The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1908. MENTAL HEALTH AND TRUE EDUCATION

New Zealand Tablet, 24 September 1908, Page 21

T he New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1908. MENTAL HEALTH AND TRUE EDUCATION

CCORDING to Drydcn, aMpr ' There is a pleasure, sure, rgQfiP&f In being mad, which none but madmen know.' fsg|>fcp? But it must be a pleasure which is taken sadly— as Englishmen are fabled to take their diversions. tfj** *\ Or it may be as the rumination which, in As You Like It, enwrapped Jaques in ' a most humorous sadness.' But whatever may be the occasional feeling of the hapless ones who have ' eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner,' in the verdict of the mentally normal no privation in tho natural order equals that which leaves ' That noble and most sovereign reason Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune, and harsh.' The pity of it finds expression in the gentle Irish phrases which describe those bereft of reason as ' innocent ' or ' God's creatures,' and which moves even the Arabs of the desert to say with reverence that 'Allah is with them.' It is in a sense true— as Dr. Johnson said long ago in his Rasselas— that all power of fancy over reason is a degree of insanity. ' The insane mind,' says the eminent British alienist, Robert Jones, M.D., F.R.C.P., in the August number of The Practitioner, 'acts in precisely ' the same manner upon motives as does that of the sane person, and although conclusions may be correctly and logically deducted, yet the conclusions are from false' premisses, the person not being able, by any evidence presented to the contrary, to appreciate the falseness of these premisses. So long as conduct remains normal and unaltered, or does not exceed what the particular social surroundings deem to be within the normal, and so long as there is no interference with his own liberty, or with the liberty or safety or property of others, the individual so affected may remain a free person ; but the moment the conduct is such that society around refuses to tolerate it, then freedom is curtailed, and segregation takes place, until proof is again afforded of the fitness of the person to be at large.' The forms of alienation that require segregation constitute some only of the many varieties of insanity. There are, besides, the mental patients that go free; and the great army % of defectives, of every degree of mental deficiency, who fail to reach a normal development. In London alone (says Dr. Jones) there is one defective ' to every ioo children among the 760,000 who are upon the roll as of school age ' ; and ' there are probably 125,000 insane persons and defectives, who are incarcerated in the various institutions of England and Wales. . . Moreover, there are those who- are not criminals, but who are degenerates! and who eventually become dangerous members of society those who are derelicts, "misfits." . . . These constitute a great and terrible social evil, and it is not too much to say that a part of this evil is both preventable, and to a great extent remediable.' In tfie course of his lengthy article in The Practitioner for August (on 'How to "Secure Mental Health*) Dr. Jones deals both with preventive- and remedial measures. His

high standing as an expert in mental disease imparts a special value to his words, and some of his decided expressions of opinion, which we quote hereunder, are all the? more remarkable in as much as they represent the matured judgment of an alienist of "the -first rank who is dealing with his subject solely from the viewpoint of the' scientific observer of facts that Have a bearing upon mental heaith. 'Teachers,' says he (and, we might add, parents" as well), 'too frequently use the word "Don't." ."Don't. say don't;'* is a pedagogic maxim too often overlooked and disregarded. Such negative training fixes -the attention upon the contrary idea, and an idea immediately tends, as pointed out, to become action' and the contrary suggestion is thus carried out.' Here are some passages'that are worth quoting in full (pp. 240-1) :— ' Possibly the earliest appearance of the Will is the power to fix the attention, which naturally seems to be the first act of the will. It is during early education by the teacher that the foundation of character is laid : probably, if a period is fixed, it is during the first seven years of life; the character being formed during the next seven, and consolidated during the third seven, viz., between the ages of 14 and 21, and what is laid becomes too fixed and firm to be capable of reform after the age of 21 years; hence the recidivists among drunkards and criminals, who repeatedly come under treatment, being -sent to prisons and institutions with the object of reformation ! ' Children bear the scars of moral injury all their lives. . . . The groundwork for the healthy mental life must be prepared and laid in early life. ' I cannot help thinking that our system of education, hitherto, has not been of the best type for the moulding of character so that children may develop into, good and useful citizens. Teachers have been too much concerned with imparting knowledge, as if to pour knowledge into the mind was to educate, and there has been more concern with the knowledge to be taught than with the individual to be educated. Too little attention has been paid in the past to the development and formation of character, to discipline, to obedience, and to conduct. True education consists in the full development "of all the powers of the individual, and is concerned with the growth of healthy instincts and tendencies. Reverence for authority has been, we may say, almost totally disregarded— except possibly the personal authority of the teacher— and the catechismal injunction to honor and obey, to submit, and to order one's conduct, has been relegated to the category of abandoned superstitions, much to the detriment, not only of children's welfare, but also of that of the general community. Ido not think, in these days or equality, that we have adequate compensation for such a purposeful omission. There can be no perfect man--hood unless there has previously been a perfect childhood.' Without accepting every dictum in these quoted words of Dr. Jones, we may call attention to the manner in which, from the view-point of the expert in mental disease, the Catholic idea of education is sustained, andiithe purely secular system reprobated, in the two last paragraphs cited above. He grapples with his subject at closer quarters on pp. 241-2 of The Practitioner :— 1 The question of religious instruction is now dangerous ground for the uninitiated, and, under the present rule, it appears to be " taboo." Neverthless, spiritual agencies do kindle a spirit of fervor, sympathy, and right-mindedness even among the roughest characters and in the most crowded areas of our cities Possibly thercjnay have been intolerance and excessive religious zeal in the advocacy of religious "dogmas upon unwilling minds in the past, but true religion is a service and should be so taught. It urges one to think of others, and to cultivate high ideals, not only for the family, but also for one's country. . . The questions "of religion and morality are, in my opinion, not separate. The spirit of love and reverence towards God, towards parents, towards women is native to every child, and the teacher -who believes in his religion is capable, through religious teaching, above all others of drawing out what is best and noblest in his pupils," and it is not too much to say that the teacher who does this consecrates himself or herself to the highest human interests. In order to teach morality, it is essential that conduct should be early inculcated by good examples," so that the child may see and copy them. Children should be taught to avoid bad companions, and to choose only those who can raise them up to be honest and truthful, never to break a promise, to show kindness to cther.s, to be gentle with those weaker than themselves, to respect the aged, to be bright, cheerful, and good tempered rather than discontented and grumbling: such training forms the essence of self-control.'

'If,' adds he, ' the moral habits already commended and cited seriatim, are early inculcated— and they are not copybook headings, but sterling advice— they will tend to become second nature, and to be the best preparation for a successful and prosperous life.' Here we have, in effect, an expert scientist's verdict as to the . important part .played by religion and religious education in the promotion of mental health. Thus (in the scriptural phrase) piety is useful in every respect. And the highest morality makes the best health.