Mind and Body; or, Mental States and Physical Conditions

It will thus be seen that the Physical Conditions, perhaps originally caused by depressing Mental States, have brought about a state of affairs in which the brain is imperfectly nourished and which consequently cannot think properly. The liver being out of order, the spirits are depressed; the brain being imperfectly nourished, the attention and will are weakened, and the patient finds it hard to use his mind to influence his bodily conditions. The bowels not moving properly, the waste-products poison the circulation, and the brain is unable to think clearly. In fact, the whole physical system is often so disturbed that a condition known as “nervous prostration” sets in, in which it is practically impossible for the patient to hold the Mental States which will improve the Physical Conditions. In these cases outside help is generally necessary, unless in cases where a sudden shock, or an urgent necessity arouses the latent mental forces of the individual, and he asserts the power that is in him, and begins to reverse the chain of cause and effect and to start on the upward climb.

The following additional quotation from Dr. Parkyn, gives us a vivid insight into the effect upon the Mental States of abnormal Physical Conditions: Dr. Parkyn says: “No organ of the body can perform its functions properly when the amount of blood supplied to it is insufficient, and we find, when the blood supply to the brain is not up to the normal standard, that brain functions are interfered with to a degree corresponding to the reduction in the circulation. Since the amount of blood normally supplied to the brain is lessened in nervous prostration, we find that the memory fails and the ability to concentrate the attention disappears. The reasoning power becomes weakened and the steadiest mind commences to vacillate. Fears and hallucinations of every description may fill the mind of a patient at this stage, and every impression he receives is likely to be greatly distorted or misconstrued. Melancholia with a constant fear of impending danger is often present. In fact, the brain seems to lose even the power to control its functions, and the mind becomes active day and night… The reduction of the nutrition to the brain lessens the activity of all the cerebral centers also, and digestion becomes markedly impaired, thereby weakening the organ itself upon which the supply of vital force depends.”

The physiologist is able to furnish a great variety of illustrations of the effect of Physical Conditions over Mental States. He shows that many cases of mental trouble are due to eye-strain, and other muscular disturbances, and that serious mental complaints sometimes arise by reason of physical lesions. The very terms used to designate certain abnormal mental states show the relation, as for instance, melancholia which is derived from the Greek words meaning “black bile”; and hysteria, which is derived from the Greek word meaning “the womb; or uterus.” Every one knows the Mental States produced by a sluggish liver, or by dyspepsia, or from constipation. We all know the difference between our mental capacity for thinking when we are tired, as contrasted with that accompanying the refreshed physical condition. No man, whatever his philosophy, can truthfully claim to be able to maintain a placid, even disposition, and a perfectly controlled temper, when he is suffering from a boil on the back of his neck. And, all know that after indulging in the midnight “Welsh rarebit,” one is apt to dream of his grandmother’s ghost, or see dream elephants with wings. All know the delirium produced by overindulgence in liquor, and the hallucinations that accompany fever. The effect of drugs, tobacco, and alcohol upon the Mental States are well known. “Philip drunk” is a very different mentality from “Philip sober.” The Mental States accompanying particular diseases are well known to physicians. One disease predisposes the sufferer to gloominess, while another will induce a state of feverish hilarity. Some leading authorities now hold that many cases of insanity are really due to abnormal conditions of the blood, rather than to any diseased condition of the brain.

One of the most marked instances of the action and reaction of Mental States and Physical Conditions is met with in the activities of the sexual organism. Psychologists very properly hold that sexual excesses and abnormalities are largely due to improper thinking, that is, by allowing the attention and interest to dwell too strongly and continuously upon subjects connected with the activities of that part of the physical system. Mental treatment along the lines of Suggestive Therapeutics has resulted in curing many persons of troubles of this sort. But, note the correlated fact – excess and abnormalities of the kind mentioned, almost invariably react upon the mentality of the person indulging in them, and softening of the brain, paralysis, or imbecility have often arisen directly from these physical abuses. It will be seen that any sane treatment of these troubles must take into consideration both Body and Mind. In the same way it is a fact that just as certain Mental States, notably those of fear, worry, grief, jealousy, etc., will injuriously affect the organs of digestion and assimilation, so will imperfect functioning of these organs tend to produce depressing mental states similar to those just mentioned. Many instances of the strange correspondences are met with in the study of physiological-psychology, or psychological-physiology.

In order to more fully appreciate the relation between the Body and the Mind, let us read the following lines from Prof. Halleck: “Marvelous as are the mind’s achievements, we must note that it is as completely dependent upon the nervous system as is a plant upon sun, rain and air. Suppose a child of intelligent parents were ushered into the world without a nerve leading from his otherwise perfect brain to any portion of his body, with no optic nerve to transmit the glorious sensations from the eye, no auditory nerve to conduct the vibrations of the mother’s voice, no tactile nerves to convey the touch of a hand, no olfactory nerve to rouse the brain with the delicate aroma from the orchards and the wild flowers in spring, no gustatory, thermal or muscular nerves. Could such a child live, as the years rolled on, the books of Shakespeare and of Milton would be opened in vain before the child’s eyes. The wisest men might talk to him with utmost eloquence, all to no purpose. Nature could not whisper one of her inspiring truths into his deaf ear, could not light up that dark mind with a picture of the rainbow or of a human face. No matter how perfect might be the child’s brain and his inherited capacity for mental activities, his faculties would remain for this life shrouded in Egyptian darkness. Perception could give memory nothing to retain, and thought could not weave her matchless fabrics without materials.”

The very feelings or emotions themselves are so closely related to the accompanying physical expressions, that it is difficult to distinguish between cause and effect, or indeed to state positively which really is the cause of the other. Prof. William James, in some of his works, strongly indicates this close relation, as for instance when he says: “The feeling, in the coarser emotions, result from the bodily expression… My theory is that the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion… Particular perceptions certainly do produce widespread bodily effects by a sort of immediate physical influence, antecedent to the arousal of an emotion or emotional idea… Every one of the bodily changes, whatsoever it may be, is felt, acutely or obscurely, the moment it occurs… If we fancy some strong emotion, and then try to abstract from our consciousness of it all the feelings of its bodily symptoms, we have nothing left behind… A disembodied human emotion is a sheer nonentity. I do not say that it is a contradiction in the nature of things, or that pure spirits are necessarily condemned to cold intellectual lives; but I say that for us emotion disassociated from all bodily feelings is inconceivable. The more closely I scrutinize my states, the more persuaded I become that whatever ‘coarse’ affections and passions I have are in very truth constituted by, and made up of, those bodily changes which we ordinarily call their expression or consequence… But our emotions must always be inwardly what they are, whatever may be the physiological ground of their apparition. If they are deep, pure, worthy, spiritual facts on any conceivable theory of their physiological source, they remain no less deep, more spiritual, and worthy of regard on this present sensational theory.”

A deeper consideration of the relation between Mind and Body would necessitate our invading the field of metaphysical speculation, which we have expressed our intention to avoid doing. Enough for the purposes of our present consideration is: the recognition that each individual is possessed of a mind and a material body; that these two phases or aspects of himself are closely related by an infinite variety of ties and filaments; that these two phases of his being act and react upon each other constantly and continuously; that in all considerations of the questiontion of either mental or physical well-being, or both, that both of these phases of being must be considered; that any system of therapeutics which ignores either of these phases, is necessarily “one-sided” and incomplete; and that, while, for convenience and clearness of specialized thinking, we may consider the Mind and the Body as separate and independent of each other, yet, we must, in the end, recognize their interdependence, mutual relation, action and reaction.

Thus, the New Psychology recognizes the importance of the Body, while the New Physiology recognizes the importance of the Mind. And, in the end, we feel that both physiology and psychology must be recognized as being but two different phases of one great science – the Science of Life.