Outwitting Our Nerves: A Primer of PsychotherapyJackson, Josephine A. (Josephine Agnes)
Science
Outwitting Our Nerves: A Primer of Psychotherapy
Jackson, Josephine A. (Josephine Agnes)
Nervous system -- Diseases; Psychoanalysis; Therapeutics, Suggestive
=Avoid the Rest-Cure.= It is a healthful sign that the rest-cure is
fast going out of style. Wherever it has helped a nervous patient, the
real curative agent has been the personality of the doctor and the
patient's faith in him. The whole theory was based on ignorance of the
cause of nerves. People suffering from "nervous exhaustion" are likely
to be just as "tired" after a month in bed as they were before. Why
not? Physical fatigue is quickly remedied, and what can rest do after
that? What possible effect can rest have on the fatigue of a
discouraged instinct? Since the best releaser of energy is enthusiasm,
don't try to get that by lying around in bed or playing checkers at a
health resort.
SUMMARY
If you are chronically and perpetually fatigued, or if you tire more
easily than the other people you know, consult a competent physician
and let him look you over. If he tells you that you have neither
tuberculosis, heart trouble, Bright's disease, nor any other
demonstrable disease, that you are physically fit and "merely
nervous," give yourself a good shake and commit the following
paragraphs to memory.
A CATECHISM FOR THE WEARY ONE
WHAT?
Q. What is fatigue?
A. It is a chemical condition resulting from effort that is very
recent.
Q. What else creates fatigue?
A. Worry, fear, resentment, discontent, and other depressing
emotions.
Q. What magnifies fatigue?
A. Attention to the feeling.
Q. What makes us weary long after the cause is removed?
A. Habit.
WHY?
Q. Why do many people believe themselves over-worked?
A. Because of the power of suggestion.
Q. Why do they take the suggestion?
A. Because it serves their need and expresses their inner feelings.
Q. Why are they willing to choose such an uncomfortable mode of
expression?
A. Because they don't know what they are doing, and the
subconscious is very insistent.
WHO?
Q. Who gets up tired every morning?
A. The neurotic.
Q. Who fancies his brain so exhausted that a little concentration
is impossible?
A. The neurotic.
Q. Who still believes himself exhausted as the result of work that
is now ancient history?
A. The neurotic.
Q. Who lays all his woes to overwork?
A. The neurotic.
Q. Who complains of fatigue before he has well begun?
A. The neurotic.
Q. Who may drop his fatigue as soon as he "gets the idea?"
A. The neurotic.
HOW?
Q. How can he get the idea?
A. By understanding himself.
Q. How may he express his inner feelings?
A. By choosing a better way.
Q. How can he forget his fatigue?
A. By ignoring it.
Q. How can he ignore it?
A. By finding a good stiff job.
If he wants advice in a nutshell, here it is: Get understanding!
Get courage! Get busy!
CHAPTER X
_In which the ban is lifted_
DIETARY TABOOS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account