ON HEALTH OF MIND.
There is such an intimate connection between the body and mind, that the
health of one, cannot be preserved, without a proper care of the other.
And it is from a neglect of this principle, that some of the most
exemplary and conscientious persons in the world, suffer a thousand
mental agonies, from a diseased state of body, while others ruin the
health of the body, by neglecting the proper care of the mind. When the
brain is excited, by stimulating drinks taken into the stomach, it
produces a corresponding excitement of the mental faculties. The reason,
the imagination, and all the powers, are stimulated to preternatural
vigor and activity. In like manner, when the mind is excited by earnest
intellectual effort, or by strong passions, the brain is equally
excited, and the blood rushes to the head. Sir Astley Cooper records,
that, in examining the brain of a young man who had lost a portion of
his skull, whenever "he was agitated, by some opposition to his wishes,"
"the blood was sent, with increased force, to his brain," and the
pulsations "became frequent and violent." The same effect was produced
by any intellectual effort; and the flushed countenance, which attends
earnest study or strong emotions of fear, shame, or anger, is an
external indication of the suffused state of the brain from such causes.
In exhibiting the causes, which injure the health of the mind, they
will be found to be partly physical, partly intellectual, and partly
moral.
The first cause of mental disease and suffering, is not unfrequently
found in the want of a proper supply of duly oxygenized blood. It has
been shown, that the blood, in passing through the lungs, is purified,
by the oxygen of the air combining with the superabundant hydrogen and
carbon of the venous blood, thus forming carbonic acid and water, which
are expired into the atmosphere. Every pair of lungs is constantly
withdrawing from the surrounding atmosphere its healthful principle, and
returning one, which is injurious to human life.
When, by confinement, and this process, the atmosphere is deprived of
its appropriate supply of oxygen, the purification of the blood is
interrupted, and it passes, without being properly prepared, into the
brain, producing languor, restlessness, and inability to exercise the
intellect and feelings. Whenever, therefore, persons sleep in a close
apartment, or remain, for a length of time, in a crowded or
ill-ventilated room, a most pernicious influence is exerted on the
brain, and, through this, on the mind. A person, who is often exposed to
such influences, can never enjoy that elasticity and vigor of mind,
which is one of the chief indications of its health. This is the reason,
why all rooms for religious meetings, and all schoolrooms, and sleeping
apartments, should be so contrived, as to secure a constant supply of
fresh air from without. The minister, who preaches in a crowded and
ill-ventilated apartment, loses much of his power to feel and to speak,
while the audience are equally reduced, in their capability of
attending. The teacher, who confines children in a close apartment,
diminishes their ability to study, or to attend to his instructions. And
the person, who habitually sleeps in a close room, impairs his mental
energies, in a similar degree. It is not unfrequently the case, that
depression of spirits, and stupor of intellect, are occasioned solely by
inattention to this subject.
Another cause of mental disease, is, the excessive exercise of the
intellect or feelings. If the eye is taxed, beyond its strength, by
protracted use, its blood-vessels become gorged, and the bloodshot
appearance warns of the excess and the need of rest. The brain is
affected, in a similar manner, by excessive use, though the suffering
and inflamed organ cannot make its appeal to the eye. But there are some
indications, which ought never to be misunderstood or disregarded. In
cases of pupils, at school or at college, a diseased state, from over
action, is often manifested by increased clearness of mind, and ease and
vigor of mental action. In one instance, known to the writer, a most
exemplary and industrious pupil, anxious to improve every hour, and
ignorant or unmindful of the laws of health, first manifested the
diseased state of her brain and mind, by demands for more studies, and a
sudden and earnest activity in planning modes of improvement for herself
and others. When warned of her danger, she protested that she never was
better, in her life; that she took regular exercise, in the open air,
went to bed in season, slept soundly, and felt perfectly well; that her
mind was never before so bright and clear, and study never so easy and
delightful. And at this time, she was on the verge of derangement, from
which she was saved only by an entire cessation of all her intellectual
efforts.
A similar case occurred, under the eye of the writer, from over-excited
feelings. It was during a time of unusual religious interest in the
community, and the mental disease was first manifested, by the pupil
bringing her Hymn-book or Bible to the class-room, and making it her
constant resort, in every interval of school duty. It finally became
impossible to convince her, that it was her duty to attend to any thing
else; her conscience became morbidly sensitive, her perceptions
indistinct, her deductions unreasonable, and nothing, but entire change
of scene, exercise, and amusement, saved her. When the health of the
brain was restored, she found that she could attend to the "one thing
needful," not only without interruption of duty, or injury of health,
but rather so as to promote both. Clergymen and teachers need most
carefully to notice and guard against the danger here alluded to.
Any such attention to religion, as prevents the performance of daily
duties and needful relaxation, is dangerous, as tending to produce such
a state of the brain, as makes it impossible to feel or judge correctly.
And when any morbid and unreasonable pertinacity appears, much exercise,
and engagement in other interesting pursuits, should be urged, as the
only mode of securing the religious benefits aimed at. And whenever any
mind is oppressed with care, anxiety, or sorrow, the amount of active
exercise in the fresh air should be greatly increased, that the action
of the muscles may withdraw the blood, which, in such seasons, is
constantly tending too much to the brain.
There has been a most appalling amount of suffering, derangement,
disease, and death, occasioned by a want of attention to this subject,
in teachers and parents. Uncommon precocity in children is usually the
result of an unhealthy state of the brain; and, in such cases, medical
men would now direct, that the wonderful child should be deprived of all
books and study, and turned to play or work in the fresh air. Instead of
this, parents frequently add fuel to the fever of the brain, by
supplying constant mental stimulus, until the victim finds refuge in
idiocy or an early grave. Where such fatal results do not occur, the
brain, in many cases, is so weakened, that the prodigy of infancy sinks
below the medium of intellectual powers in afterlife. In our colleges,
too, many of the most promising minds sink to an early grave, or drag
out a miserable existence, from this same cause. And it is an evil, as
yet little alleviated by the increase of physiological knowledge. Every
college and professional school, and every seminary for young ladies,
needs a medical man, not only to lecture on physiology and the laws of
health, but empowered, in his official capacity, to investigate the
case of every pupil, and, by authority, to restrain him to such a course
of study, exercise, and repose, as his physical system requires. The
writer has found, by experience, that, in a large institution, there is
one class of pupils who need to be restrained, by penalties, from late
hours and excessive study, as much as another class need stimulus to
industry.
Under the head of excessive mental action, must be placed the indulgence
of the imagination in _novel reading_ and _castle building_. This kind
of stimulus, unless counterbalanced by physical exercise, not only
wastes time and energies, but undermines the vigor of the nervous
system. The imagination was designed, by our kind Creator, as the charm
and stimulus to animate to benevolent activity; and its perverted
exercise seldom fails to bring the appropriate penalty.
A third cause of mental disease, is, the want of the appropriate
exercise of the various faculties of the mind. On this point, Dr. Combe
remarks, "We have seen, that, by disuse, muscle becomes emaciated, bone
softens, blood-vessels are obliterated, and nerves lose their
characteristic structure. The brain is no exception to this general
rule. Of it, also, the tone is impaired by permanent inactivity, and it
becomes less fit to manifest the mental powers with readiness and
energy." It is "the withdrawal of the stimulus necessary for its healthy
exercise, which renders solitary confinement so severe a punishment,
even to the most daring minds. It is a lower degree of the same cause,
which renders continuous seclusion from society so injurious, to both
mental and bodily health."
"_Inactivity of intellect and of feeling_ is a very frequent
predisposing cause of every form of nervous disease. For demonstrative
evidence of this position, we have only to look at the numerous victims
to be found, among persons who have no call to exertion in gaining the
means of subsistence, and no objects of interest on which to exercise
their mental faculties and who consequently sink into a state of mental
sloth and nervous weakness." "If we look abroad upon society, we shall
find innumerable examples of mental and nervous debility from this
cause. When a person of some mental capacity is confined, for a long
time, to an unvarying round of employment, which affords neither scope
nor stimulus for one half of his faculties, and, from want of education
or society, has no external resources; his mental powers, for want of
exercise, become blunted, and his perceptions slow and dull." "The
intellect and feelings, not being provided with interests external to
themselves, must either become inactive and weak, or work upon
themselves and become diseased."
"The most frequent victims of this kind of predisposition, are females
of the middle and higher ranks, especially those of a nervous
constitution and _good natural abilities_; but who, from an ill-directed
education, possess nothing more solid than mere accomplishments, and
have no materials of thought," and no "occupation to excite interest or
_demand_ attention." "The liability of such persons to melancholy,
hysteria, hypochondriasis, and other varieties of mental distress,
really depends on a state of irritability of brain, induced by imperfect
exercise."
These remarks, of a medical man, illustrate the principles before
indicated;--namely, that the demand of Christianity, that we live to
promote the general happiness, and not merely for selfish indulgence,
has for its aim, not only the general good, but the highest happiness,
of the individual of whom it is required.
A person possessed of wealth, who has nothing more noble to engage his
attention, than seeking his own personal enjoyment, subjects his mental
powers and moral feelings to a degree of inactivity, utterly at war with
health of mind. And the greater the capacities, the greater are the
sufferings which result from this cause. Any one, who has read the
misanthropic wailings of Lord Byron, has seen the necessary result of
great and noble powers bereft of their appropriate exercise, and, in
consequence, becoming sources of the keenest suffering.
It is this view of the subject, which has often awakened feelings of
sorrow and anxiety in the mind of the writer, while aiding in the
developement and education of superior female minds, in the wealthier
circles. Not because there are not noble objects for interest and
effort, abundant, and within reach of such minds; but because
long-established custom has made it seem so Quixotic, to the majority,
even of the professed followers of Christ, for a woman of wealth to
practise any great self-denial, that few have independence of mind and
Christian principle sufficient to overcome such an influence. The more a
mind has its powers developed, the more does it aspire and pine after
some object worthy of its energies and affections; and they are
commonplace and phlegmatic characters, who are most free from such
deep-seated wants. Many a young woman, of fine genius and elevated
sentiment, finds a charm in Lord Byron's writings, because they present
a glowing picture of what, to a certain extent, must be felt by every
well-developed mind, which has no nobler object in life, than the
pursuit of its own gratification.
If young ladies of wealth could pursue their education, under the full
conviction that the increase of their powers and advantages increased
their obligations to use all for the good of society, and with some plan
of benevolent enterprise in view, what new motives of interest would be
added to their daily pursuits! And what blessed results would follow, to
our beloved Country, if all well-educated females carried out the
principles of Christianity, in the exercise of their developed powers!
It is cheering to know, that there are women, among the most intelligent
and wealthy, who can be presented as examples of what may be done, when
there is a heart to do. A pupil of the writer is among this number,
who, though a rich heiress, immediately, on the close of her
school-life, commenced a course of self-denying benevolence, in the
cause of education. She determined to secure a superior female
institution, in her native place, which should extend the benefits of
the best education to all in that vicinity, at a moderate charge.
Finding no teacher on the ground, prepared to take the lead, and though
herself a timid and retiring character, she began, with the aid of the
governess in her mother's family, a daily school, superintending all,
and teaching six hours a day. The liberal-minded and intelligent mother
cooperated, and the result is a flourishing female seminary, with a
large and beautiful and well-furnished building; the greater part of the
means being supplied by the mother, and almost all by the members of
that family connection. And both these ladies will testify, that no time
or money, spent for any other object, has ever secured to them more real
and abiding enjoyment, than witnessing the results of this successful
and benevolent enterprise, which, for years to come, will pour forth
blessings on society.
Another lady could be pointed out, who, possessing some property, went
into a new western village, built and furnished her schoolhouse, and
established herself there, to aid in raising a community from ignorance
and gross worldliness, to intelligence and virtue. And in repeated
instances, among the friends and pupils of the writer, young ladies have
left wealthy homes, and affectionate friends, to find nobler enjoyments,
in benevolent and active exertions to extend intelligence and virtue,
where such disinterested laborers were needed. In other cases, where it
was not practicable to leave home, well-educated young ladies have
interested themselves in common schools in the vicinity, aiding the
teachers, by their sympathy, counsel, and personal assistance.
Other ladies, of property and standing, having families to educate, and
being well qualified for such duties, have relinquished a large portion
of domestic labor and superintendence, which humbler minds could be
hired to perform, devoted themselves to the education of their children,
and received others, less fortunate, to share with their own these
superior advantages. But, so long as the feeling widely exists, that the
increase of God's bounties diminishes the obligations of self-denying
service for the good of mankind, so long will well-educated women, in
easy circumstances, shrink from such confinement and exertion.
It is believed, however, that there are many benevolent and intelligent
women, in this Country, who would gladly engage in such enterprises,
were there any appropriate way within their reach. And it is a question,
well deserving consideration, among those who guide the public mind in
benevolent enterprises, whether some organization is not demanded, which
shall bring the whole community to act systematically, in voluntary
associations, to extend a proper education to every child in this
Nation, and to bring into activity all the female enterprise and
benevolence now lying dormant, for want of proper facilities to exercise
them. There are hundreds of villages, which need teachers, and that
would support them, if they were on the spot, but which never will send
for them. And there are hundreds of females, now unemployed, who would
teach, if a proper place, and home, and support, and escort, were
provided for them. And there needs to be some enlarged and systematic
plan, conducted by wise and efficient men, to secure these objects.
Could such a plan, as the one suggested, be carried out, it is believed
that many female minds, now suffering, from diseases occasioned by want
of appropriate objects for their energies, would be relieved. The duties
of a teacher exercise every intellectual faculty, to its full extent;
while, in this benevolent service, all the social, moral, and
benevolent, emotions, are kept in full play. The happiest persons the
writer has ever known,--those who could say that they were as happy as
they wished to be, in this world, (and she has seen such,)--were persons
engaged in this employment.
The indications of a diseased mind, owing to a want of the proper
exercise of its powers, are, apathy, discontent, a restless longing for
excitement, a craving for unattainable good, a diseased and morbid
action of the imagination, dissatisfaction with the world, and
factitious interest in trifles which the mind feels to be unworthy of
its powers. Such minds sometimes seek alleviation in exciting
amusements; others resort to the grosser enjoyments of sense. Oppressed
with the extremes of languor, or over-excitement, or apathy, the body
fails under the wearing process, and adds new causes of suffering to the
mind. Such, the compassionate Saviour calls to his service, in these
appropriate terms: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me," "and
ye shall find rest unto your souls."