satisfy the mind along with the
body.

[Sidenote: Hypochondriacs]

There is in fact a danger to which some people are especially
subject--the danger of becoming hypochondriacs from paying too much
attention to physical hygiene. Such a person becomes fearful lest he is
not doing exactly the right thing. He looks suspiciously at every
article of food and fears that it will disagree. He fears that he has
strained his heart; he worries over the loss of an hour's sleep; he
chafes because his employer has not given him a vacation at the right
time or of the right length. The hypochondriac thus neutralizes
practically all the benefit of other hygienic measures by disregarding
this special measure of keeping serene. It might, in many cases, be
better to disregard some rules of hygiene than to worry over them.

[Sidenote: "Mind-cure"]

On this theory the devotees of mind-cure cults have derided every
hygienic measure but one--their "mind-cure." They sometimes succeed in
the "real cure of imaginary ailments," and the "imaginary cure of real
ailments." In the latter case, the mental contentment lasts only until
the real ailment becomes too aggressive to be ignored. But it is a great
mistake to stake everything on the simple resource of mental
equanimity. In some cases it is criminal, as for instance to refuse
surgery for cancer, or outdoor living for tuberculosis.

In its proper place, "mind-cure" is an essential part of individual
hygiene. In order to get the benefit of the other rules, there must be
no worrying or watching of symptoms. After the regimen of exercise,
baths, diet, etc., has been selected, it must be followed as a matter of
course, with confidence that it will help, and with patience as to the
rate of improvement which will follow.

[Sidenote: Worry]

It would seem that incessant, even if mild, worry is more exhausting
than occasional fits of intense anger or fright or overexcitement, just
as we waste more water from a spigot left slightly open all the time
than from one which is alternately closed and wide open. Worry, if
unceasing, will often drain away the largest store of nervous energy.
Worry seems, as it were, to short-circuit nerve currents in the brain,
which normally form a long circuit through the body. One man, with this
simile before him, has found he can stop worrying almost at will, avoid
the supposed continuous short circuit and save up his nervous energy
until it is needed.

[Sidenote: R