Rest, suggestion, and other therapeutic measures in nervous and mental diseases / by Francis X. Dercum.

  • Francis Xavier Dercum
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Rest, suggestion, and other therapeutic measures in nervous and mental diseases / by Francis X. Dercum. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    54/416 page 38
    (43*3 C.), covered with blankets, and allowed to remain in the pack for an hour. Procedures such as these, however, are gener¬ ally unnecessary. As a rule, simple sponge bathing will answer the purpose from the beginning to the end of the treatment. Cautions Necessary We should remember that the cardinal principle in the manage¬ ment of neurasthenia is rest, and that exercise, bathing, massage, and electricity are merely adjuvants. Their relative importance is indicated by the order in which they are named. It is impor¬ tant, first, that the patient who is resting should also exercise; next, that elimination and the circulation be stimulated by bath¬ ing. If these measures prove insufficient, massage, and later, electricity, may be employed. In the class of cases which we are at present considering—that is, the neurasthenics who are to some extent pursuing their ordinary vocations—electricity can generally be dispensed with. Further, we should bear in mind that the simultaneous employment of every one of the adjuvants to rest, may not merely stimulate nutrition but may also induce fatigue. We must, therefore, be exceedingly careful not to use too many measures at one time, and not to use them too vigorously, espe¬ cially at first. Exercise, for instance, should in the beginning be exceedingly simple; it should consist at first merely in walking. Secondly, it should always stop far short of fatigue. The last point is the secret of the proper employment of exercise in the treatment of neurasthenia and is too frequently lost sight of. Again, if instead of simple sponge bathing or douching, elaborate hydrotherapeutic measures be employed, we should not forget that even though the patient may react well, he may subsequently feel fatigued, and we can readily understand how the inappropriate or over-vigorous use of bathing may retard increase of weight and strength. Massage also is capable of doing harm if used unadvisedly; rubbing that is unduly severe or unduly prolonged may accentuate the very symptoms that we are endeavoring to remove. I have frequently observed cases of neurasthenia that were being overtreated—by unnecessary medication; or by excess¬ ive bathing; or by unnecessary or worrisome applications of
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