tion of about 50% of the insane patients now
under treatment. Chief among these known causes is a communicable germ
disease called syphilis, to which is due the disease called paresis, or
"softening of the brain." About 25% of patients admitted to hospitals
for the insane are there from the effects of habitual use of alcohol,
even in "moderate" quantities. Other cases of insanity result from
diseases of the heart, arteries, and kidneys, and still others have been
traced to the poisons of tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria, and other
communicable diseases. Prevention of insanity caused by these diseases
depends upon prevention or complete cure of the diseases themselves.

Still other causes of insanity are known. Hereditary nervous weakness
may predispose to insanity, and for such persons, those whose nervous
resistance is naturally not very great, the stress of living may prove
too much. Mental breakdowns are rarely caused by overwork unless
accompanied by worry or bad hygienic conditions, but they result not
infrequently from bad mental habits.

"The average person, little realizes the danger of brooding
over slights, injuries, disappointments, or misfortunes, or
of an unnatural attitude towards his fellowmen, shown by
unusual sensitiveness or marked suspicion. Yet all these
unwholesome and painful trains of thought, may if persisted
in and unrelieved by healthy interests and activities, tend
towards insanity. Wholesome work relieved by periods of
rest and simple pleasures and an interest in the affairs of
others, are important preventives of unwholesome ways of
thinking. We should train ourselves not to brood, but to
honestly face personal difficulties."--(Why Should Anyone
Go Insane?, by Folks and Ellwood.)

Prevention of insanity consequently depends chiefly upon avoiding
alcohol and communicable diseases, especially syphilis; upon good
hygiene, self-control, and avoidance of bad mental habits; and upon
adopting a program of living and working that will not overtax one's
nervous strength. Sleeplessness, unusual nervous fatigue following
slight exertion, and diminished power to control the emotions, are among
the danger signals. And when a person becomes unusually depressed or
morose, excited or irritable, suspicious, unreasonable, or "queer," it
is probable that expert medical advice should be obtained as quickly as
possible.

EXERCISES