The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-05-24
A LITTLE LESSON IN
 RELAXATION

l Medicine marches on. As a mere
 watcher of the parade I ask naively whether it is not nearly time to lay
 away in the cupboard the engaging but unscientific speculations oi
 Weir Mitchell, Beard ct al and ex-
 anime little more attentively the conceptions of William J. M. A. Maloney and Edmund Jacobson, lwhose works, 'Locomotor Ataxia'' and Progressive Relaxation" re- spectively, should be in every doc tors library?
 From these two classics I shall quote just enough to make up a little lesson in relaxation.
 First from p. 1s9 of Maloney: "The relaxation of the neck and trunk muscles is best accom- plished while the patient sits. The patients arms should hang Imply by his side, and his feet, crossed one over the other, should rest on their outer borders. The head should next be passively rotated in all directions, slowly and repeated trunk, the head is allowed to fall ly. Then, by moving the supported passiyely backward and forward, by its own weight. Finally, the head rests with the chin upon the chest, or hangs forward suspended by the fragments of the neck"
 Passively, of course, means that the doctor manipulates the head. while the patient just plays dead. pr. Maloney's book, and for that matter pr. Jacobson's too, is rather too technical for a layman to tackle in any circumstance, but both books should be worth a careful study to any physician. Dr.. Jacobson recently issued an excel lent little book entitled "You Must Relax" and this is more suitable for the lay reader.
 One thing Dr. Jacobson has done for me--a good many of my ner- vous readers will be delighted, l hope. He has taught me to take a more liberal view of nervous ness'', "overactive nerves" or high tension" than I had taken. Don't know but what I'll have to pipe down bit on my ruthless division of all nervous wrecks or weak nerve people into Class A and Class B neurotics. With great blush am thinking of opening a third class to accommodate the adrenin- intoxicated geeks-but don't rush
 me about this. imposters, and don't irritate me at this delicate junc- tufe by anonymous sneers. Just give me time and maybe I'll get around to straightening this sad situation out. However, if you count on getting any support from
 me for nervous imposition, assure you right now that you're out of
 luck. or Class B Neurotics can only say, as dear old Dr. Munyon
 used to tell prospective cusotmers
 There is hope"-pointing to heav- en. If Class E Neurotics are ad-
 mitted to heaven, I don't want to
 go there. Headers in doubt which
 class they belong to, send ten cents coin and stamped addressed en- yelope for booklet "Nervous Inn position".)
 What Dr. Jacobson shows is that
 tension" or nervousness" is oft
 en actual muscular tension, exces-
 sive contraction of muscles and
 waste of energy. Among the conditions which have responded astonishingly well to "differential relaxation" as Dr. Jacobson calls 1t, are high blood pressure, spastic colitis, insomnia
 and restless sleep, and various
 phobias and anxietles or fears
 which the patient suffers even
 though he knows they are absurd
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