Evening star., 1949-05-27
Public Understanding
OF Science Of Mental
Hygiene in Infancy
Suicide as an Expression
OF Mind Out Of BoIonee
Is Little Comprehended
By David Laurence


When a prominent person takes
his own life. the public experiences
. sense Of shock. and laymen dis
cuss with all their inexpertness
Just why such things happen.
Suicide. though one OF the oldest
expressions Of a mind out Of bal
ance, Is the result Of one Of the
least understood Of all illnesses.
The idea that an individual can
be sick mentally without being
irrational is not as widely known
as 1t should be. Indeed. the whole
science Of mental hygiene is In
It's infancy 50 far as public under
standing Of 1t goes.
In recent years much more no
tice has been given to the work
Of the psychiatrist-who. be 1t
known. Is a person with medical
training who specializes In mental
illnesses. But. unfortunately, too
many people call in psychiatrist
when 1t is too late to save the
patient. Then. when suicide oc-
ours, they feel that somehow 1t
should have been prevented.
Like Pus from q Boil.
The incidents in a patients his
tory that lead to suicide are often
examined in retrospect, and, when
it Is too late, an error In treat
ment is sometimes discovered. But
analysis of the human mind is
not subject to exactness. What
happens to the sense Of reason
along LIES troubled way Is diff
cult to chart even when all the
facts and the fateful ending are
known. Too much is locked up for
ever or repressed In hours OF
broodtng and worry that ought to
have come out like pus from a
boil.
There is no doubt that on the
close friends of a distressed indi-
vidual rests the responsibility Of
detection in the early stages OF
nervous ailments. But laymen
cannot always recognize the
symptoms. They do not realize
what the danger signals are. Pub
lie education is absolutely neces-
sary in the field of mental hygiene
and the national movement In
that direction known as the Ma
tional Committee for Mental Hy-
giene. 1870 Broadway. New York
City, deserves wider support than
1t has been getting.
There used to be one school Of
thought which held that physical
pains were brought on by mental
anxieties, and another which be-
lieved that physical irregularities
created the mental, disturbances.
Today they are held to be parts
Of the same thing-body and mind
are examined in their entirety. A
loss Of weight and sleep and dis
turbed functioning Of .. digestion
occurred for, weeks, In the For
restal case In connection with his
worries. Oftentimes the patient
does not cooperate by being will
ing to give the time to. checkups
and treatment. This increases
the difficulty but does not remove
the necessity for insistenta ham
ding Of such cases.
Spiritual Aid Can Count.
In many cases Of nervous all
ment the patient lacks a crutch
to lean on when the going gets
tough. Here is where members
of the family and friends can
help by sympathetic understand
ing. Here is where spiritual aid
can count heavily. Henry Link, In
his famous book. "A Return to
Religion" recounts numerous
cases In the New York City neu-
rological clinics where return
to- religion was indicated and how
1t frequently helped.
Too many of our clergymen
spend too much of their time on
institutional matters and too lit
tie in ministering personally to
the members Of their congrega-
tions. Too many friends turn
away indifferently from persons
whose mental health appears to
be weakening.
Suicide is not just a record of
the collapse of an individuals
mind. 1t is q record of the failure
Of many other persons In mod
ern society to do their part In
saving human life.
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