The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-06-13
so IT IS JUST NERVOUS
 EXHAUSTION?

EXHAUSVIONy
 In the green book (Nerves and Nutrition, twenty-five cents and stamped envelope bearing your ad- dreSs) I classify neurotics In two categories A Neurotics who are really i'll, though usually the trouble is not in the nervous system, and Glass B Neurotics who use their bad nerves" as an alibi, a means of escape from the trials and tribu- lations of life, showing everything onto the shoulders of their rela- tives, friends, practicing nervous imposition on the world and making 1t soft for themselves.
 The unhappy young woman (only 2T mentioned here the other day who, on the arbitrary advice of some quack, had all her teeth pulled, and THEN, as she failed to improve (she did not say what ailed her originality, had thorough physical examination (which should have been the first step, before the teeth were ruthlessly sacriflced) and finally, to make "eXtra sure" as she naively expresses 1t, went through the best advertised clinic" come home at last with the morbid, demoralizing, scientifically unfound- ed notion deeply imbued that, as the racketeers at the "clinic" as- sured her, there was "no organic trouble" but "just case of nervous exhaustion" which they advised her to go home and fight hersef-in other words, don't fool with the piker practitioners in your neck of the woods, but take little trip for yourself and come up here to us whenever you need expert medical advice.
 say the notion of nervous ex- haustion" is scientifically unfound- ed. That is there is no such thing as nerve or nervous energy, apart from ordinary muscular energy such as everybody uses when ex- ercising, working, playing, moving about. This is physiology, and challenge any medical authority to refute 1t or even question 1t.
 Now I am aware that unpleasant emotions such as fear, worry (which is diluted fear), anxiety (milder degree of fear), hatred, jealousy, envy, may have injurious effects upon health. know, for instance, the important part fear plays in causing shock. These emo- tions have @ good deal to do with health, of course, and they produce their effects mainly through the au- tonomic, sympathetic nervous sys- tenn. But that has nothing to do with so-scalled "nerve energy" or nervous exhaustion" and unless you are an ignoramuS or a quack you will entertain no doubts about 1t.
 This unfortunate young woman comes home from the big "clinic" with the discouraging, blghting conviction that her nutritional de- ficiency Q'm sure she has nutri- tional deficiency because she doesn't or cannot wear her dentures), is something she must flight herself" in other words these charlatans would have their customers believe that by just the right twist of the wrist and the way you hold your tongue Q person whose nerves are all shot" or who has nervous eX- haustion" can control her nerves. Of course that is all balderdash. The portion of the nervous system con- cerned in emotional, behavior or personality states is as involuntary, as far beyond any control by the will or consciousness as is the beat ing of the heart or the eXcretion Of sweat.
 QUESTIONS < ANSWERS
 Thorough Physical Examination
 Recently had serious illness Now I need a thorough physical examination. Please state all the steps and procedures of such an ex- animation. Some doctors are very slack about the whole thing and others give only part of the tests.
 (Miss A. s. F)
 Answer-Best advice I can offer you is to choose doctor, then leave z 1t to the doctor to apply whatever |, examinations or tests he deems necessary. A thorough examination may be anything from an ordinary life insurance examination at ten bucks or so to searching examin- ation requiring hours of the doc tors time and many laboratory tests, costing perhaps $500.
 Copyright 1944, John F. Dille Co.)