For the last quarter-century there have been scattered groups of physicians,—­brilliant, patient pioneers,—­who, recognizing man as spirit inhabiting body, have explored the realm of man’s mind and charted its paths.  These pioneers, beginning with Charcot, have been men of acknowledged scientific training and spirit, whose word must be respected and whose success in treating functional troubles stands out in sharp contrast to the fumblings of the average practitioner in this field.  The results of their work have been positive, not negative.  They have not merely asserted that nervous disorders are not physical; they have discovered what the trouble is and have found it to be discoverable and removable in almost every case, provided only that the right method is used.

=Ourselves and Our Bodies.= If the statement that “nervous troubles are neither physical nor imaginary but a disease of the personality,” sounds rather mystifying to the average person, it is only because the average person is not very conversant with his own inner life.  We shall hope, later on, to find some definite guide-posts and landmarks which will help us feel more at home in this fascinating realm.  At present, we are not attempting anything more than a suggestion of the itinerary which we shall follow.  A book on physical hygiene can presuppose at least a rudimentary knowledge of heart and lungs and circulation, but a book on mental hygiene must begin at the beginning, and even before the beginning must clear away misconceptions and make clear certain fundamental principles.  But the gist of the whole matter is this:  in a neurosis, certain forces of the personality—­instincts and their accompanying emotions—­which ought to work harmoniously, having become tangled up with some erroneous ideas, have lost their power of cooeperation and are working at cross purposes, leaving the individual mis-adapted to his environment, the prey of all sorts of mental and physical disturbances.

The fact that the cause is mental while the result is often physical, should cause no surprise.  In the physiological realm we are used to the idea that cause and effect are often widely separated.  A headache may be caused by faulty eyes, or it may result from trouble in the intestines.  In the same way, we should not be too much surprised if the cause of nervous troubles is found to be even more remote, provided there is some connecting link between cause and effect.  The difficulty in this case is the apparent gulf between the realm of the spirit and the realm of the body.  It is hard to see how an intangible thing like a thought can produce a pain in the arm or nausea in the stomach.  Philosophers are still arguing concerning the nature of the relation between mind and body, but no one denies that the closest relation does exist.  Every year science is learning that ideas count and that they count physically, as well as spiritually.