Produced by Martin Agren, Keith Edkins and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team. EPILEPSY, HYSTERIA, AND NEURASTHENIA THEIR CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, & TREATMENT BY ISAAC G. BRIGGS A.R.S.I. METHUEN & CO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON _First Published in 1921_ * * * * * TO ALBERT E. WOODRUFF OF STOKE PRIOR NR. BROMSGROVE MY OLD SCHOOLMASTER * * * * * CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE PREFACE ix I. MAJOR AND MINOR EPILEPSY 1 II. RARER TYPES OF EPILEPSY 7 III. GENERAL REMARKS 15 IV. CAUSES OF EPILEPSY 20 V. PREVENTION OF ATTACKS 25 VI. FIRST-AID TO VICTIMS 28 VII. NEURASTHENIA 30 VIII. HYSTERIA 39 IX. ADVICE TO NEUROPATHS 46 X. FIRST STEPS TOWARD HEALTH 53 XI. DIGESTION 56 XII. INDIGESTION 60 XIII. DIETING 63 XIV. CONSTIPATION 67 XV. GENERAL HYGIENE 71 XVI. SLEEPLESSNESS 76 XVII. THE EFFECTS OF IMAGINATION 79 XVIII. SUGGESTION TREATMENT 82 XIX. MEDICINES 86 XX. PATENT MEDICINES 90 XXI. TRAINING THE NERVOUS CHILD 98 XXII. DANGERS AT AND AFTER PUBERTY 109 XXIII. WORK AND PLAY 115 XXIV. HEREDITY 118 XXV. CHARACTER 123 XXVI. MARRIAGE 131 XXVII. SUMMARY 140 BIBLIOGRAPHY 142 INDEX 145 * * * * * PREFACE I hope this book will meet a real need, for when one considers how prevalent epilepsy, hysteria and neurasthenia are, among all ranks and ages of both sexes, it seems remarkable some such popular book was not written long ago. I add nothing to our knowledge of these ills, my object being to put what we know into simple words, and to insist on the necessity for personal discipline being allied to expert aid. The book aims at helping, not ousting, the doctor, who may find it of use in getting his patient to see--and to act on--the obvious. "Nervous Disease", as here used, includes only the three diseases treated of; "Neuropath"--victims of them.