A MIND DISEASED 55 



gleaned as rapidly and as fully as possible ; while to any one who has per- 

 sonally reached the point where he can carefully differentiate the essen- 

 tial features of the more frequent cases of a mind diseased, as these ap- 

 pear in different communities or families, and especially to one who has 

 come more or less to fully appreciate some or all of its discouraging 

 perplexities, depressions, fears and apprehensions; or its disappoint- 

 ments, emotional perversions and interferences; or the accompanying 

 loss of confidence and hope, inordinate sense of dependence, seemingly 

 irrevocable detachment from human and divine fellowship; and per- 

 haps something of the shame and degradation, the general unfitness for 

 planning work, and the conscious inadequacy of power to do it, inci- 

 dent thereto ; — who has in fact rightly comprehended what goes to make 

 up dire mental pain, and the inevitable " sickness of soul " that centers 

 in and clusters about the innermost selfhood in all these distressing 

 cases — to such an one a prompting to further study and to more skilful 

 practise, as well as to enthusiastic hope regarding it all, becomes so 

 irresistible that any suggestion of apology for even intrusive interest and 

 propaganda is not to be thought of. 



With respect to the manner in which this kind of suffering comes to 

 be, it may be said that almost every unusual experience has in it one or 

 more elements of causation of subsequent mental pain and derangement. 

 Most certainly, even such experiences as broken bones may lead to it; 

 likewise, post-infections as well as certain endogenous poisonings are 

 sources not to be neglected; also, too many children, too heavy financial 

 burdens, too prolonged hours of arduous labor, physical or mental; too 

 overweening or unrealized ambitions ; or poorly cooked food and noxious 

 air; disappointed love or social aspiration; financial reverses and other 

 forms of "ill-luck"; as well as unsatisfied deeply implanted longings 

 of every sort; weak will or over-emotionalism; gluttony and laziness; 

 early impressive childish experiences, especially terrorizing dreams, 

 frightful shocks, prolonged perversions of development; gloomy or in- 

 adequate education; unpropitious parenthood; vicious or disturbing 

 neighborhood — all these may contribute, in incalculable proportion, yet 

 never except by their due share, either to the genesis of a mind pain- 

 fully diseased, or to its prolongation and deepening, or worse still, in 

 many instances, to most serious interference with cure. 



Thus, by way of particularizing in respect to our present purpose, 

 let us consider an instance where the mental pain has developed in the 

 course of recovery from some kind of not unusual physical injury, or of 

 ordinary infection from without. 



In a certain proportion of such cases, it is to be noted, especially in 

 the more impressionable constitutions, that long before the physical 

 trouble or infection can be recovered from, even though most prompt 

 and efficient measures have been resorted to, the tendency to the de'- 



