Drink and Lunacy.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XIX, Issue 1836, 26 May 1886, Page 3

Drink and Lunacy.

Referring to the causes of insanity in New Zealand, Dr Qrabham, in his Lunacy Report, says “ Intemperance is given as the cause in 45 of the admissions ; but must,be looked upon, in many of these, as a result rather than a factorjof mental disease. Hereditary predisposition and acoounj for 53 of the admissions ; the number being in reality much largfc than here stated from these causes.” There is much weight to be attached to the 'opinion of Dr Grabbam on this point. While there is no doubt that long continued intemperance sometimes results in insanity, yet it is also the fact that previously existing brain disease very often causes the sufferers to take to hard drinking. In such cases the latent insanity has led to the intemperance—not tha intemperance produced the insanity. Vet some shallow-wilted doctors and prejudiced teetotallers go on dogmatically asserting that drink is the chief cause of filling onr lunatic asylums. Frink certainly helps, in some measure, to fill those institution., but then are many other causes of insanity, besides intemperance.