Common mind-troubles
^ 7 7 I - .- . ■ i ■ t 1 » A :-■ if S Hi ,'): / v » ■ • i .•» ■ I J. •■»■*■ ^ * T < ■■ : •' **. \V .-v« •■■ ■ • f t - f y / # '..• -r r /< ^ / ./ t/&\ / i-r> { Ik. . 1 o^ ^: } J lV <k— v ". ■ ,^ -Vm- '" ; \ j- ' V. A t ) *l I -t"- - 77 -i i r: f t. / / / ( / ' / ./<- J o Y(: ■■■■ COMMON MIND-TROUBLES, COMMON MIND-TROUBLES. BY J. MORTIMER GRANVILLE. SALEM • S. E. CASSINO, PUBLISHED, naturalists' agency. 1879. V* fa fa V 4. 4. • • ♦. fa fa » fa 5, fa fa fa W fa 76 TO THE READER. I am encouraged by the reception which has been accorded to my previous papers on the subject of mind-troubles, by the press, the public, and the profession, to adventure a further selection. I would only ask the scien- tific reader, if any such should honor this little volume by his notice, to remember that these essays, like those which have preceded them, were not written for persons who have professionally investigated the phenomena of which they treat. The sole purpose has been to seize on a few salient difficulties and grapple with them, in the interests of self-help. The key-note of the theme is the presumption that there is often — if not generally — a stage of con- scious embarrassment preceding mental de- rangement or mind weakness, and while this vi Preface. condition exists there is hope in the power of repair and self-recovery which exists in the mind not less than in the body. To this belief I must adhere. J. MORTIMER GRANVILLE. Oct.) 1878. Note to the Fifth Thousand. The success which has attended this series of papers gives me ground to hope they have been found useful. I have therefore determined to issue a new edition, simultaneously with the appearance of a complementary series under the title " The Secret of a Clear Head." Read together I trust these little books may be helpful in mental hygiene. J. M. G. April, 1879. CONTENTS. PAGB Failings i Defects of Memory 14 Confusions of Thought . ... 28 Sleeplessness from Thought. . 42 Hesitation and Errors in Speech 55 Low Spirits *. . . 68 Tempers — Good and Bad ... 79 " Creatures of Circumstance " . 94 N. FAILINGS. We all have our failings, and for the most part we regard them tenderly. They do not count as offences; scarcely are they held to be faults. It is always a probable conjecture that an error of omission has been unintentional ; not unfrequently it seems possible it was unavoidable. A sentiment of pity for, and even sympathy with, weakness overpowers the sense of grievance; the voice of the inward monitor is silenced, and the self-excused conscience sleeps. Meanwhile, failings are the worst and most mischievous, the deadliest and least curable, of the ills to which the moral nature of man is heir. They are the sources of evil whence spring the blackest vices of human character, the false roots that nourish and sustain its parasites, and steal the sap of its inner life. A failing is not merely negative ; its B 2 Common Mind -Troubles* sinister aspect is one of positive wrong-doing, wherein some behest of the will is disobeyed, a measure of moral power wasted, a rebel habit formed or fostered- To compassionate failings in others is to beg the question of fact for the sake of politeness ; to look with leniency on the errors which self would fain palliate, by assuming that they are unavoidable, is to play the traitor to Truth, and let the enemy into the citadel; whereas conscience is set to guard the nature of man from treachery not less carefully than to protect it against assault. Failings may be moral, mental, or physical, as they show themselves in the character, the intellect, or the bodily habit and powers- It generally happens that what strikes the observer as a failing is compounded of errors in feeling, thought, and action combined. The practical question is how the overt evil came into existence ; or r if happily the failing should be detected in an earlier stage of growth,, before it has betrayed its presence by ugly consequences, we may ask : what are the mischievous forces, where are they at work, how can they be counteracted I Why Failings. 3 has this person the " failing " of a tendency to ex- cessive indulgence in drink or the gratification of some unbridled passion ; and that individual a seem- ing inability to recognize and pursue the right and honest course of conduct in the presence of any so- called "temptation " or difficulty? A search for the causes, and the conditions which have determined the development, of failings is reasonable, and it will not be profitless. Many of the shortcomings we deplore as irremediable might be amended, perhaps wholly eradicated, if, with the light experience and science can bring to bear on the subject of human character, the will were charged resolutely to look for the hidden sources of weakness, pliability, subjugation to passion, moral obliquity or seeming lack of principle, together with those less blamed but equally disastrous defects, indolence, want of perseverance, and indifference to truth, which combine to form or are themselves what the weak- minded and the unwise call " failings." Some of the most regrettable and injurious failings which disfigure and defame the character run through Common Mind -Troubles, families, appearing in successive generations and seeming to be inherited. This theory of their perpetu- ation is well founded; and it has been adduced as con- clusive evidence of the truth of the hypothesis that mind, and, of course, character, is the mere outcome of matter. It may be stated thus. All we know of mind is ex- pressed, and understood, by physical agencies and in the formulae of material force. Speech communi- cates thought, and we think in words. The faculty Failings. 5 of forming and employing words is a brain function. If a particular region of the brain be injured or diseased, the power of using language, at least in speech, is generally lost. The materialist argues from this and many similar facts that mind is the product of matter. He fails to perceive that the only warrant- able deduction from his own data is that mind or spirit, call it what we will, can only express itself through the brain as an instrument. As well deny the skill or independent existence of a musician because he cannot play the full score of an opera on a flute,, as infer the non-existence of a soul from the fact that man cannot perform intellectual work without the organ 6f thought — the brain ! The capacity of the instrument doubtless limits the expression, but it supplies no measure of the power or skill of the performer, except in so far as the use he makes of the instrument may be a bad one. This exception is of great significance, and there will be something more to say about it presently. Meantime it is evident that, while the range of brain-power deter- mines the manifestation of mind, it neither measures, Common Mind -Troubles. nor affirms, nor disproves the independent existence of mind. The anatomist, the physiologist, and the chemist declare their inability to discover the traces of a soul in the physical organism. That no more proves the non-existence of a soul, than the failure to recognize more than a certain number of planets at any stage in the history of astronomy demonstrated that there was nothing further to find. History and experience attest the folly of denying the existence of the unknown. And it is especially unwise, or unscientific, to assume the non-existence of a psychical power, working in or through the physical nature of man, because it is only upon the hypothesis that such a power exists that we are able to understand and explain some of the commonest and most clearly-defined phenomena of mind and char- acter. For example, two individuals are found to have had brains of microscopically similar quality, and of equal weight. They are both highly developed, and any differences they present to the critical ob- server, armed with the most subtle tests which science can devise, are of a nature which experience has Failings. *j shown to be functionally unimportant. The two indi- viduals have, during life, been surrounded by circum- stances which throw no light on their idiosyncrasies. Nevertheless, the moral character of the one has been wholly bad, that of the other strikingly exemplary. How is it possible to account for this difference ex- cept on the hypothesis of a soul ? There is no more wide-spread, but utterly ground- less fallacy, than that which strives to associate virtue or vice with particular forms of development. It is true that there are grades of animal excellence, and the lower are likely to be the more brutal ; but the higher and most perfect growth is not only compati- ble, but frequently found in association, with an excess of evil attributes. In short, the most delicate and efficient instalment may be put to the worst purposes. What determines the event ? What made this person with the highest intellectual organism an unscrupulous wrong-doer, the enemy of his species, and a discredit to human nature, while that individual with a physical organism so nearly identical that science can detect no difference was distinguished by characteristics en- 8 Common Mind -Troubles. tirely opposite ? The superficial answer to this cru- cial interrogatory is: circumstances, education, the influence of example, opposition, health, these, — in short, the environments, made the difference. The rejoinder will not stand the test of experience. Let any one turn over in his memory the histories of lives he has observed. The most tenderly nurtured go astray, while, on the other hand, the neglected and, as it would seem, demoralized by "circumstances," rise above the accident of associated evil influences, to attain the highest moral growth. The appeal against materialism lies to the instinct of common sense. If mind were the mere outcome of matter, science would long since have discovered some tolerably constant relation between peculiarities of physical development and manifestations of char- acter j whereas, every step onward in the progress of research tends to disprove the existence of any certain dependency or connection between morals and mat- ter. Even such links as compose the stock-in-trade of the physiognomist and phrenologist are shown to be illusory, except in so far as they may be the effects. Failings. 9 rather than the causes, of character, and are produced by culture — witness the effects of education on facial expression in the case of criminals. The theory of a criminal conformation of cranium has been abandoned like the silly affectation of being able to detect an offender by his u hang-dog" or "murderous " look* "Failings" must be studied in the light of the lessons these facts and considerations combine to teach. The moral question involved is one of respon- sibility for the use each individual may make of the brain-power allotted to him* The neglect to employ gifts and capacities is as .grave an error, from an ethical point of view, as their application to a bad purpose. The servant who buried his talent in the earth was held accountable for the failure to use it, and thereby increase its value. The parable sets forth a truth of the highest practical interest. We are responsible for the development, by use, of the faculties vouchsafed to us. If they are allowed to remain in abeyance, or a rudimentary state, we are to blame for the deficiencies and the failings to which this neglect gives rise, and are without excuse. The obli- IO Common Mind -Troubles. gation to act up to the level of known duty cannot be avoided. A "failing" is an act of contempt for the law of development by usq. It is disobedience to an understood command. The fact that it is recognized makes a failing an offence. There may be short- coming in the performance of a good resolve. Few, if any, merely human efforts are entrrely successful ; but the failure which occurs when an endeavor is made in the energy of a resolute and well-aimed pur- pose is not so much a fault as an insufficiency. The rising tide reaches its highest level by successive efforts. Self-improvement is effected in the same fashion. The motive power of persistent good en- deavor is accumulative — ever advancing like the great tidal wave of the ocean — though the ground. is conquered by short and seemingly only half- successful advances. Failings, however, as we are now regarding them, are excused faults fn the character, which the indi- # vidual makes no serious effort to repair. Some de- fects, as we have seen, are inherited, and upon them it is the custom to bestow great commiseration and Failings* 1 1 little blame. Now, in truth, these are the least par- donable, because, if they are known to have been transmitted from parent to child, the latter has, gen- erally, the advantage of an example, ever present to memory, by which to correct his personal deficiencies. If the "failing" be a vicious propensity, he can re- call its hideousness, and thus stimulate will and con- science to aid him in eradicating .the fault. If it be some form of deficiency, as indolence, lack of perse- verance, want of principle, or the like, he can study, as in the pages of history, the evil consequences entailed by the defect, and with diligence order his own conduct in better courses. Inherited failings are the least excusable. Even the materialist, who claims them as the fruit of physical peculiarities, must concede that by special culture they can be remedied, the healthy organism being susceptible of increased development in any particular direction wfeen the proper stimuli are intelligently applied with a view to its improvement. The apologist for failings which have been inherited can find no comfort in the philosophy of materialism. 12 Common Mind -Troubles. Failings which are peculiar to the individual may be less easy to detect, and the subject of these defects is, in a measure, dependent upon experience and the mo- nitions of those around him for the information needed to correct them. This should keep the wise teachable and apt to profit by the lessons life is ever reading for their instruction. A self-reliant spirit is manly, and therefore commendable ; a self-sufficient spirit is un- reasonable, and therefore despicable. It is strange how few of us grow really wiser as we grow older. The work of self-improvement is seldom commenced until forced upon the judgment by some awakening experience^ and this is rarely vouchsafed until the ductile period of youth has gone by. Early in the adult age of man his habits become rigidly formulated, and failings are then hard to mend. A world of un- happiness and disappointment might be spared the later years of life if the young would be warned to begin the business of training the character before it is firmly set in the mould of circumstances, with all the coarse elements — inherited and contracted — un- eliminated, and the errors of inconsistency and im- perfect development uncorrected. Failings. x 3 It is in the period of youth and adolescence that the mind may be most hopefully cultivated and the moral character intelligently formed. No greater mis- take can be made by a young and vigorous mind than to treat the faculty of reason and the instinct of moral judgment as parts of the being which may be left to their own devices. The young man bestows some thought on his muscular system — he trains his eye, cultivates his ear, and takes credit for prudence when he strives to develop the vigor and to foster the healthy growth of his body. Is it wise — nay, is it not rather the worse of folly and shortsightedness — to neglect the ordinary development of those higher powers which man possesses in a more exalted degree than any of the lower animals ? Taking care for the body while the mind is neglected is the worst of failings — the most calamitous and the least excusable. DEFECTS OF MEMORY. The faculty of remembering is not one of the higher intellectual powers or functions. Animals far below man in the scale of intelligence exhibit a capacity for recollecting their associations with places, persons, and events after a long interval of time has elapsed ; and even idiots, with slow and imperfect apprehension, are not unfrequently seen to perform what must, in their condition, be regarded as feats of memory. Nevertheless, loss or serious impairment of the fac- ulty will produce grave mental disability ; and when either of these evils occurs, in the case of an individual who has previously given no indication of deficiency or defect, the change may reveal ground for uneasi- ness, and, in every case, must create anxiety to dis- cover the cause. Memory, using the term in its popular signification! (14) Defects of Memory. 15 is made up of two powers or faculties — that of fixing or retaining a subject-thought in the mind, and that of recalling- it at will. It is a common experience to feel conscious of knowing a thing — for example, the name of a person or place, the whereabouts of a miss- ing article, the date or order of sequence of an event — but to be unable to recall the information in detail. Either of these powers may be at fault in a case of " loss of memory ;" and it is of the highest practical moment to ascertain which of the two is defective ; not only with a view to repair, if that should be pos- sible, but because a clew may be discovered to the precise nature and cause of the malady. The retention or fixing of ideas is very much a matter of habit. There are, doubtless, differences as to the strength and clearness of the original percep- ^ tion which will affect the quality of the impression. Some persons do not receive an idea as rapidly as others, and many who display the greatest celerity of apprehension seem satisfied with simply taking up an idea for a moment, and letting it drop instantly after- wards. Those who exhibit this peculiarity do not, in 1 6 Common Mind -Troubles. fact, appropriate the object, and convert it into a subject ; they seize on it as a porter grasps a package with which he has no concern — by the cord or corners, or in any way most convenient. Some persons learn by ear, and catch the jingle of word-sounds, not their meaning. Children who have a special facility for picking up verses are seldom really quick in study, or retentive. Others acquire information by the eye; anything they can picture or dispose in a particular order or place — for example, a square — is appropri- ated. Such minds are generally endowed with a lively perception of form and proportion. A third class of learners are dependent on the power of connecting scraps of information for their retention of facts; they seem to be perpetually making a piece of patchwork, and anything that can be tacked into a notch, or on the extremity, of the work in hand can be received, while what is not capable of being so placed is sacri- ficed, however valuable. All these, and many similar, methods are peculiarities in the way of receiving im- pressions or ideas ; but, speaking generally, they do no more than lodge the subject in the outer chamber Defects of Memory. 17 of the mind, from which it may be swept by the first rough wind, or roughly ejected on the slightest in- ternal commotion. When therefore the memory becomes a blank, or seems to have suddenly shifted and lost its cargo, it is necessary, in the absence of any significant symptom of disease, to inquire whether what has happened is 'not simply the discharge of useless lumber. This sort of experience occurs not uncommonly just as a youth has completed that which is, under a serious misap- prehension of facts, called his "education;" and many a poor fellow has been driven to distraction, hounded on by professional harpies, with the dread that he is sufferingfrom some terrible and life-blighting defect. What has taken place is the sudden heeling over of a deck-laden craft, with the discharge of her laboriously-collected but badly-stowed cargo into the sea. If the vessel rights herself quickly, it is no bad thing to have got rid of the incumbrance, although it may be provoking to reflect that it is too late to put back into port and load again. The only expedient is to haul on board some of the more useful portions 1 8 Common Mind -Troubles. of the floating wreck and stow them in the hold. A break-down of this nature happens every now and again, and will occur while the practice of " cram- ming " boys at school and at college for "competitive" examinations continues to find favor. It was a so- cially and mentally mischievous thought, that notion of " competitive tests ;" and among the sufferers are not only the many youths and young men who ex- perience the mind-panic to which we are alluding, but the multitude of overtaxed and weakened brains that are abandoned as incapable — among them some of the best for real work — by competitive teachers and trainers of the young, who conform their educa- tional methods to the spirit and fashion of the day. When loss of memory occurs in the manner indi- cated; whenever it happens soon after leaving school, on the completion of any great effort, or at the moment when the mind is for the first time brought face to face with the real business of life; instead of giving way to crazy alarm, the victim of this misfor- tune should set to work to repair the loss caused by the accident, not by repeating the errors of a fauljy Defects of Memory. 19, educational process, but by developing his faculty of retention by honest and patient work in a new and healthy direction. In short, one-half the so-called cases of ''loss of memory" are simply the break-down of a training which has been unnatural. The circum- stance that the faculty of remembering seems to be itself impaired by the catastrophe is not in the least surprising; because, in addition to the immediate effects of the shock, there is the discovery that the power of retention is in truth wanting. The real faculty of memory has not been developed by the system adopted, and the untrained mind has to be cultivated anew. Only what has been thoroughly learned can be perfectly remembered, and no process other than that which brings the natural faculty of knowledge into active exercise can perform the true functions of- memory, or is worthy to be so called. The fixing of subject-matters in the mind depends directly on the manner in which they are received and dealt with in thought, immediately after they have been appropriated ; while the power of re-col- lecting the ideas or impressions put away in the mind 20 Common Mind -Troubles. is the outcome of an orderly method of arrangement, and for this reason always susceptible of develop- ment. Just as an orderly but forgetful person may deposit an article carefully in a suitable place and afterwards be wholly unable to find it, so a mind may have treasured up an idea thoroughly and safely, but be at a loss to recover it when wanted in conversation or thought. It is the fashion to assert that in such a case ther£ must have been something amiss in the process of "putting away." There may have been a defect in this stage, but that is not a necessary infer- ence from the fact of forgetting. The fault is quite as often in the manner of looking for an object or an idea as in placing it. Very much depends on the knowledge an individual possesses of his intellectual property. If he is in the habit, so to say, of fre- quently taking out his treasures of information and his ideas, and examining and dusting them, he will probably be able to find them readily when required. It is doubtless very unscientific to employ such a simile, because, as everybody knows, or thinks he knows, ideas are registered by the combination, or Defects of Memory. 21 some change in the constitution, of cells in the cere- bral tissue of the brain ; but for plain folk the notion of " placing " and " finding " ideas at will is more 'intelligible than the jargon of scientists, and possibly fully as accurate. The one point to make clear is that inability to remember is as often a fault in method as a defect of power ; and every sufferer should exhaust all the milder and more comprehens- ible hypotheses of his difficulty before he worries himself with the graver and less easily remedied. To throw a few practical hints together, I may jot down the following results of experience and obser- vation. It is seldom any goo4 to goad the memory roughly in a moment of forgetfulness. Instead of making a violent and distressing effort to find the right word, if it does not suggest itself, think of another that will do as well; possibly the defaulting term will thus be recovered by association; if not, another may be substituted. It is annoying to forget a familiar name or term ; but the feeling of chagrin, and the collat- eral disturbance caused at the moment, are little 22 Cdmntoh Mind -Troubles. likely to strengthen the memory. An idea, term, or phrase, which has not quickly responded to the call of the will, should be made the subject of special • thought and examined at close quarters — in fact, learned — when it is found. In this way the memory may be strengthened, whereas by conflict at the crit- ical moment of forgetfulness it will be weakened. It is useless, and worse, to resort to what are called technical memories. The inducement to adopt for- mulae of facts or figures is very strong when the pressure of work to be " got up " in a given time is great ; but the practice is ruinous to the faculty of thought, because it not only throws it out of use, but cripples it. The way to fix a subject in the mind is to master it thoroughly under all its aspects, so that the Reason and Judgment may be familiar with it, each in its province appropriating some special fact concerning it. Real knowledge of a subject implies its being brought in detail to tfie direct cognizance of each of the leading powers or faculties of the mind in turn so that if one forgets, the others will recall, it. People Defects of Memory. 23 take only a passing glance at an object, and wonder they cannot recollect.it. The faculties differ in their power of retention. In some minds, Reason is tb ?. most highly gifted with the power of taking in, or per- haps finding, subjects. When this is the case, the in- dividual remembers only what he has reasoned about ; and, if he has forgotten anything, he must search it out and recover it by a process of reasoning, or it will be lost. Every thoughtful mind should try to ascertain which of its constituent faculties is the most effective in this work and train it for the purpose. Half the folk who go through life bemoaning their want of memory have excellent faculties ready for the business of recollection, but from ignorance or inat- tention persist in imposing the task on the most in- competent ; for example, striving to remember by the ear when sight is their best remembrancer, or trust- ing to the special senses when the reasoning faculty has special fitness for the function. Memory is not so much a faculty as a function, which may be per- formed by either, or several, of the powers of mind ; but these require to be specially cultivated. 24 Common Mind -Troubles. It follows from what has been said that " defects of memory" are of very diverse natures, and need to be closely investigated before any general conclusion is drawn from the mere fact of partial impairment or even total failure. Some of, the phenomena of disease are extraordinary. There may be loss of power to remember the occurrences of a particular period of life, near or remote. This form of malady is — in the absence of special brain disease — gener- ally more closely connected with the function of ap- prehension than with that of recollection ; the least well-appropriated facts are those forgotten. Again, there may be failure with respect to certain classes of subjects — for example, dates and figures — or the defect may be limited even to certain numbers. Often when this happens there has been, in former years, either excessive activity with regard to the particular subjects of thought which are, as it were, effaced from the memory, or they were never thoroughly mastered. Some scientists explain these peculiarities by the hy- pothesis that certain congeries of corpuscles in the brain have been destroyed. It may be so ; but the Defects of Memory. 25 circumstance that occasionally the whole blank is re- filled, as though by an electric shock, would seem to show that they are rather thrown out of the vital cir- cuit for a while by some diversion or interruption of the current. The hypothesis of science is obviously susceptible of this interpretation of the facts. Any cause or state which impairs the integrity of the cir- culation of blood through a part of the brain, or disturbs the rhythm of nerve energy, may impair the memory ; and this is why loss of memory or disorder of the function comes to possess grave interest. It is, however, important to disabuse the mind of the mischievous impression that failure of memory must needs be a sign of disease, whereas it may be the consequence of defective training or overloading. Meanwhile, it is necessary to realize that probably no early indication of brain disturbance is likely to be more significant than this mental peculiarity. The way to test the symptom subjectively is to cast about for any possible cause of bodily weakness — anything that is likely to have impoverished the blood, or lowered the tone of the system — such as loss of  quan- tity or quality, the abuse of stimulants, or excess of any kind, which produces depression after temporary excitement, loss of sleep, undue bodily or mental la- bor, constitutional disease, — in short, anything which will weaken or exhaust.- If a cause is discovered, it must, if practicable, be instantly removed, and the ef- fect watched. If no serious harm has been done, and the real source of the mischief has been discovered and removed, the brain will resume its normal condi- tion, slowly perhaps, but sufficiently soon to show that the true method of treatment has been adopted. These cases of loss of memory are nearly all amenable to self-help, and while the physician may fail and the empiricist do dire mischief with his " opinions " and his drugs, the intelligent sufferer can cure himself. The golden maxim of health, and the precept of self-recovery, is capable of expression in one word, "Order." This is the universal law of natural life. It governs society, and it must control the individual. Tested by this standard, all that is right, true, moral, and excellent in conduct will be Defects of Memory. 2 J » readily distinguishable from the wrong, the false, the unholy, and the despicable. ' Life ifself , in its in- tegrity, is orderly action, and every defect of life, every form of disease, all failure whether of body or mind — and failure of memory among the multitude of unnatural phenomena — are the fruit and conse- quence of a lack of order. In its lighter manifesta- tions, defect of memory is due to the disorderly man- agement of thought ; in its graver forms it is the consequence of disorder in the nutrition and action of the brain. # CONFUSIONS OF THOUGHT. To become confused in thinking is a common- place experience, but it is often the cause of great discomfort, and when of frequent occurrence begets the fear of permanent derangement. Sometimes the *f thoughts seem to crowd in on the mind, like a pack of wolves, with furious rush and almost savage im- petuosity, while the consciousness is scared, and helpless to resist the onslaught or re-establish order. In this condition* of affairs, the mental instrument or organism, the part with which we think, is weakened either by disease of the body affecting the mind, as when a person is struck down with fever or any other malady producing wild delirium ; or by the exhaustion following continuous strain in a particular direction, as when the thoughts are fixed too long on some subjects of anxiety or perplexity. This state is also (28) Confusions of Thought. 29 apt to occur when the blood is impoverished, and the brain is pressed to work without sufficient nourish- ment, or cheated to use up and exhaust, in its ordinary business by the abuse of alcohol and other stimulants, the strength Nature designs to be stored for a time of sickness or extremity. The confusion that takes the form of violent dis- order of thought is nearly always due to a physical — that is, a bodily — cause, and must be met by measures adapted to the improvement of the general health. Sometimes the evil may be cured by a judicious alteration in the character of the food, and the avoid- ance of drinks that give energy for the moment at the cost of collapse afterwards. A new order of meals, a totally different, though equally, or more, nutritious, diet; longer, or occasionally/^ sleep, may inaugurate a better state of matters ; but often it takes more than this to mend the mischief. Change of scene and complete diversion of thought into fresh channels may be necessary. Nearly always there is some po- tent, though hidden, perhaps unsuspected, cause at work undermining or disorganizing the bodily, and in- directly the mental, strength. 30 Common Mind -Troubles. _ •' - — In another condition, somewhat resembling that already described, but essentially differing from it, there is an inroad of thoughts, less like ravening wolves than silly sheep, that seem to come tumbling over each other in sheer stupidity. The sensation is rather plaguing than appalling, but it is wondrously annoying, and, if not remedied, may in the long run prove fully as troublesome, and even disastrous, as the more vehement malady to which we have alluded. In some instances there is a considerable element of the grotesque in this experience, and the possessor of a mind so disordered passes for a wit ; but the humor is maudlin, and the current is uncertain ; he breaks down suddenly in his play of pleasantries, and the watchful observer can detect the signs of conscious weakness and inability to revive the unnatural gayety of a false state. When there is no conscious humor in the whirl of thoughts, it may be simply worrying or distressing, as when the mind longs to be at rest, " if it were only for a short half-hour ;" or is earnestly desirous of fixing itself on some topic — perhaps one of serious or even solemn concern — but cannot com- mand the attention. Confusions of Thought. 31 Sufferers from this form of confusion go on for years, harassed and exhausted by" the turmoir of liv- ing in a crowd and din of thoughts from which es- cape seems impossible. The disorder — like the rapid passing of scenery as one is borne along a line of railway at high speed, like the ceaseless rush of water, like the swarming of bees — pursues its victim even into the realm of sleep. Of course, peftons who are so affected do sleep, and the brain rests, or they would not be able to go on year after year with impunity ; but they have none of the comforting sensations pro- duced by natural repose ; they feel awake and worried, or bewildered up to the last moment of consciousness, and they rise, without any sense of being refreshed; to a state of weariness which ill befits them for the struggles and anxieties of another day. This is a *»/W-disturbance, in contradistinction to that indicated above, although in a large proportion of instances the state was first established by the irritation set up in the course of some bodily disease; or it has become confirmed — so to say, stereotyped on the brain — by prolonged physical suffering. For 34 Common Mind -Troubles. out its removal, is the inspiration of new vitality into the Will. By a strong effort of the judgment the mind in certain instances reclaims control of its own terri- tory. This is a noble triumph of " self-help " at which all, especially those who are unable to shake off the coil of crushing circumstances, should aim, and upon which the intelligent mind should set and centre its- remaining strength. There is a wonderful faculty of self-development in every part of the being of man, whether mental or physical, and each faculty grows by use. The effort which succeeds in restoring order, or keeping the rushing thoughts disentangled if not orderly, does more than passing good ; it reconquers some portion of the province of mind from the rebel crew who run riot and threaten to perpetuate the confusion that reigns within. The best method of procedure is to busy the fac- ulty of thinking with some unaccustomed topic — the way to do something, or the cause and reason of an unexplained phenomenon. It is generally useless to try to mend the confusion by a direct effort to control the thoughts. The sovereignty of the will can only be Confusions of Thought* 35 re-established by an exercise of independent authority acting at first in a new sphere. For example : let the sufferer select a subject and manner of thought of which he has no previous experience. The desultory thinker may commence the study of mathematics ; while the mind accustomed to figures should be en- grossed with history or fiction. In any case, and whatever the subject selected, the exercise which is to be remedial must be undertaken as a task, a certain number of pages set down to be read or transcribed, whether the attention is interested or not. Persever- ance, and a renewal of the effort at stated times, say once or twice a day, always as a duty imposed by the will, and enforced by the same authority, generally succeed. If in process of time the mastery is so far recovered that a complete train of reasoning can be pursued without irritation, the gain will be consider- able. The confusion of which we are now speaking may be experienced in any degree, from that occasional loss of the command of thought which begins in desultory thinking or reverie, to an utter lack of any 36 Common Mind -Troubles. 