The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1935-01-11

You didn't press Ine Dutton.
"And do you Think said the wom-
an, "that I'll put my finger on that
bell with all the germs there are on
it2 Everybody pushes that button"
The guard shook his head.
LADY" he said, you'll have gosh
awful time going through life 1t you
worry about the germs on bells and
door-knobs. How do you think you
can escape them"
Every one, particularly the physician,
has met these worrying types OF 1ndl-
viduals. And the trouble Is, that they
give not only themselves, but every one
connected with them gosh-awful
time. You can have no rest when you
are with them. They make life miser-
able worrying about germs; they crane
their necks hunting for drafts, SO that
some one has to jump up constantly
opening and shutting doors and win
dows; and they're always wondering
about their digestions. You can't men-
ton a food in their presence without
getting long harangue about whether
it is good or not good for them.
Health officials sometimes think that
the Indigestion worriers are increasing
out of proportion to the increase In the
population. Certainly the advertise
ments in the newspapers and maya
zines and on sign boards throughout
the country that advocate cures for in
digestion, sour stomach and dyspepsia,
seem to be growing in number, and ii
these patent medicines did not have
buyers, the advertising about them
could not be so extensive. Indeed, one
might divide the adult population into
two groups; those that suffer from in
digestion and those that do not.
Most of the digestion worriers are
underweight; they have dried, leathery
skins, puckered and wrinkled foreheads
and bored and self-sacrificing express
sion about the eyes; usually they are
past the age Of thirty-fve. In every
case they have too much time to think
about themselves.
Our bodies are always with us. In
the absence of other mental occupa-
lions, the worrier makes his body an
all-important and ever-engrossing sub
ject of thought. He creates an arti-
fetal little world around himself where
in he lives exclusively. He is out Of
tune with his environment. He doesn't
react as other people do to things that
happen. His first impulse is to con-
slider the possible i'll effect these hap
penings might have on him. The wom-
an who did not want to push the ele-
vator bell because many other hands
had pushed it, thought only of herself.
She would be highly offended if per-
son coming after her did not want to
touch door knob that she had touched.
She would always be holy in her own
opinion, and no one else could ever be.
The Indigestion worriers become food
faddists. They cannot eat anything
that is fried; they think combination
of milk and fish is poison. They can
not eat starches and meats at the same
meal They believe one thing this
month and another thing next month.
The errors in diet made by worriers are
physicians care. Constantly wonder
ing If their food will agree with them
is not healthful pastime. AS time
goes on, the wOrrier avoids more and
more foods, with the result that his
diet become more and more unbalanced,
and the consequence is that he worries
still more. 1t is vicious cycle that
often eliminates in a hospital bed.
To the physician the worrier is al
ways health hazard. When his physi-
cal resistance is worn down, as it will
be, he becomes good soil for bacteria.
And then he not only is apt to get
disease himself, but he is also apt
to transmit it to others. Because the
worrier, thinking only of himself, is
not usually concerned about protecting
other people from his disease germs.
If you have worrier In your family,
you are not likely to make him see the
unwisdom of his ways by lecturing him.
You had best bend Your energies in get
ting him interested In a hobby-some-
thing that will make him cognizant
that there is world outside himself.
And if he is the food worrier type,
then don't play up to his whims. 1t is
mistake to say anxiously to the food
worrier, "Would you like to have this,
dear or would you rather have me fix
you something else?" Put a well-bal-
anced meal before him, and then let
him take it or leave it. That may seem
harsh treatment for sensitive stom-
achs." but the World war army life
cured many food worriers.
OF course, If the food worrier has
really developed an intestinal upset. he
will need diet. But the physician
should then prescribe the diet-not the
wOrrier.