Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, February 14, 1916, Page 14

ALCOHOL AND MENTAL DISEASE By C. Floyd Haviland, M. D., Superintendent of Connecticut Hospital for Insane, Middletown, Conn. — Member of Hygiene. Board of ‘Directors of Connecticut Society for Mental —————— It! was formerly thought that men- tal disease occurred spontaneously in a mysterious manner through un- known, or at least uncontrollable causes. Often occurring unexcepted- ly, Jt was thought little could be done to ‘avert such a calamity. We now kngw, however, that mental disease is ag-truly an effect following a definite callse as is the case with physical dis- ease, upon which'in fact it may be de- pefidant. 'While ‘1t :is not always pos- sible to trace the causal train of events to/their beginning, the cause of mental dizease can be established in a large proportion of cases, and it has been found by the National Committee for Mental Hygiene that approXimately one-half of all the patients suffering fram mental disease in- this country have developed their disorder because of."theoretically preventable cause. Of all preventable causes of mental i xceed alcohol in disas- Aany unfounded and exaggerated statements have been mpde regarding the effect of elcohol 1pgn the human mind and body. both a3.regards specific evil effects and the lack of disastrous results. Such state- ments have resulted from a lack of definite knowledge, or incomplete knowledge, which has now been large- ly overcome by careful study and e: perimental work during recent years. The action of alcohol upon the nervous system especially has been the sub- ject of much careful investigation, and we are now in a position to as- sert certain definite facts resarding it. such facts are of a sufficiently ap- palling character as to render exag- geration unnecessary. Staying the Tide It is by the refiteration of proven facts that the tide ot alcoholic intem- perance can best be stayed. An intel- lectual appeal is necessary to make a lasting impression upon an alcoholic individual. It is true alcoholics react readily to emotional appeals, as the emotions are overactive in such indi- viduals, and frequently a partially in- toxicated person will sign the pledge under emotional stress. The emotions of such a person are, however, but transitory. and hence, as mental im- pressions made through purely emo- THE KIES T\Do'llar Day Specials ; On all cash purchases to the amount of ONE DOL- . LAR and upwards we will make a discount of TEN PER CENT. This applies to all of our regular lines of E 0€s. We have marked all of the Ladies’ High-grade Shoes * that were left unsold from our CLEAN UP SALE AT ' 95¢ AND $1.45. ; Special lot of Ladies’ Pumps and Sandals, sizes 21/, ~and 3, ONLY AT 50c PER PAIR. Special lot of Men’s High-grade Shoes in gun metal, " Russia calf lace at $1.95. Extra lot, sizes 4 to 6 only, at $1.45. ©3 PAIRS 25c. NO SALE SHOES EXCHANGED DOLLAR “COME ». _ Ladies’ Shoes Trees for Pumps or Evening Slippers, COMPANY DAY DOWN tlonal appeals rapidly fade, frequent lapses occur among the emotionally reformed. Alcoholic victims must be convinced of the medical facts con- cerning .alcohol., They must realize in their innermost ‘consciousness that to- tal abstinence for life is the only means of safety for them, and accom- panying the definite knowledge that alcohol is a dangerous poison, there must be a sincere desire to escape the consequence {ts use entails. Hence the necessity of making such conse- quences a matter of common knowl- edge. Every day observation shows us that alcohol has a powerful influence on the mind, as is seen in ordinary drunk- enness. It is because of legal and not medical objections that we fail to re- gard oramnary drunkenness as a defin- ite though transitory mental disorder. There is a widespread belief that al- cohol in small amounts stimulates and renders easier the performance of work, especially the performance of difficult tasks. A certain feeling of exhilaration is produced, which in turn produces an impression upon the mind that work is being done faster and better, but such impression is false as regards_ both physical and mental work. By careful experiments, in the psychological laboratory, it has been proven that instead of alcohol stim- { ulating the mind, it has from the be- ginning paralyzing action upon mental function, which persists for consider- able periods even after the use of only small amounts. Although a person may talk more, there is a lack of the normal association of ideas, the abil- ity to memorize is impaired, the power of attention is lessened, and there is diminished ability to concentrate the mind. As a resuit, working capacity is ened, ‘an effect so strikinly recog- zed by some of the warring nations of Europe in attempting to enforce | pronibition during the great test of strength and endurarce in which they are now engaged. That alcohol and efficiency are in- compatible has also been recognized Dy many great corporations, especial- Iy the railroads. The facts established by laboratory tests have been recog- nized in the practical world, where ef- ficiency demands the abandonment of alcohol. Doesn’t Alter Duty of Society. It is sometimes found that a persor who habitually drinks too much, de- spite the resulting injury to health and happiness, is fundamentally abnor- mal, and it is generally recognized that in many cases excessive drink- ing is closely related to an inherent nervous instability, or to the abnor- mal craving of an ill-balanced mind. That, however, does not alter the si uation so far as the duty of so y is | concerned, except to render it more imperative. So long as society al- lows such poorly tted individuals opportunity for alcoholic indul- =0 long will many of them not orly become inebriates, but will de- velop alcoholic insan: when the avoidance of alcohol would have me: the avoidance of mental shipwreck )n the other hand, it is equally true that chronic alcoholics are mot al- ways to be considered as originally ab- normal, unstable or even lacking in character. Not even half of the cases of alcoholic insanity in our state hos- every gence, s ever manifested peculiarities of position prior to the development of of their alcbholism. The majo: are average citizen mentality and_well adapted 11y, except for their excessive drink Yet even in such seemingly no: persons there often exists impor! underlying causes of the intemper- itself. Such causes are often found to be long-standing disharmon- ies in the emotional life, and excessive drinking is often a poor attempt to pe mental conflicts or difficult sit- ions. Thus mental hygiene has a field of usefulness in the cure of al- coholism. Alcoholic Insanity. Alcoholic insanity usually appears after long continued excesses, but an important fact to remember is that it is not only tha confirmed drinker who is in danger of developing this type of mental disease, but also the individual who rarely or who never becomes in- cated, but who drinks daily in a alled moderate manner, which ty nt | habit continued over long periods may result no less directly in a mental down. There is also the indi- who boasts of the amount of he is able to drink without A FEW OF THE ARTICLES THAT YOU CAN GET FOR ONE DOLLAR HERE No. 8 Copper Tea Kettles—DOLLAR DAY Regular Price $1.50 Aluminum Tea and Coffee Pots—DOLLAR DAY Regular Price $1.50 and $2.00 Doll Carriages—DOLLAR DAY ___ Regular Price $2.00 Carbet Sweepers—DOLLAR DAY Regular Price $2.50 st et $1:00 Medicine Cabinets in white enamel or oak finish—DOLLAR DAY __$1.00 Regular Price $2.00 Colonial Style Mirrors in French plate—DOLLAR DAY _ Regular Price $1.75 Pictures in all styles and sizes—DOLLAR DAY ______________$1.00 :A-ny'purchase of $ one dollar. Regular Price $1.50 to $2.00 SPECIAL 10.00 on DOLLAR DAY you will get a discount of SCHWARTZ BROS. “The Big Store with the Little Prices’ __.9-11-13 WATER STREET —each discounted BOYS’ ...$1.00 “DOLLAR DAY” introduces you to the reliable merchandise STORE,” and we hope will result in mutual benefits. Other s MEN’S OVERCOATS FOR THIS DAY regular $13.75, $15.00, $16.50 and $18.00. ......... THE F. A. WELLS (0. W YBUT DS SR8 on Dollar At THE F. A. WELLS CO. $1.00 NEGLIGEE SHIRT with choice of 235c SUSPENDER, GARTER or ARM BAND. .. .$1.00 Three 50c NEEKTIES . c0v oo o v e s oo gneis 2S5O0 Nine pairs THE F. A. WELLS CO.’ SPECIAL Nine ROYAL COLLARS (17 styles) $1.50:NEGLIGEE SHIRES ... ... .. 0. . . ... . $L00 $1.00 UMBRELLA with three pairs HOSE. ... .$1.00 Nine PEARL BACK GOLD-PLATED TOP COL- EAR BEEEEONS .t sc $5.00 PANTS for $4.00—a discount of........$1.00 $4.00 PANTS for $3.00—a discount of........$1.00 BOYS’ KNICKERBOCKER SUIT, $4.00 to $6.50 KNICKERBOCKER SUIT, $8.50 and $10.00—each discounted 2 times..........$1.00 $15.00 MEN’S SUITS—each discounted 2 times.$1.00 times $20.00 MEN’S SUITS—each discounted 3 times.$1.00 $22.00 MEN’'S SUITS—each discounted 315 times $25.00 MEN’S SUITS—each discounted 4 times.$1.00 $1.00, $1.50, $2.00, $2.50 WHITE and FANCY with 1 pair “WELLS CO’S” SPECIAL HOSE: . i it~ i #1600 $1.00 UNDERWEAR—1 with 1 pair “WELLS CO.’S” SPECIAL HOSE $1.00 NIGHT SHIRTS and “WELLS CO.'S” NESTS 1. 50c UNDERWEAR—:2 HOSE MEN’S SUITS, $5.75 to $9.75, small sizes, re- duced many times..... 50000 “GOOD CLOTHES STORE” $18.00 MEN’S SUITS—each discounted 2y featured by this “GOOD CLOTHES pecials will be offered on “DOLLAR DAY.” For $10.00 $1.00 $1.00 ..$1.00 ..$1.00 .$1.00 showing the effects, thus demonstra ing, to his own satisfaction at least, the harmlessness of the habit. Such a person fails to realize that just as the morphine habitue establishes a tolerance for his particular poison, so the constant drinker establishes a tol- erance for his alcoholic poison. Just s the morphine habitue can take, many times the amount of morphine fatal to a normal person, so the al- cohollc can drink, without becoming intoxicated, many times the amount of alcohol necessary to intoxicate an athlete in training. He boasts unwit- tingly of the poisoning to which his system has been subjected. Just as the word “insanity” has now lost its meaning, in view of the num- erous forms of mental disease the term represents, so the. dfagnosis of alcoholic insanity means little to the alienist. There are various forms of mental disease directly dependent up- on aleohol, some of which offer good prospects for recovery, and some of which offer no chance of recovery. The most common mental dependent upon alcohol is delimium tremens, and as many cases recover in a few days upon the withdrawal of al- cohol, such persons are rarely sent to state’ hospitals, and hence few such ses_are included in hospital statis- tils. When, however, the alcoholic is continued, and second and third at- tacks of delirium tremens occur, per- manent insanity may result. In another form of alcoholic insan- ity delusions of persecution and hal- lucinations, usually of hearing, are prominent features, while also prom- inent {s the emotional reaction of fear and apprehension. Such patients imagine they are vilely slandered, their lives are threatened, and some- times in their agitated terror they at- tempt suicide or make dangerous as- saults upon those about them, identi- fving their assoclates as enemies. Neuritis an Accompanying Feature. In a third variety of alcohilic insan- ity, neuritis is an accompanying fea- ture, with paralysis of the limbs. ‘There is great mental confusion and almost complete loss of memory. A patient in a hospital many months will assert that he was admitted but an hour or two before. Such patients fill in enormous memory gaps by so- called fabrications, but they lack any appreciation of the true character of their impossible and absurd stories. While ocassionally some improvement may occur, permanent mental deteri- oration or dementia usually results. A partially dangerous type of al- coholic insanity 1s seen in those in- dividuals who develop delusional sys- tems, in which ideas of jealousy are most prominent. Many families have been disrupted because of the un- founded suspicions formed in the minds of unrecognized insane alco- holics, but the great danger lies in the fact that these persons are apt to make miurderous assaults upon an in- nocent wife or husband. In addition to the more frank forms of mental disease dependent upon al- cohol, there also occurs a peculiar mental enfeeblement, which while ser- fous often fails to bring the sufferer into conflict with his environment, at least to such an extent as to cause commitment to a hospital for the in- sane. Hence these constitute another group of insane alcoholics, who are but poorly represented in hospital statis- tics. Nevertheless, they show a mark- ed mental change. They become care- less in personal habits, are unreliable, irritable and often abusive. Losing sense of responsibility, they beco indifferent and idle, parasitic burdens upon their famllies or upon the com- munity. In addition to all the cases of men- tal disease directly dependent upon alcohol, it should not be forgotton that alcohol is often a contributory factor in the production of mentl disease when ather factors are more promin- ent. No authorities give less, and many give more than five per cent as being the proportion of epileptic cases in which aloohol is a causative factor. Although less directly responsible for the fatal disease of paresis than was formerly thought, alcohol is often a contributory factor in dementia prae- ©ox, that form of mental disease, from which suffer the great bulk of chronic insane in our hospitals. A Large Percentage. While the presentation of statistic rarely excites interest, it should be stated that from ten to twenty cent of all insane patients admitted to per* the hospitals of this country are suf- fering from some form of alcoholic mental disease. The sexes, however, are unevenly di- vided, and while women with alcohol- ic insanity constitute but from five to ten per cent of the total number of insane patlents admitted, the men so0 suffering constitute from twenty to thirty per cent, satistics, of course, varying with the character and habits of different populations. In the neigh- boring state of Massachusetts there were recelved last year in the various state hospitals 2,988 patients suffering from a first attack of insanity, of which 465 or 15.5 per cent were insane from some of the various forms of al- <oholic insanity. In New York state there were admitted last year to the various state hospitals approximately 6,000 new cases, of which number 925 or 153 per cent were suffering from alcoholic Insanity. The usual dispro- portion between the sexes was ob- served, the women constituting but per cent of the total number of pa. tients admitted, while the men con- stituted 22.2 per cent of the total num- ber admitted. Such figures represent only cases of distinct alcoholic insan- ity, but in 34.6 per cent of male admis- sions and in 11.1 per cent of female ad- missions, alcohol appeared either as a habit disorder or as a_ contributory etiological factor. 3 System Adopted In 1898. ‘The present system of classification of mental diseases was adopted by the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane in 1898, prior to which time the various types of alcoholic insanity were not recognized as distinct entities, except in isolated instances, and hence sta- tistics are unavallable. Considering however, the period from 1898 to 1914, it is found that 6,732 patients were admitted, of whom 932 or 13.8 per cent were sufferers from some form of men- tal disease directly dependent upon al- cohol. Our statistics show the usual disproportion Between the sexes. While but 138 or 4.43 per cent of the 8,107 women admitted during the period mentioned were insane from alcohol, 793 men out of the 3,625 male patients admitted so suffered, they constituting 21.8 per cent of all male ssions. ‘'Of the 932 cases of alcoholic insan- ity admitted to our hospital during the sixteen years under consideration, but 297 or 319 per cent recovered, 625 or 68.1 per cent failed of recovery, of whom 140 died as insane patients. The most essential part of the treat- ment of alcoholism in any of its forms is prevention. As has been well said, “one drunkard prevented many fractionally saved.” Hence the necessity of emphasizing to the young before the formation of alcoholic habits the fact that all the varied and disastrous effects of alcohol may fol- low even moderate drinking just as directly as infectious disease may fol- low exposure to infection. Not all persons exposed to smallpox contract the disease, but that does not induce any one to run the risk of needless exposure. Every drinker is exposed to the danger of possible alcoholism. The beginning drinker is a potential ineb- riate and a potential sufferer from some one of the varied forms of al- coholic insanity. Fl orida Thml-fiul Elee- tric ‘Trains Daily. m‘;.'-'"'EI':: it ol “DINING CAR SERVICE Atflantic Coast Line 'RailroadoftheSouth For iliustrated literatare and all information 4% 3 H. is worth || Alexander’s Storehouse. Hamadan seems to be certainly the Ekbatana, the summer residence of the ancient Persian kings, where Alexan- der the Great stored his enormous loot from Persia estimated at over <£41,- 000,000. But there is topographical difficulty about identifying it with the earlier and still more interesting Ek- batana described by Herodotus—the city where the first Median king, Dei- oces, realized the ideal of royal isola- tion by shutting himself up in a pal- ace on top of a hill, surrounded by seven fortifled circles of different col- ors descending the slopes in order, and allowing the inhabitants of these to communicate with him only by writ- ing. Either this story is a myth or the Ekbatana of Herodotus is to be found hill between Hamadan and Tab- London Chronicle. Difference in Men. “I would be ashamed if I did not learn something in 14 months,” says ‘President Wilson. Colonel Roosevelt would be ashamed if he had to wait 14 months before knowing it all. — Kansas City Journal. Where Berge Belongs. Lieutenant Berge, who said that he brought the Appam to the United States “because he was sure of decent treatment here,” belongs in the diplo- matic service.—New York Mail. England’s Cat Epidemie. A mysterious disease has broken out among the cats at Witham, .Essex County England, and has already caused over 100 deaths this month. When first detected it was thought the cats were being poisoned, but the deaths bf cats were reported all over the town simultaneously and it has now been established that some high- ly contagious disease is the cause. In gne small district thirty cats died in a da; So great has been the loss of cats that those owners who have so far preserved their pets at Witham are now taking measures to isolate them at home from other cats. A curious feature of the disease is that all, the known cases have proved fatal, there having been no recoveries when once the cats have been affécted. —_— A Great Discoverer. Colonel House has “found that Ger- many is our friend.” As a discoverer- er Colonel House seems to be on about the same plane as old Doc Cook.—Philadelphia Inquirer. Japanese Love. Of course, the Japanese love the Americans. For instance, look what Mr. LaFollette has done for Japan's merchant marine—Charleston News and Courier. $1.25 Kid Gloves at. .. Dollar Day Specials LgEpe. MARSHALL'’S $1.50 and $1.25 House Dresses at. .. $1.50 and $1.25 Corsets at. . $1.25 White Lingerie and Voile Waist at. . . $1.25 Men’s and Women’s Umbrellas at. . . $1.25 Silk and Wool Dress Goods at. . ..$1.00 $1.25 and $1.39 Black Mercerize Petticoats at. $1.25 and $1.50 Children’s Colored Dresses at. Extra Special—75¢ White Waists, 2 for....... Extra Special—75c Black Petticoats, 2 for. .... Extra Special—75c Corsets, 15c Children’s Black Cotton Ribbed Hose, 10 pairs BTG 00015 5 0TIk e S st o et s SO Women’s Skirts, made to measures, orders taken on Dollar Day only, at..................$1.00 Children’s Spring Coats, regular prices $4.50 and $5.50, now reduced to $3.00. On DollarDay we will reduce them again to . . Every article in our store on Dollar Day will be of- fered at less than regular prices. ' AND DON'T FORGET THE PONY VOTES will be given with every purchase Also Rogers Silverware Coupons MARSHALL'’S, 101 Main Street, Norwich, Conn. .$1.00 .$1.00 -$1.00 .$1.00 a yard -$1.00 .$1.00 -$1.00 -$1.00 ....$1.00 2 for. . $1.00 less