Nervous Breakdowns and How to Avoid ThemMusgrove, Charles David
Science
Nervous Breakdowns and How to Avoid Them
Musgrove, Charles David
Mental health
Exercise of all sorts is an admirable thing, but like many other good
things in this world it has to be used with discretion. For alongside
it there is the companion virtue rest, and this aspect of a holiday has
always to be kept well to the fore, especially in the case of those who
are feeling jaded or depressed, restless, nervous or irritable, or
present any sign of incipient neurasthenia or breakdown.
[Sidenote: The restful holiday.]
For people of this type a restful holiday is essential above all
things. But this does not mean that they are to go to some quiet
spot with no company except their own thoughts. It needs a peculiar
temperament, such as few of us possess, to spend a fortnight lying
under a hedge or on the sands in some secluded place, with hardly a
soul to speak to. It is all very well in theory, but in practice it
usually amounts to the very opposite. The body may be rested, but the
mind is apt to be kept on the go. Black care rides behind the horseman,
and a man’s worries too often accompany him and refuse to be driven
away, unless he has some amusement or interest to divert his thoughts.
If people happen to be ardent lovers of Nature, they may find
diversion in some place noted for its scenery. Unfortunately, however,
the neurasthenic is easily bored, and no matter how beautiful his
surroundings may be, he should take care to furnish himself beforehand
with plenty of literature suited to his needs. The local library is
often interesting when regarded from the point of view of the antique,
but it is often hopeless as a means of securing anything worth reading.
In many cases people who run down need something of a lighter, we
might say a more frivolous nature. Their taste for scenery, like many
of their other faculties, is tired out for the time being. Taken all
round, the best place for the neurasthenic is a lively seaside resort,
where he can sit about and amuse himself with watching the doings of
the people around him. Everything in this world has a place, and a
troop of nigger minstrels or a Punch and Judy show may afford rest and
relaxation to a wearied mind when mountain scenery has failed to do so.
In either case one thing is essential. The scenery or the amusements
must be obtained with a minimum amount of fatigue. On this account it
is necessary to select a place mild enough to permit of sitting out of
doors. That is why in the great majority of cases the neurasthenic gets
on much better in a warm, if relaxing, climate.
[Sidenote: Tired eyes.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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