Evening star., 1933-05-07
WHITE COLLAR" FAMILI les FOUND
BREAKING UP DUE TO FEAR
Life Adjustment Center Here
Reports Wide Unrest Dur
ing Depression.
Greatest Number Seeking Aid
Are Between Ages of 20
and 80 and 40 and so.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Fear Is breaking up the white COL
lar" family.
Such is the report Of the Life Ad-
justment Center, established at the
Mount Pleasant Congregational Church
here, which functions as the adult de-
partment Of the Washington Institute
Of Mental Hygiene.
In its effort to mend shattered lives,
it Is meeting significant, but obscure
effects Of the citys disturbed economic
situation, which may have more far
reaching results than poverty itself.
Unlike most welfare agencies, the Life
Adjustment Center is not concerned
directly with relieving physical distress.
Its job Is to get under the surface and
attend to Embellishments of mind
and emotions.
An important part of its work con-
sists in trying to save households
headed for the rocks. Some Of its
cases are referred to it from other social
agencies. But most Of them, realizing
the danger and their own helplessness,
come voluntarily. Such are predomi-
nantly from the so-called white collar
class" especially the women. So the
organization functions essentially as q
white collar" clinic. Folks at this
social level may have more responsive
nervous systems, which are thrown out
Of gear by environmental elements
which might not even be recognized
by the less educated.
Lawyers Wife Week."
This seems to have been lawyers
wife week here" said Miss Beulah E.
Smith, the director, yesterday. There
have been more Of them than anybody
else"
Essentially, as she describes the cases,
they seem to have resulted from an in
creased nervous irritability which seems
quite generally diffused through the
white collar class and which, while ap-
pearing In many forms, seems to fall
into a few general patterns.
Such is the case of the formerly gen.
erous husband who suddenly has grown
extremely stingy. objecting to every
family purchase, even Of necessary
groceries. He has job, in many cases
q good Job. But the possibility Of los
ing 1t has got on his nerves" He
deliberately cuts loose from all his
social connections, because they cost
money. He demands that his wife do
the same. He stops the daily newspaper
and the occasional visit to the neigh
borhood movie theater. He berates
his wife every time he gets bill. She
finally reaches the stage where she
can't stand it any longer and comes
reluctantly to the Life Adjustment Gen.
ter. This pattern, differing In details
for each case, Is encountered over and
over again-especially during the past
few weeks of uncertainty over Govern
ment employment.
Cases Of Reduced Incomes.
Another common pattern is that Of
the family whose income has been re-
duced so that they have been forced to
move into smaller quarters, or to take
in dependent relatives. For the most
part they are living comfortably enough
with reasonable economy. but they get
on one another's nerves" The hus-
band stays away from home or takes
to drink. The wife begins gambling at
bridge parties. Divorce threatens unless
something can be done about 1t.
Another common pattern described
by Miss Smith is that Of the accentu-
alton OF inverted mentality. which ap-
pears especially among the men. Some
are employed, but are afraid. Others
have no jobs, but are being cared for
by relatives. Ordinarily this would be
the type Of brooder who would talk of
revolution Perhaps this might have
been the case a year ago. Now the
situation has become worse. Instead OF
losing confidence in the Government,
employers or society as a whole, he has
lost confidence in himself, talks Of sui
eide, of cutting loose from his as
sociations and going on the road, etc.
Sometimes the victims Of these condi-
tions are we'll fixed financially. The
wives Of doctors, ministers, Government
officials, ETC., pass fearfully through
the clinic Like shipwrecked persons
they are grasping at anything which
promises to hold them up in the storm
of uncertainty which has wrecked the
old order Of their lives. Dealing with
them Is quite different matter than
making out grocery order. The
trouble lies In their own souls.
What is to be done about it? Who
can blame a man with no certainty OF
economic security in the face of advanc-
ing years from demanding the most
rigid sort Of economy and who can
blame his wife for feeling hurt when
chases? Perhaps she has not had to
WILL OtCl ulOlCy UT4OAC. ~ 10 liAC odiilC
with all the other pattern situations.
Both Sides Usually Right.
The trouble is that both sides usually
are right. The depression has brought
many paradoxes. Both sides are tusti-
fed Both are willing to make con-
cessions but can't conscientiously 60
far enough to meet the situation. There
must usually be a complex pattern of
compromises. Sometimes it seems as If
the whole institution of matrimony on
the white collar" level was being un-
dermined.
Every case must be dealt with on its
own merits. To meet the situation the
clinic has the services of some of the
foremost experts on human behavior
problems in the United States, chief OF
whom is Dr. Roscoe Hall Of st. Eliza
beth's Hospital. Others are Drs. Maron
Campbell, Edgar Griffin, Lester Hender-
son, Alice Kiessling, Karl Langenstrass
Katharine Norris, Manson Petit and
Samuel Silk. All are well known psychi-
artists.
That the problems of these people
are handled by psychiatrists does not