It took medical science twenty-three hundred years torecognise this great truth. We are just now beginning to develop anew kind of medicine called psychosomatic medicine—a medicinethat treats both the mind and the body. It is high time we weredoing that， for medical science has largely wiped out the terriblediseases caused by physical germs—diseases such as smallpox，cholera， yellow fever， and scores of other scourges that sweptuntold millions into untimely graves. But medical science hasbeen unable to cope with the mental and physical wrecks caused，not by germs， but by emotions of worry， fear， hate， frustration，and despair. Casualties caused by these emotional diseases aremounting and spreading with catastrophic rapidity. Doctorsfigure that one American in every twenty now alive will spenda part of his life in an institution for the mentally ill. One out ofevery six of our young men called up by the draft in the SecondWorld War was rejected as mentally diseased or defective.
What causes insanity？ No one knows all the answers. Butit is highly probable that in many cases fear and worry arecontributing factors. The anxious and harassed individual whois unable to cope with the harsh world of reality breaks off all189 ·
contact with his environment and retreats into a private dreamworld of his own making， and this solves his worry problems.
As I write I have on my desk a book by Dr. Edward Podolskyentitled Stop Worrying and Get Well. Here are some of the titles in that book：
● What Worry Does To The Heart
● High Blood Pressure Is Fed By Worry
● Rheumatism Can Be Caused By Worry
● Worry Less For Your Stomach’s Sake
● How Worry Can Cause A Cold
● Worry And The Thyroid
● The Worrying Diabetic
Another illuminating book about worry is Lion Against Himself，by Dr. Karl Menninger， one of the “Mayo brothers of psychiatry.”
Dr. Menninger’s book is a startling revelation of what you do toyourself when you permit destructive emotions to dominate yourlife. If you want to stop working against yourself， get this book.
Read it. Give it to your friends. It costs four dollars—and is one ofthe best investments you can make in this life.
Worry can make even the most stolid person ill. General Grantdiscovered that during the closing days of the Civil War. Thestory goes like this： Grant had been besieging Richmond for ninemonths. General Lee’s troops， ragged and hungry， were beaten.
Entire regiments were deserting at a time. Others were holdingprayer meetings in their tents-shouting， weeping， seeing visions.
The end was close. Lee’s men set fire to the cotton and tobaccowarehouses in Richmond， burned the arsenal， and fled from thecity at night while towering flames roared up into darkness. Grantwas in hot pursuit， banging away at the Confederates from bothsides and the rear， while Sheridan’s cavalry was heading them offin front， tearing up railway lines and capturing supply trains.
Grant， half blind with a violent sick headache， fell behind hisarmy and stopped at a farmhouse. “I spent the night，” he recordsin his Memoirs， “in bathing my feet in hot water and mustard，and putting mustard plasters on my wrists and the back part ofmy neck， hoping to be cured by morning.”
The next morning， he was cured instantaneously. And the tilingthat cured him was not a mustard plaster， but a horseman gallopingdown the road with a letter from Lee， saying he wanted to surrender.
“When the officer [bearing the message] reached me，” Grantwrote， “I was still suffering with the sick headache， but the instantI saw the contents of the note， I was cured.”
Obviously it was Grant’s worries， tensions， and emotions thatmade him ill. He was cured instantly the moment his emotionstook on the hue of confidence， achievement， and victory.
Seventy years later， Henry Morgenthau， Jr.， Secretary of theTreasury in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s cabinet， discovered thatworry could make him so ill that he was dizzy. He records in hisdiary that he was terribly worried when the President， in order toraise the price of wheat， bought 4，400，000 bushels in one day. Hesays in his diary： “I felt literally dizzy while the thing was goingon. I went home and went to bed for two hours after lunch.”
If I want to see what worry does to people， I don’t have to go toa library or a physician. I can look out of the window of my homewhere I am writing this book； and I can see， within one block， onehouse where worry caused a nervous breakdown-and anotherhouse where a man worried himself into diabetes. When the stockmarket went down， the sugar in his blood and urine went up.
When Montaigne， the illustrious French philosopher， waselected Mayor of his home town—Bordeaux， he said to his fellowcitizens：“I am willing to take your affairs into my hands but notinto my liver and lungs.”
This neighbour of mine took the affairs of the stock marketinto the blood stream—and almost killed himself.
Worry can put you into a wheel chair with rheumatism andarthritis. Dr. Russell L. Cecil， of the Cornell University MedicalSchool， is a world-recognised authority on arthritis； and he haslisted four of the commonest conditions that bring on arthritis：
1. Marital shipwreck.
2. Financial disaster and grief.
3. Loneliness and worry.
4. Long-cherished resentments.
Naturally， these four emotional situations are far from beingthe only causes of arthritis. There are many different kinds ofarthritis-due to various causes. But， to repeat， the commonestconditions that bring on arthritis are the four listed by Dr. RussellL. Cecil. For example， a friend of mine was so hard bit during thedepression that the gas company shut off the gas and the bankforeclosed the mortgage on the house. His wife suddenly had apainful attack of arthritis—and， in spite of medicine and diets， thearthritis continued until their financial situation improved.
