Very often a little
experimentation as to what they will profitably bear in the way of
visits and the like will inform us, as their treatment progresses, how
far such indulgence is of use or free from hurtful influences. Cases of
extreme neurasthenia in men accompanied with nutritive failures require
as to this matter cautious handling, because, for some reason, the ennui
of rest and seclusion is far better borne by women than by the other
sex.
Even in cases whose moral aspects do not at once suggest an imperative
need for seclusion it is well to remember, as regards neurasthenic
people, that the treatment involves for a time daily visits of some
length from the masseur, the doctor, and possibly an electrician, and
that to add to these even a single friendly visitor is often too much
to be readily borne; but I am now speaking chiefly of the large and
troublesome class of thin-blooded emotional women, for whom a state of
weak health has become a long and, almost I might say, a cherished
habit. For them there is often no success possible until we have broken
up the whole daily drama of the sick-room, with its little selfishness
and its craving for sympathy and indulgence.
Pages:
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56