306 Microbes and You 



feeling sorry for themselves begin to imagine that they have all 

 kinds of illnesses. The feeling reaches such proportions that they 

 may exhibit definite signs of organic disturbances. Yet it is their 

 mental state, not organic dysfunction, which accounts for their 

 misery. Psychosomatic medicine is an attempt to treat such con- 

 ditions, and the success of some of these treatments probably 

 justifies the existence of such a theory. Just exactly how mental 

 state can affect your health is not clearly understood, but if being 

 optimistic, happy, and care-free helps to maintain your health, it 

 seems worth a try. 



LIVING CONDITIONS 



Crowding is not to be encouraged if people are to live happily 

 and healthfully. Certain diseases, once gaining a foothold in 

 crowded areas, can spread quickly and cause a disproportionate 

 number of cases of disease when individuals are living in close 

 contact with one another. But again, the exact effect of crowding 

 cannot be pinpointed without considering the many other forces 

 operating at the same time. Persons who are well fed, for ex- 

 ample, would have a better opportunity of resisting disease than a 

 malnourished group of individuals crowded together in close quar- 

 ters. The widespread epidemics so prevalent among refugees 

 herded together in compounds during war time are accentuated 

 by the malnutrition and unsanitary conditions so apt to be present 

 at the same time. 



FATIGUE 



A run-down person is more susceptible to disease than an in- 

 dividual who has had plent\^ of rest. When the tissues of the bodv 

 are over-worked without adequate periods of rest to allow them to 

 repair and rebuild themselves, it is logical to assume that the 

 fighting power of such tissues will be less than that of well-rested 

 tissues. Growing children who are active so much of the time 

 need plenty of rest. The afternoon nap prescribed for young 

 children is not only a device for getting the child out from under 

 foot of the mother who also needs rest, but it serves to break up 

 the periods of intense activity while the bodv recuperates. It is 



