The Chronicle LEVIN. SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1917. NERVOUS DISEASES AND MENTAL HOSPITALS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 20 January 1917, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1917. NERVOUS DISEASES AND MENTAL HOSPITALS.

in rccont years there has been so great an increase in tJio number of cases of nervous disorders that public attention t-o-dny is focused more strongly upon such occurrences than was the rule aforetime. "Wo noticed in Friday's Evening Post the following paragraph: "A point of interest is made by a. correspondent, who t-uggeste that there is great need for a hospital for the treatment of nervous cases In Wellington—that 'there a.ro many cases of nervous breakdown that might- -successfully be treated at a. house cf this kind that are not sufficiently advanced f-c-r a mental hospital, and that cannot be admitted to a general hospital.' Careful enquiries made by ia Post reft pvrfe'r do not bear out our correspondent's suggestion. In the first place, it is stated that there are. not sufficient of such cases to warrant the establishment and upkeep of .sncli an institution, a.nd even if the numbers were here, there are not the nerve experts available to look after them. The expert view-is on these lines: — The law dealing with mental hospitals lavs it down that any person who feels that treatment would bo beneficial can enter a mental hospital as a voluntary patient, and in more than one mental hospital - (notably Seacliff) voluntary patients of the exact class mentioned by out correspondent have frequently taken advantage of the provision. and in mpst cases derived considerable benefit. Further, experts ' contend that a mental hospital is j really the best place for a neivesubject." The foregoing paragraph calls for serious consideration. The writer of it, no doubt, merely gives "expert opin- | ion" as it was conveyed to him; but, ! we would ask, what "is" expert opin- | ion? Two and a half years have elapsed -since the present editor of the

Chronicle was placed in Porirua Mental Hospital, a sane man, and there driven mad for a space of four days by h.is surroundings and other causes. Had he never been sent there he. would have recovered from his one or two foolish hall'ucinations, due to (nerve exhaustion, without plumbing the depths of true madness, and retaining all thrc.ugh his mental hospital experieaioos the mind of a sane man, and a clear menwry of all that he went tlirough ; especially the compelling influence. of an exterior force that makes n certain type of mam act in a manner that is abnormal. We write in this vein from no other cause that a full and compelling sense of our duty to our fellow man; in recognition of the ne?d f(;T someone toi combat the "■incitement to voluntary immurement" that- is contained in the Evening Ptst paragraph quoted herein. To us it gives neither pleasure nor pain when iwe touch upon this subject; we cn,n refer t3.it dispassionately and entirely without shrinking of spirit or feeling of false flume ; and we give here out long-considered, unvarying opinion on the subject of mental hospitals in the belief that the publicity may save great suffering to here and there a 0110. A "Monta.! Hospital" is the last place, in the world to "which any sufferer from nrrvoiis complaint should be sent, unless 110 is in a state of mind that makes h'lll dangfirnus Io other people. When danger is dreaded the aspect is different; but. 'unfortunately, some people with no actual tendency to bo dangerous h:ive been certified dangerous, in some instances, and have suffered in

consequence. Tn e.ases where no suspicion of danger to other folk arises, t''o sufferer should be given a change of scene if possible; if that is net piaetic/able, lie should be allowed to "dree his weird" (as the Scots say) wherever ho is. Any man who goes into a

''Mental Hospital" to be "treated" for nervous breakdown never comes out of it as strong a man as he went in: the contact with debased .humanity, the telepathic treatment, both ensure that. We say without reservation; without the slightest trace of mental excitement; without present thought in favor of or against any person in the institution of which we have personal experience, that any sufferer Ivcm nervous complaint- in a. mild form or a worse form wc.ro better dead—

bettor dying -over a long eourso of years even—tlian to enter any "Mental Hospital" for the supposititious) cure that is there effected. The "expcit" who supplied the Evening Post reporter with the information set out at the bead of this article-is either a man who postulates on a subject of which lie. knows but little or he is concpnlirj; a seed deal that he does know. Which is it? The public regards "Mental Hospitals" ias places for the cure of sufferers from nervous disorders; and the query "Wliat else would tbfty be maintained for?" seems so natural and so unanswerable a CfUe-t : on for any Hernial person to ask that it comes aptly at this fit-age- In part, this article answers it. The present writer was a normal man until a very few months before he was committed 1:o Porirua; and the query above written would liave fallen from liis lips as spontaneously m from anyone's. Since then he has learned a very great deal about the other side of the problem, and is prepared to face with -equanimity any comment that the tone of bis present writing suggests a recurrence of some delusion. The chief present delusion is the public one; that Mental Hospitals are for the "cure" of insanity. They are for the "holding" of it ; but the hospital methods of treatment, if publicly understood, would alter the readiness of so many kindly hearted people to consent, to their relatives being eont there "to be cured." [Reverting to the main point, we would say that the institution asked for by the Evening Post correspondent possibly would prove of very great benefit to sufferers not far advanced in nervous disorder ; and any real export who gives the opposite testimony is guilty of a distortion of fact.