[Transcriber's Note: This additional note was handwritten on the
typewritten letter being reproduced in this section.]
Weight 185 lbs
Can diminish this
diet without loss of weight
E
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Most people do not take enough systematic outdoor exercise. And
exercise, I would have you understand, is another essential in the cure
of one who has "nerves." But I am quite sure that a lot of bad advice
has been given women sufferers along this line. I find that as a rule,
women make better progress, at least at first, with complete rest or as
much rest as they can possibly get. I have seen great harm come from
telling a woman afflicted with "The Mysterious Disease"--as it is often
called--to take long walks. I am always extremely careful about telling
such a woman to indulge in vigorous exercise. Some women, of course, are
much stronger than others. My advice to a woman is to walk in the open
air unless she is so ill she cannot walk at all without becoming very
weak. And here again each person must use common sense and decide the
matter herself. But no person with a nervous breakdown should ever work
at any task or take any kind of exercise to the point of exhaustion.
I well remember a man who came to me some years ago suffering from this
malady. He had been trying to get well by doing heavy stunts in a
gymnasium. He was very muscular, in fact he was an athlete, and was
still under twenty-five years of age. His cheeks were ruddy, and to the
ordinary observer he appeared to be in the pink of condition. But he had
that peculiar expression of the eyes that flashed his story to me as
plainly as if blazoned forth by the letters of an electric sign. I told
him at once that he could never hope to cure his nerves by such violent
exercises.
And right here let me advise men in this condition not to run. I receive
many letters of inquiry from young men with broken-down nerves who tell
me they are taking long walks and finishing with a run. To all such I
say: Do not run. I know all about it for I have tried it. I was on my
university football team. And all my life I have been fond of athletics.
I am still fond of this kind of life and always expect to be, but
exercise is frequently overdone by nervous people. Usually, the
physically strong man who breaks down with "nerves" thinks at once of
physical training. But strange as it may seem, you can make such a man's
muscles as hard as iron but that alone will not cure him. And it is true
that many people in this condition do not seem nervous for they are not
at all shaky, as some think an individual should be if he is the victim
of a nervous breakdown.
I well remember that one day when at my worst I could not work nor
concentrate my mind on anything. I chanced to be in Topeka, Kansas, and
passed a shooting gallery. I was a good rifle shot and I had been taking
long walks and shooting Kansas jack rabbits. I went in, picked up one of
the rifles, and started firing at the biggest target. I rang the bell
twice on that target in succession, and then aimed at the finest target
there and rang the bell twice in succession on that. The proprietor was
very much surprised, saying it was remarkably good shooting; and yet I
was down and out with "nerves." I have seen many athletes who, to the
untrained observer, looked well, but who in reality were nervous wrecks.
Outdoor exercise alone will not cure such people, or if seemingly it
does--and this is important--sooner or later the individual is sure to
go down again. You have first to remove the cause, and that is largely
wrong diet. Now of course it is only reasonable to say that if such an
individual does not get out of doors at all he cannot get well.
That is one trouble with many of our women today. They will go on a diet
and stick to it, but they will not get out of doors. If they do go out,
they ride a little distance in a street car or in an automobile to do
some shopping. Or they go to a store and spend a good deal of time
there--indoors, mind you--and then are whirled home again. Some of them
seem to think that is taking outdoor exercise, but of course it is not.
So many times they have said to me, "Why, I do get out!" Yes, they do
get out, but they immediately go indoors again.
The nervous individual, unless the collapse is so severe that the first
few weeks must be spent in bed, should get out of doors at least three
or four hours a day, every day in the week. This is a general rule that
should be observed by everyone. It takes genuine courage, I know, for a
man or woman to spend this much time out of doors. And I know that those
who are compelled to work for a living cannot take three hours all at
one time. But labor conditions in this country are such that I am sure
the vast majority of our people could spend this much time outdoors in
wholesome recreation if they would make up their mind to do so.
And remember this: After the nervous person is cured he should never let
anything prevent him from continuing such outdoor exercise. I am
constantly trying to make this point--when you get well you should stay
well. One breakdown is bad enough; don't have another. And you will not
have another if you will change the habits of a lifetime as you are
advised to do.
Among farmers there are many, the offspring of nervous parents with bad
eating habits, who suffer from nervous breakdowns. So you see exercise
out of doors alone will not cure such cases. Sometimes a farmer will
tell me he fears to give up eating meat because he will grow weak as a
result. But just here I wish to call your attention to the fact that
there are nations that have for ages lived on this lacto-vegetarian
diet. I myself have not eaten meat or eggs for ten years. At least I
have not eaten them except the few times mentioned. And every time I did
break the rule I was harmed far more than I was benefited. I am very
sure the farmer who chooses this lacto-vegetarian diet will thrive on
it.
Members of our profession discovered not very long ago that at an
advanced age the peasants of Bulgaria are a wonderfully preserved people
both mentally and physically. Foolishly a great number of the profession
immediately jumped to the conclusion that buttermilk alone did the
miracle for these people. The drinking of buttermilk became such a fad
that some of the largest of our physicians' supply houses began and are
still making "buttermilk tablets." And physicians, many of them, are
credulous enough to prescribe them. They might just as well prescribe
chalk. While buttermilk tablets are harmless, they are of no benefit
whatever. How easily fooled people--physicians included--may be!
Bulgarian peasants are strong and rugged and live to a great age not
because they drink buttermilk, but because they live on milk and fruits
and vegetables and stay out of doors. Buttermilk is a good healthful
drink, but it is only a minor reason for the health and strength of the
Bulgarian peasant. Now, really, could you think of anything more absurd
than to prescribe buttermilk or buttermilk tablets as the fountain of
youth when the patient is breaking all the laws of health, as most
buttermilk laymen and physicians are doing? It seems almost impossible
that people--physicians in particular--should for a moment believe such
things. But they do. Barnum said there was a "sucker" born every minute,
and this certainly seems to be true.
No, there is no royal road to health. The buttermilk-tablet route will
not take you there. If you will live out of doors as Bulgarian peasants
do, and if you will eat as they do,--as man is expected to eat,--you
will live just as long as they do, and you will get a great deal more
out of life and be much more helpful to others. When the "time" comes
round for your next buttermilk tablet, do not take it. Instead, do as
those peasants do--leave off eating meat and take a two-hour walk in the
sunshine. Then when nine o'clock comes, like the Bulgarian, go to bed
and stay there until morning.
If the person afflicted with "nerves" expects to get well and stay well,
he must go to bed at an early hour and get eight or nine hours of sleep
not only some nights but every night in the week. When one begins
dieting and taking outdoor exercise he should go to bed regularly at an
early hour even though he has not been sleeping well. No matter how many
sleepless nights he has experienced before beginning this regime, he
should retire early just the same, because, sooner or later, sleep will
come and the relaxed body is resting even if the individual does not
sleep. Now I have been through all this lying awake at night, so I know
from experience that it is best to go to bed early and at a regular
hour. If you can, you should sleep nine hours. Nervous people need more
sleep than others. Sleep is a better restorer of nerves than anything
else we can try. I do not believe that ten or even eleven hours' sleep
would be harmful to a nervous adult, because very often I have seen such
a person benefited by it.
Children should have all the sleep they want up to ten or twelve hours.
But after a child has wakened in the morning he should be permitted to
get up. It is not good for him to lie in bed after he wishes to rise,
for nature is calling him to get up and exercise.
The nervous individual not only should exercise systematically out of
doors but he should play some game. You remember when we were children
how much we loved to play? Well, to give up play when we grow up is all
nonsense. And just because people quit playing is the reason they have
wrinkles and frowns. Did you ever notice how often people laugh when at
play? There is something about play that compels one to laugh. And what
all people need, nervous people and others as well, is to get into the
habit of laughing more.
And it is not hard to find something to play. I like to play at basket
ball with a child, and I can enjoy tossing a ball for an hour if the
child will stick to the game that long. Playing basket ball in the open
air on a sunshiny day is one of the very finest exercises in the world.
If you are suffering from "nerves" and are able to be out of doors at
all,--I mean if you are well enough to be out, and at least nine out of
ten sufferers are,--get a basket ball and get some one to play with you.
If at first you are poor at catching the ball you will with practice
improve. Gradually toss the ball a little higher and a little higher
until you have difficulty in catching it. Any woman or girl can stand
this sort of open air exercise. If the weather is cold, no matter; wrap
up and play anyway. But enter into the game with spirit. Playing the
regular game of basket ball is too violent exercise for the nervous
person. The victim of "nerves" should always keep in mind that it is
mild outdoor exercise that will do him good.
Tennis is too violent an exercise for people who have had nervous
trouble. Anyway, there is no use in one's doing anything that will make
his heart beat like a trip-hammer. A women can toss a basket ball and
laugh and get rosy cheeks and grow younger and prettier as easily as
when playing tennis.
Golf is also good exercise, but a large number of people who work for a
living and suffer from "nerves" would have little chance for exercise if
golf were all that could be offered them. Furthermore golf is
practically only a summer game, and an individual belonging to the
pre-nervous class needs outdoor exercise every day in the year. But golf
is excellent exercise, and there is nothing better if one has the time
to give to it and has access to links.
Bicycling is splendid exercise for nervous people, but automobiles are
so numerous that it is now considered almost dangerous to ride a wheel
on any of our main traveled roads.
Mountain climbing, I believe, is not to be recommended for most people
suffering from "nerves." I have known such people to go to Colorado and
spend some time climbing mountains, and then come back much worse than
when they went away. My advice to the nervous person who goes to the
mountains is to be out of doors all the time he can, but to take things
easy. It would be better for such a person to walk about slowly on the
level ground through some of the towns or along the foothills.
Let leisure be your watchword in a hill country. I know I injured my
nerves out in Colorado one summer because I was ill advised. Mountain
air is good for you, but the mountains will do you more good if you
simply look at them. If you think you must go to the top, take a burro.
You will find that the burro will give you a lesson in how to do things
in a leisurely way. Do not get out of patience with him and whip him.
Remember that the burro is smarter than you are in regard to the
business of mountain climbing. He has never had a nervous breakdown, and
if you will let him have his own way he never will have. It will do you
good to let him have his way; he affords a tremendous lesson in
patience. Patience, that's just what we need, and we need it badly.
Walking slowly in the open air for two or three hours is the best
exercise for man. Fortunately, like the water we drink, it is free to
the poor as well as the rich.
For the nervous man who is able to do it, I know of nothing better to
build up muscles and keep the liver and other internal organs in good
shape than sawing wood. Don't scorn this sort of exercise because you
have been told that the ex-Kaiser is taking it. That is not to be laid
up against the wood or the exercise, for, quite fortunately, the wood
does not care who saws it.
Get some wood, then, and a buck saw, and saw wood for your own benefit.
You can do this morning and evening. Wood sawing brings into play every
muscle in the body, and the exercise is just enough to make a man
comfortably tired without doing him harm.
Many people who go to sanitariums for a cure pay from fifty to
seventy-five dollars per week for the privilege of sawing wood, and you
can take this exercise just as well and at considerably less expense at
home, sawing your own wood instead of that of the sanitarium.
Another splendid diversion for a man with "nerves," if he can have it,
is a small workshop where he can make just any old thing out of boards
and nails. If one is apt in this line, he can make things that will
interest children. This sort of work requires a certain kind of
concentration that is most excellent for the nervous sufferer. This
suggestion would of course apply to a woman, too, if she cared to try
such an experiment. Sewing, and especially fine needlework, is very
trying to a woman's nerves, and if she has broken down under that kind
of work she should quit it and do something else. If she has to make her
living in that way, she of all people should observe the outdoor rules
as well as rules for dieting.
I am sure nervous people profit by frequenting all possible outdoor
games. If a number of people afflicted with "nerves" could get together
and take daily walks and at the same time determine that their
conversation should always have a humorous slant, it would help all of
them wonderfully.
Riding in an automobile is beneficial if the machine is driven slowly
and the patient is kept out of doors from three to four hours. But the
fast driving that is generally done is bad for these people. They come
back from a ride worse than when they started.
It may be set down as a general rule that any form of outdoor exercise
or play is good for the nervous person if it is not violent.
Nervous people should, if possible, take a vacation once a year and get
into new surroundings. I am certain, however, that it does not make any
difference where one lives. A man is just as likely to have a breakdown
in one part of the world as another. While on these vacations he should
stick to his rules just as rigidly as when he is at home.
I have had letters from people in Canada and from others in Florida who
have suffered nervous breakdowns. In California some go to pieces. I
have had many letters from people living there who have broken down.
People also break down in Colorado and in New York; in fact, in every
state in the Union. Climate does not seem to make any difference so far
as this trouble is concerned, with the exception that in high altitudes
I have observed nervous people are inclined to be more restless than
elsewhere. Some years ago I went up Pike's Peak, to the Summit House. I
went to bed and spent the night there, but I do not say I slept, for in
reality I slept only about half an hour. I was not at all sick at the
stomach, as so many are who climb up there; I had prevented this by
eating a very light breakfast and chewing my food to a cream. But I was
extremely nervous. I have found a great many other nervous people who do
not feel quite right when in a high altitude. As a general rule, sea
level is as good a place as a nervous individual can find to live. But
people break down there, too. The diet, you see, is the big thing. And
when I say "diet" I mean the way food is eaten and the amount eaten
quite as much as I do the kind of food eaten.
And once more let me say, systematic outdoor exercise also counts, and
you can't keep fit if you exercise only one, two, or three days a week.
Some people who take long walks in the country on Sunday think that will
suffice. But it will not. You must have exercise every day and must have
some play along with it. Gymnasium work is of very little value as
compared to outdoor exercise.
In the summertime, gardening is a splendid form of exercise. And so is
the care of a small flock of chickens, which is possible for those
living in the smaller towns. It is always better, when taking outdoor
exercise, to have something definite to do. When walking it is a good
plan, if you can, to have some definite place to go. And if you have an
agreeable companion to keep up a rapid-fire talk, that will help also.
All these things are mentally stimulating.
Then, if possible, sleep the year round on a sleeping porch. If you
don't possess a porch, then, have all the windows in your sleeping room
wide open day and night.
If for a time you have to take physic, it is best to take some hot
mineral water half an hour before breakfast. But adhering to dieting and
exercise, and eating enough apples, usually overcomes constipation.
Now, there are some things about which a person must use his own good
judgment. For instance, if you have any bad teeth you should at once go
to a good dentist and have them attended to. Nobody with bad teeth can
have good health.
Again, if your tonsils have become mere pus sacs you will have to go to
a good nose and throat specialist and have them removed before you can
expect to have good health. This, however, applies to all people,
whether nervous or not.
The same thing is true with regard to your eyes. If you are suffering
from eye strain because you need glasses, you cannot hope to get well of
"nerves" until your eyes are properly fitted to glasses by some reliable
eye specialist. These are things that each individual must discover and
do for himself. He should consult a dentist, an oculist, an aurist, or
other specialist according to his particular need.