The looking-glass, whether a plus or a minus quantity, plays
a more important part in the sick-room than most nurses and
physicians give it credit for.
“All things considered, I think it a good plan to give a sick
person a chance to look at himself occasionally,” said a
prominent doctor, recently. “Of course, the indulgence must be
granted with discretion. If a patient is really looking seedy,
a turn at the looking-glass is equivalent to signing his death
warrant; but if taken at a time when braced up by some stimulant
or a natural ebullition of vital force, a few minutes of
communion with his own visage beats any tonic I can prescribe.
It thrills the patient with new hope. It makes him feel that he
isn’t quite so far gone as he had thought, and that possibly a
fight for life is, after all, worth while. Being thus sensitive,
a persistent withholding of a mirror convinces the patient
that he must be too horrible for contemplation, and he promptly
decides that the best thing for him to do is to give up the
ghost and get out of the way.
“That is one of the mistakes hospitals were apt to make up
to a few years ago. When I was a young fellow, getting my
first practise after graduation, I served on the staff of
several hospitals, and in all, especially in the free wards,
those aids to vanity were strictly forbidden.”--Cleveland
_Plain-Dealer_.
(2939)
=Sick-room, Atmosphere of the=--See TALKING AND SICKNESS.