Evening Star Newspaper, February 2, 1930, Page 97

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASTHNGT{Q}I;T?.V ., FE?RUARY 2 199 LN Measuring Your Personality Health One Out of Every Ten Persons at Some Time During His Life Has a Personality Breakdown, and the Problem of the Mental Specialist Is to Prevent the Spread of Disease Caused by an Individual’s Inability to Adjust Himself to the-Speedy Pace of the Times. BY DONALD A. LAIRD. (Director, Colgate University Psychological Laboratory) ARTOONISTS like to picture how the mythical Man from Mars would be astonished by some of the modern sights and customs of this planet. The amazement of this mythical visitor, however, would be as nothing compared with the amazement of those who walked the earth only a century ago. In its external forms, its speed, its variety, its stimulation, this is a vastly different world than that our grandparents knew. Some few pessimists yearn for the so-called good old days, but most of us have little fault to find with our civilization, and would dislike being shoved back into the “dark ages” of only fourscore years ago. It is a different world, and most agree it is also a better world than that of our grandparents. This great change is of most importance when we consider personality health. It may affect our bank account and our comforts profoundly, but the more significant effects are likely to be found in its stamp upon human personalities, It is this way— Personality is an index of the difficulties you meet in adjusting yourself to your environment, and the success or failure of this adaptation. The world has changed, but human nature has not. Inborn human nature today is the same as it was 20 centurles go; there are the same basic desires and tendencies, but the ex. ternal world has changed so that many of these are now frustrated or must find an indirect expression. There is still some argument among psy- chologists regarding just what these basic and inborn human tendencies are: but psychologists same as it was 20 centuries ago; there are the these springs of action and conduct which must be given a chance to express themselves, and that if they do not find channels for direct or even indirect expression, there will be distortion, perhaps even disease of the personality. Much human striving, restlessness and un- happiness undoubtedly is founded upon inborn tendencies which have been frustrated. IN the easy-going old days when there was less competition, less hustle, less social stim- ulation than we live in today, it was un- doubtedly easier to live and to express these inborn drives than it is now. In those old-fashioned days personality maladjustment was conceivably a rare occur- rence. Today, it is difficult to discover a per- son who has not some quirk in'his personality, due to minor maladjustment. How enormous this personality waste is, no one can accurately estimate. At the extreme of fairly compiete personality balking we find that approximately ons out of every 10 adults ARE YOUR FAILINGS HERE? Answer these questions to yourself. Every one to which you must answer “yes” indicates an element of personality maladjustment. The average adult has one out of three of these symptoms. If you have more than that, make a determined effort to conquer them, for they show that you are failing to adjust yourself to your surroundings. Do you sometimes experience pressure in or about the head? Are you uneasy when crossing a high bridge? Do you tire easily? Do you bite your fingernails? Do you have difficulty getting used to new places? Are you touchy on certain subjects? Do things sometimes swim or get misty before your eyes? Do you have unpleasant feelings in various parts of the body? Do you get rattled easily? Are you slow to be moved to laughter?, Are you afraid of dogs? Are you afraid of lightning? Do you lose your temper quickly? Are you discouraged easily? Do you “fidget” and toy with your hands when trying to sit still? Do you say things on the spur of the moment, and then regret it? Are you indifferent to the opposite sex? Does your mind wander so you lose track of what you are doing? Do your moods change from happy to sad without good reason?. Do you get tired of your regular work easily? Do you have trouble forgetting unpleasant experiences? Do you have trouble sleeping? Do unpleasant smells upset you?. Are you a “crank” about food? Do you worry over work? Does it sometimes seem that people are reading your thoughts? Are you troubled occasionally by thoughts about death? has a breakdown in personality some time in the course of his life, a breakdown so severe that he has to go to a mental hospital for treatment. These breakdowns are not caused by germs or poisons, but principally by lack of guidance in adjusting inborn human nature to the vicis- situdes and cramping of environment. Most of these severe breakdowns are preventable. SYCHOLOGICAL and medical specialists are alreadp actively at work in centers throughout the United States in guiding and studying the problems of personality adjust- ment in individual children so these severe quirks may be prevented. Still more are engaged in helping the adult redirect his drives so that the lack of guidance in developing adolescence is corrected. So, although personality disorders have been increasing at an unprecedented rate in the last two decades, it is likely thes as a result of these organized efforts and as each in~ dividual gains more insight into his own per- sonality problems, that personality health rather than personality ill-health will again become a human characteristic, . As conditions in the world stand now, how- ever, specialists find that around 20 per cent of workers have personality {fll-health so marked as to need intensive personalized treat- ment; this in addition to the ene out of 10 who sojourn for a while in a hospital for more serious imbalance of personality. And it is generally believed that the situa- tion is more serious in the case of women than with men. ERSONALITY ill-health includes more than merely determining whether ene is popu- lar or unpopular. Its ramifications extend mto practically every feature of human behavior, and the popular person who s widely liked may nevertheless have many unhealthy per- sonality traits. Thus, while symptoms of an imbalanced pes= sonality may not keep one from being popular, they do strike at personal efficiency, peace of mind and ability to “stand the gafi” during period of special strain, A practical idea of the range of signs of personglity ill-health will be obtained from the accompanying list of questions, in which each one answered “yes” indicates one element of personality maladjustment. THE average adult has about one out of every I three of these signs, which are unfavore able for personality health. The thwartings in the world are probably pretty evenly distributed, very few persons getting more than their fair share of them. Why, then, does not every ¥se have the same personality trouble? Why 1s it that some individuals seem to build upon these thwartings, while others are nearly wrecked? It is not heredity. It is in the_ individual'd own individual point of view toward these thwartings. By simple acts of thought they can be made to look like & mountain or a mole« hill, like an obstacle or a steppingstone. Look upon everyday thwartings as molehills and steppingstones and personality health will likely be built. So-called stamina is usually a calm, take-things-as-they-come, make-thes most-of-troubles - attitude, which ean be ac< Those who are crippled or diseased undoubt« edly experience more thwartings than the average person. Many observers have noted the personality kinks of cripples; but this does not hold for all cripples, for some have a point of view, an acquired attitude, which bullds per~ sonality health, . Tmuecook,vhodhdrooenayum " ville, Ky. He was a hopeless cripple from early childhood; he did not have a chance, but be made it. What he accomplished from his wheel chair is an epic picturing the stamina of & point of view. We read of him: “Though deprived of the use of his legs, he was active in business, enjoyed recreation and traveled widely. Though his hands were stunted in size and power, he made miniature ecoples of famous paintings. In a more tical field, he invented the metallic packing f marine engines, which was of much use during the war, and with other inventions he arranged %o get a full lifting force of every pound of steam. “He was a patron of young men and among those he encouraged and helped was one who is now president of a New York bank. He was deeply interested in the economic side of publie aflairs and his place in the manufacturing world was high, both in his own community and elsewhere. He was doing and striving his Continued on Sizieenth Page z,