WHY WORRY?
BY: GEORGE LINCOLN WALTON, M.D.
CONSULTING NEUROLOGIST TO THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
The legs of the stork are long, the legs of the duck are short; you cannot make the legs of the stork short, neither can you make the legs of the duck long. Why worry?
-Chwang Tsze.
TO MY LONG-SUFFERING FAMILY AND CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, WHOSE PATIENCE HAS BEEN TRIED BY MY EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE WORRY, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
PREFACE.
 No apology is needed for adding another to the treatises on a subject whose importance is evidenced by the number already offered the public.
The habit of worry is not to be overcome by unaided resolution. It is hoped that the victim of this unfortunate tendency may find, among the homely illustrations and commonplace suggestions here offered, something to turn his mind into more healthy channels. It is not the aim of the writer to transform the busy man into a philosopher of the indolent and contemplative type, but rather to enable him to do his work more effectively by eliminating undue solicitude. This elimination is consistent even with the "strenuous life."
One writer has distinguished between normal and abnormal worry, and directed his efforts against the latter. Webster's definition of worry (A state of undue solicitude) obviates the necessity of deciding what degree and kind of worry is abnormal, and directs attention rather to deciding what degree of solicitude may be fairly adjudged undue.
In the treatment of a subject of this character a certain amount of repetition is unavoidable. But it is hoped that the reiteration of
fundamental principles and of practical hints will aid in the application of the latter. The aim is the gradual establishment of a "frame of mind".
The reader who looks for the annihilation of individual worries, or who hopes to influence another by the direct application of the suggestions,
may prepare, in the first instance for disappointment, in the second, for trouble.
The thanks of the writer are due to Miss Amy Morris Homans, Director of the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics, for requesting him to make to her students the address which forms the nucleus of these pages.
GEORGE L. WALTON.
BOSTON, April, 1908.
CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTORY
II. EPICURUS AS A MENTAL HEALER
III. THE PSYCHO-THERAPY OF MARCUS AURELIUS
IV. ANALYSIS OF WORRY
V. WORRY AND OBSESSION
VI. THE DOUBTING FOLLY
VII. HYPOCHONDRIA
VIII. NEURASTHENIA
IX. SLEEPLESSNESS
X. OCCUPATION NEUROSIS
XI. THE WORRIER AT HOME
XII. THE WORRIER ON HIS TRAVELS
XIII. THE WORRIER AT THE TABLE
XIV. THE FEAR OF BECOMING INSANE
XV. RECAPITULATORY
XVI. MAXIMS MISAPPLIED
XVII. THE FAD
XVIII. HOME TREATMENT
XIX. HOME TREATMENT CONTINUED
DEFINITIONS.
WORRY.
A state of undue solicitude.
HYPOCHONDRIA.
A morbid mental condition characterized by undue solicitude regarding the health, and undue attention to matters thereto pertaining.
OBSESSION.
An unduly insistent and compulsive thought, habit of mind, or tendency to action.
DOUBTING FOLLY (Folie du doute.) A state of mind characterized by a tendency unduly to question, argue and speculate upon ordinary matters.
NEURASTHENIA.
A form of nervous disturbance characterized by exhaustion and irritability.
PHOBIA.
An insistent and engrossing fear without adequate cause, as judged by ordinary standards.
OCCUPATION NEUROSIS. A nervous disorder in which pain, sometimes with weakness and cramp, results from continued use of a part.
PSYCHO-THERAPY.
Treatment through the mind.
No other technical terms are used.
Next Chapter: Introductory
OTHER RELEVANT ARTICLES AND REFERENCES:
Why Worry
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