Evening star., 1937-09-18
INSANITY RISE LAID
.TOURCE TO OFORCET
Georgetown Medical Clinic
Told Such Attempts Are
Cause of Disease.

Mans mind was not made for for
getting.
Forced pushing out of consciousness
of unpleasant things was stressed as
dominant factor in the apparently
growing insanity rate by DR.. d. Percy
Hickling at the Georgetown Medical
School post graduate clinic yesterday
afternoon.
About / out of 81 persons now
spends some time in mental institu-
ton, DR.. Kicking said. and the num-
Der of hospital beds filled by the in
sane is greater than that for most
other diseases Jumped together. To
combat this, he declared, will be in
creasingly the job of the general
practitioner.
There is no such thing, DR. Hickling
said, as going suddenly insane. There
are symptoms which can be detected
by the family doctor years in advance.
The situation. he said. is somewhat
like that of tuberculosis a generation
ago Then the early symptoms were
not recognized. When the disease was
diagnosed. it was in such an advanced
state that possibility of saving the VIC
tim was very small.
Today, he said, it is almost miracle
that so many insane are cured, for
the condition of a person admitted to
mental hospital is about like that
of the advanced tuberculosis patient
in other years. Since the beginning
syndrome of tuberculosis has been rec
ognized, the death rate has been re-
duced very greatly.
Worst Advice: Forget It."
About the worst advice that can be
given, DR.. Hickling said, is. ito forget
about it, Essentially, he stressed, this
is impossible The unpleasant thoughts
or memories are bound to come to
the surface over and over again in
some distorted form or other. Usually.
if they are allowed to have free play,
they will lose their sting automatically.
The word don't" he stressed, should
be out of the vocabulary of the physi-
clan. Energy used up in consciously
trying not to do something is entirely
wasted. 1t should be directed toward
doing something constructive. and the
problem of not doing the thing one
wishes to avoid will be solved without
further help.
A drug which apparently has an
exhilarating effect on the personality,
relieves WEAKNESS and makes mental
concentration easier was described by
Drs Wallace M. Yater and Henry B.
Gwynn. This is benzedrine sulphate,
long known in medical practice.
Like most drugs which have .
psychological effect, it has been impos-
sible to say how much was due to the
action on the nervous system Of the
drug itself and how much to sugges-
ton. To determine this Drs. Yater and
Gwynn last Spring tested the effect
of benzedrine sulphate on lat George
| town medical students.
Did Relieve WEAKNESS.
They found that, regardless Of the
| suggestion factor, the drug actually
did relieve weariness, made the stu
dents generally feel better and was of
value in giving feeling of freshness
and confidence in an emergency, such
as term examination. 1t was stressed,
however, that it is not entirely harm
less and should never be taken without
the advice of a physician who takes
into account the personal equation.
Most OF the Georgetown students re-
ported nervousness and sleeplessness
following the experiment.
1t was described, however, as safe,
compared with most drugs of the sort
and of special value in the treatment
of persons who are perpetually ain
the dumps" who might otherwise turn
to dangerous medicants. Apparently
it is not habit-forming.
Two reliable tests for poisoning with
any of the barbiturate drugs, making
up the great bulk of sleeping powders,
were reported by Dr. Theodore Kop-
panyi of the Georgetown faculty. In
overdoses these drugs result in a coma
which often ends in death. They are
often used to commit suicide, since
it is impossible for coroner to say
whether the person died Intentionally
or from an accidental overdose.
Two years ago DR.. Koppanyi re-
ported the use of drug called picro-
toxin as a very potent antidote for this
sort of poisoning. But when a person
| is found in a coma it is essential before
applying this remedy, powerful stim-
ulant of the central nervous system,
for the physician to be certain that the
unconscionsness actually is due to a
barbiturate. The remedy might we'll
kill person suffering from a diabetic
coma or from some other poison. So
we'll is this known, Dr. Koppanyi said,
that there have been recent cases
where barbiturate bottle actually was
left by the bedside to fool the doctor,
while the would-be suicide actually
took some other poison against which
the antidote would not work.