Evening star., 1944-04-07

die, how much more so getting
his Whole body wet. His subcon-
scious kept telling him he could
not possibly be alive after such
an ordeal. So he had died" When
this background was known it had
only required a little explanation
to bring him very much alive
|agaili.
Then there was the soldier whose
whole severe neurosis could be
traced to the childhood memory of
a little playmate who had died of
spinal meningitis. There was an
epidemic of the dreaded disease in
the neighborhood. His parents had
watched him overscrupulously for
the earliest symptoms. They were
deeply imbedded in his subcon-
|sciouS.
In the Army he developed a
severe headache and stiff neck. 1t
was actually a trivial matter, but
his subconscious kept telling him
ne at last had contracted the
dreaded meningitis and that the
days of his life were nearly num-
5ered This had set up an anxiety
complex which had led to all sorts
of complications. He recovered
with a little psychotherapy together
with amytal and insulin.
Revolving Circle.
The theory followed here is that
m anxiety neurosis becomes an
endlessly revolving cycle. First
some stimulus-it may be a terrible
experience or it may be some
relatively insignificant experience
which touches off a latent COM
plex-starts various ch emical
changes in the body. These in turn
lead to symptoms, such as paraly-
sis, which cause fear. This takes
the place of the original stimulus
and sets up more chemical changes.
Thus it may 60 on until the end
of the victims life, making him
always an invalid, unless the
vicious circle can be broken some
where. With the shotgun therapy"
used here there is always a good
chance of cracking one of its links.
Many Army doctors, and often
oluntly honest family physicians
tired of having their Offices clut-
tered with neurotic patients, will
tell such a person frankly that
there Is nothing wrong with him,
that all his symptoms exist only
lin the imagination. Army doctors
also are prone to believe a soldier
in whom nothing organically
wrong can be found has come on
sick call to escape K. P. Not in
frequently, of course, they are right,
as an OLD soldier no longer in
danger of a kitchen assignment
will gladly testify. But sometimes
they couldn't possibly be more
wrong.
"Rankest Sort of Heresy."
At any rate the words ''in your
Imagination" are the rankest sort
of heresy around here. think
1t. Col Ernest Parsons, the hospi-
tai commandant, would court
martial any medical officer or
nurse he heard using them. For
an anxiety neurosis doesn't exist
in a mans imagination-at least
not hy tae taae he reaches this
st4bltshnnent.
11fc Imagination Is only one fac
tor-perhaps the gate of entry for
the fearsome experience which set
going the chemical changes which
are largely responsible for the
organic symptoms. A patient hasn't
the slightest chance of getting we'll
unless he is convinced that some
thing constructive is being done
for him. 1t is useless to tell him:
There is nothing the matter with
you" His arm is paralyzed, and
that Is matter enough, so far as
he is concerned
Once the process of cure is
under way. however, group psy-
choterapy is used in the form of
Lectures where the relations be-
tween brain, nerves and body are
explained simply-insofar as they
are known. This understanding of
his own case may help prevent a