2 70 BIOLOGY AND HUMAN LIFE 



Mental conditions influence physical or physiological processes 



Excitement affects visceral functions 

 Digestion-; breathing; heart and blood 



Worry lowers resistance to disease 



Cheerfulness and determination raise resistance and make 

 more energy available 



Mental disturbance may interfere with action of bowels and 

 other functions 



Fears lower metabolism 



Thoughts and dreams affect conditions of body and actions 

 The organism acts as a whole 



Every happening influences the whole organism 



Changes may show themselves chiefly as physical manifesta- 

 tions or chiefly as mental manifestations 



Cures must be directed toward the causes of disturbance, not 

 toward the manifestations 



There can be no one cure for all kinds of disturbance 



4. Health as a habit 



Habits of eating (see Chapter XIV) 

 Habits of breathing (see Chapter XVI) 

 Habits of elimination (see Chapters XIX, XX) 

 Habits of exercise 

 Work and play 



5. Attitudes as habit 



Meaning of attitude 



Position the mind takes in relation to the environment 

 Acquiring of attitudes 



Related to the emotions 



Fixed in connection with conduct 



Control of feehngs indirectly through striped muscles, espe- 

 cially the larger muscles of the body 



Attitudes as emotion habits 

 Useful attitudes to cultivate 



Caution 



Quick decision 



You cannot have everything 

 Arbitrary choices 



Play the game hard 



Immediate satisfaction versus deferred satisfaction 



Principle versus expediency 



Select your own values, not other people's ; self-confidence 



