It will not be difficult for you to read this book: it is about you and your nerves, and for this reason you will read it with interest, whereas to read an ordinary book or newspaper may seem an impossibility, or, should you succeed, may leave you more distressed than when you began.
I used the word ‘cure’ and this may surprise you, because it implies an illness and you may think of yourself as more bewildered than ill – lost in a maze trying to find your way back to the person you used to be.
On the other hand, you may be so depressed and exhausted that you may readily agree that you are ill. Whether or not you consider yourself ill, more than anything else you want to be yourself again. You probably look at others in the street and wonder why you can’t be like them? What is this ‘terrible thing’ that has happened to you? What is the meaning of these terrifying feelings?
Such feelings may have possessed you for a long time, even for years. Indeed, you may have reached a point of such desperate suffering that you could be thinking of suicide, or may even have attempted it. And yet, however deeply involved you may be in nervous breakdown, it is possible to recover and enjoy life again. I emphasize, however deeply involved.
The guidance you need is in this small book. The perseverance and courage you can, with help, find within yourself. The strength to recover is within you, once you are shown the way. I assure you of this.
Each of us has unsuspected power to accomplish what we demand of ourselves, if we care to search for it. You are no exception. You can find it if you make up your mind to, however great a coward you may think yourself at this moment. I have no illusions about you: I am not writing this book for the rare brave people, but for you, probably a sick, suffering, ordinary human being with no more courage than the rest of us, but – and this is the important thing – with the same unplumbed, unsuspected power in reserve as the rest of us. It is possible that you may be aware of such power but may feel, because of your nervous condition, unable to release it. This book will help you find this power, and show you how to release and use it.
First, you must know how your nervous system works.
CHAPTER 2 How Our Nervous System Works
Our nervous system consists of two main parts, known as the voluntary nervous system and the involuntary nervous system.
THE VOLUNTARY NERVOUS SYSTEM
This part directs the movement of the limbs, head and trunk, and we control it more or less as we wish, hence its name. It consists of the brain and spinal cord, from which a number of paired nerves arise, each ending in the muscle it supplies.
THE INVOLUNTARY NERVOUS SYSTEM
This second part controls the internal organs – heart, blood-vessels, lungs, intestines, etc., even the flow of saliva and sweat. It has its headquarters in a brain centre connected with a delicate network of fibres lying on either side of the spinal column (backbone), from which numerous threadlike branches pass to the internal organs. This second part is not under our immediate control but – and this is of paramount importance in understanding ‘nerves’ – it responds to our moods. For example, when we are afraid our cheeks blanch, our pupils dilate, our heart beats quickly and our hands may sweat. We do not consciously react like this and we have no power to stop these reactions other than to change our mood. We therefore call this part of the Involuntary Nervous System.
The involuntary nervous system itself consists of two parts, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. Of these, the sympathetic ‘sympathizes’ more demonstratively with our moods, hence its name. The action of the sympathetic nerves strengthens an animal’s defences against the various dangers which beset it, such as extremes of temperature, deprivation of water, attack by its enemies.
Have you ever seen a frightened animal standing stock-still from fear before taking flight? Its nostrils and its pupils dilate, its heart races, it breathes quickly. The sympathetic division of the involuntary nervous system has prepared it for fight or flight.
The pattern of fear
We human beings react in the same way when afraid. Fear begins as an impulse in our brain which excites the sympathetic nerves to stimulate various regions (skin) and organs (heart, lungs, intestines) to produce the signs and symptoms of fear – the sweating hands, racing heart, quick breathing, dry mouth, etc. The sympathetic nerves do this by means of a substance called adrenalin, which is released at the nerve terminals in the organs concerned. Also, our two adrenal glands, themselves under sympathetic nervous stimulation, secrete additional adrenalin into our bloodstream to enhance the action of the sympathetic nerves.
When we are afraid we also feel a horrible sensation in the ‘pit of the stomach’. This is the most distressing component of fear. However, the complete picture of fear includes all the symptoms induced by adrenalin, the sweating hands, racing heart, heaving chest, etc., as well as the spasm of fear felt in our ‘middle’.
Normally we do not feel our body functioning, because parasympathetic nerves hold the sympathetic nerves in check. It is only when we are overwrought (angry, afraid, excited) that the sympathetic nerves dominate the parasympathetic and we are conscious of certain organs functioning. A healthy body without stress is a peaceful body.
Most of us associate kindness and understanding with the word sympathetic, and as the reactions of the sympathetic nerves can be anything but kind, some people find it difficult to reconcile themselves to the term ‘sympathetic nerves’. Therefore, to avoid any bewilderment, I shall henceforth refer to the sympathetic nerves as the adrenalin-releasing nerves – which, after all, is what they are.
So, briefly, we have a Voluntary Nervous System by means of which we move our body; an Involuntary Nervous System, consisting of adrenalin-releasing and parasympathetic divisions which control the functions of our internal organs, each part balancing the other. Normally we do not feel our involuntary nervous system working, but when we are overwrought the adrenalin-releasing nerves are especially stimulated and we may feel our heart beat quickly, our hands may sweat and our mouth may feel dry. In addition, our stomach may ‘churn’, we may feel breathless, giddy, and may have an urgent need to retire to the toilet.
CHAPTER 3 What is Nervous Illness?
It will be appreciated that there are different grades of ‘nervous’ suffering. Countless people have ‘bad nerves’ and many of them, although distressed, continue at their work and cannot be said to suffer from nervous breakdown. Indeed, while they readily admit to having ‘bad nerves’, they would indignantly refute any suggestion of breakdown. And yet a nervous breakdown is no more than an intensification of their symptoms. Although this book is concerned mainly with the development and treatment of nervous breakdown, almost every symptom complained of by people with ‘bad nerves’ will be found here, and such people will recognize themselves again and again in the patients with breakdown described in the following chapters. The symptoms are the same, it is but their severity that varies. The person with breakdown feels these symptoms so much more intensely.
Where do ‘bad nerves’ end and where does nervous breakdown begin? By nervous breakdown we mean a state in which a person’s ‘nervous’ symptoms are so intense that he copes inadequately with his daily work or does not cope at all. Doctors are asked if people really ‘break’, and if so, how? We are also asked how a nervous breakdown begins and develops.
The Breaking Point
Many