MORAL CONFLICT CAUSES ILLNESS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 66, 10 December 1938, Page 17

MORAL CONFLICT CAUSES ILLNESS

Dr. Loring Swaim, who Is the director of a famous clinic in Massachusetts, has under observation 270 cases of arthritis which were cured when they became free from fear, worry and resentment, says an English exchange. He has come to the conclusion after some years that no less than 60 per cent, of his cases are caused by moral conflict. There is ample evidence, too, of many people who have suffered from chronic diseases and who cured through moral and spiritual readjustment, so that they are now free to pull their weight in the community. Significant as these facts are, however, the preservation of a high level of health is of far greater importance to a nation than the cure of certain cases.

We need an entirely new approach to the prevention of disease. The scientific method is to remove the ultimate cause. Malnutrition, falling birthrate, drug-addiction, and so on, are national symptoms of the root cause—moral failure!

A nation’s health depends on the discipline and unselfishness of all its citiens. Moral, spiritual and physical health are inseparable. If such a programme were carried out in our great industrial towns, for instance, it would revolutionize such questions as housing, factory conditions, hygiene and nutrition. . It would bring a new moral tone which would strike at the roots of disease and lift the whole level of health throughout the community. At the same time, the human personality can be freed from fear and gain that emotional release so fundamental to health. A man so changed is fitted to play his part in rebuilding the health of his nation.