Evening star., 1935-12-29

Continued From Fifth Page)
Is lengthy croSs-exa mination, In the
course Of which Mr.. Y admits that
he doesn't want to drink, but that he
just can't help it. DR.. Jukes then
questions him closely concerning his
parentage and early life, and dis.
covers that either (a) Mr.. VS. father
was a stern temperance addict who
never permitted drop Of liquor In
the house, with the result that his
son built up no resistance to tempta-
ton and went on a permanent bender
as soon as he left the parental roof;
or (b) that Mr.. Us father was q
lberal-minded patriarch who always
had plenty Of liquor about the house,
with the result that his son culti-
waited taste for alcohol at an age
when most boys are content with
soda-pop.
Go MIR. Y is consoled by the refec-
ton that it isn't his fault If he
gets drunk all the time; his father
is to blame. AS for old man Y, he
doesn't have a chance. The fling
cards are stacked against him from
the start.
That is an elementary illustration
Of the way the system works. But
the charming feature of modern psy.
chology is its elasticity. AS you delvs
deeper into it, cause and effect stretch
farther and farther apart, until they
are connected only by a thin strand
of imagination. With a little practice
an amateur psychiatrist can trace any
complex or inhibition to a plausible
source.
For years Mr.. Otway battled with
his wife on the picnic question. Mrs.
Otway was, in her own phrase, "out.
doorsy'' (as distinguished from
home -folksy'D. She had a passion
for dining alfresco. Though she
owned a handsome golden-oak dining
room suite and complete set Of Havi-
land china, she preferred tablecloth
on the turf and wooden plates.
Mr.. Otway hated sitting on the
ground; he hated hard-boiled eggs and
cold potato salad and all food that
was swaddled in waxed paper; most Of
all, he hated the packing up and the
long trek home on a full stomach.
He used to say plaintively, Il don't
want to go on a picnic!" But that
didn't get him 'anywhere-or, rather,
it got him just where he didn't want
to be.
After one visit to a psychiatrist,
however. Mr.. Otway no longer said,
II don't want to go on a picnic" He
said firmly, Il can't 60 on a picnic!"
The psychiatrist diagnosed his case
as agoraphobia, or fear Of open spaces.
He said that Mr.. Otway, at some time
in his infancy, had been left alone
In the back yard: too young to walk.
and surrounded by seemingly limit
less expanSe of lawn, he had been
gripped by terror which had made
lasting impression upon his infant
mind
Agoraphobia it was from that time
on, and Mr.. Otway doesn't have to
go on any more picnics.
a 5 AN eXcuSe-proVloer, claustro-
phobia may be even more useful
than agoraphobia. Miss Creevy, for
example, gets violent attacks OF
claustrophobia whenever she dances
with DR.. Pennifeather at the East
Teabone Country Club. Once around
the floor and invariably she feels
an urge to get away from it all. Lets
sit this one out on the porch" she
sighs. IT'S so close in here" DR..
Pennifeather is an expert toe-dancer-
on somebody else's toes-but he is also
a bit of a psychoanalyst, and he un.
derstands. Unfortunately, Mrs. Pen.
nifeather and the club chaperons do
not always observation-disclosures Miss
Creevy has traced her malady back
to her childhood, when she was ac-
cidentally shut up in clothes ham,
per for two days.