls, 50 pretty once have
husband has his interests and the wife
hers. Both have grown to the age
when they can have little enthusiasm
for the enthusiasms of the children.
Most tragic of all-they have failed.
Ten years ago the husband had Ger
tain objectives which he was confident
of reaching. He would make his mark
as a doctor, lawyer, clergyman. He
bought some stock on a shoestring and
the price doomed He would retire at
so and play golf. or travel.
Now he knows that he has failed
He has been barely able to hold his
creases he has achieved are taken away
from him. He faces q drab future of
living Just the way he IS living today,
perhaps to retire on starvation pen
sion at go. Some day the depression
and the economic stalemate will be
over, but he suspects that when that
day comes the reward will be Tor the
young and strong. In a little while
some young whipper- snapper fresh from
college will be bossing him around.
Oppressed by Futility.
So, in the stress Of the disillusion.
he grows grouchy. An incipient para
noia, insidious underminer Of the mind
Of intellectual middle age, seizes upon
him. Meantime his wife is released
from the routine of caring for her chill
dren She begins to read and day.
dream again. Maybe, making a last
clutch at the romance which life has
denied her, she begins to flirt with the
grocery boy or the neighborhood drug
clerk Both husband and wife feel
cheated They blame each other. And
both are oppressed by the sense OF the
horrible, suffocating futility of all
things.
to the Life Adjustment Center. 1t was
started five years ago by Rev. Moses
r. Lowell, pastor Of the church. A.
that time It was widely known as the
protestant confessional" Since then it
has been taken over by the community
and is supported by the Community
Chest, although the church still pro-
vides offices for 1t.
Besides the psychiatrists. the staff
Is made up of the following: Social
workers. Tennie Daugette, Miriam
Franks and Irene Grant; ministers,
Rev. Russell Clinchy and Rev. Herman
Ebert; attorney. Joseph Bruce. The d.
rector'S office hours are from 1850 to
On :. -. ax.oss. Han oYcanf SATURDAY.