76. Miss K. N. consults me for a peculiar trouble about her sleep. She is extremely sensitive to noise. She lives with her sister who keeps a very small apartment where one little room is rented to a gentleman. Her nervousness consists of uncontrollable reflections, as soon as evening begins, about the lodger’s return home. If he returns and goes to sleep early, she herself is soon quiet and sleeps well through the night. But if he is away, she cannot sleep. She may fall into slumber but sleeps so lightly that she is awake at the least noise until she hears the lodger return at last to his room. Then a terrible feeling of dread comes over her and her heart begins to beat fast. Other noises also seem to disturb her. The house in which she lives is near a railroad track. But the trains do not disturb her, nor the electric cars. But voices in the next room, and the sound of steps on the floor above, keep her awake. One would suppose that she wishes the lodger would come to her and is afraid of that. But she insists that the gentleman is indifferent to her, she would not kiss him if he gave her millions in money for it. She is an unlucky person. She will undoubtedly have to give up her sister’s lodging. She has already had a similar experience. She was the mother’s favorite, petted and fondled in every way. Her mother had a stroke of paralysis and lost consciousness. After she came to herself, she clung to the delusion that her favorite child had turned untrue to her and began terribly to torture the poor child.[17] She reproached her with occurrences wholly imaginary, scolded her as being cold, selfish and indifferent. The girl could do nothing and finally had to leave the house and go to live with strangers. She returned home only after the death of the mother. Meanwhile the father had also passed away. The two girls remained alone in the world and now only had each other. But things were at sixes and sevens between them and they seldom had a quiet hour between themselves. At last the sister became actually abusive. She begged her sister “with uplifted hands” to dismiss the lodger. She was willing to cover the room rent out of her own pocket. She could not stand it any longer. She could not sleep nights and was going physically and mentally to pieces. But the sister became wild and started to scold her, using the same terrible terms which she had heard her mother hurl at her. They rushed at each other’s hair. She was so enraged she could have strangled her sister at the time. After that scene she came again to me in despair. I advised her to move out. She cannot have everything her way and she must have quiet. But what was her answer. “That I cannot do. I cannot.” “Why not? Does not your sister let you?” “Oh no, it isn’t that ... only yesterday sister said to me: ‘Move out. I will cherish the day when I will get rid of you.’” “And you stand for that?” “I cannot move out because....”