Psychotherapy

Many men will not be guided by such considerations and insist on living their lives in their own way in spite of the possibility of the family inheritance shortening their career in the late fifties. More than one has said that he would prefer to have the life of the salmon rather than that of the turtle. The strenuous life alone appeals to them.

"Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay."

This would be an admirable response if what these men accomplished during their lives amounted to anything. Most of these who run out their existences in the midst of excitement, however, only do harm by adding to the swarm of speculators in life, or accomplish very little because of the intense excitement under which they labor. It is the quiet lives, doing a few things and doing them well, outside of the strenuous current of the bustle of existence, that accomplish most for mankind. The others may attract attention for the moment, but they soon pass out, often having done rather harm than good.

Life-direction .—It is perfectly possible for the physician to make this clear to a young man with a dangerous heredity and perhaps change the current of life so as to make it effective in simplicity and serious patient work. The young man will usually be quite impatient to think that anything thirty years ahead should be expected to influence his decision as to how or what he shall do with life, yet this motive added to others may help to get at least some of this and the next generation from wasting their lives in an over-strenuous existence that at most merely accumulates money, often accumulates it only in order to lose it, with consequent disappointment and worry, and frequently leaves no real accomplishment but only the problem of the disposal of accumulated wealth for future generations. Where large wealth is left to the succeeding generation there is usually little use to give any advice with regard to the possibility of early apoplexy, because excitements of other kinds than those of business, of the heart rather than the mind, are likely to wear out existence even before the time when the family life of arteries ordinarily, though precociously, runs itself out.

Certain people have what is called the apoplectic habitus, that is, they are short in stature, rather stout, with short necks and florid complexions. It seems not unlikely that the mechanical arrangement within their bodies by which the distance from their heart to their brain is so much shorter than in ordinary persons is responsible for the tradition so generally accepted that there is a definite tendency in such people for apoplexy to occur at a comparatively early age. Such people should be warned gently but firmly of the danger that they incur if they subject themselves to a life of excitement or emotional stress or permit themselves to get into circumstances in which they will worry much. It may seem as though a warning of this kind would precipitate the worry of mind that it is meant to ameliorate, but in present-day publicity such people are likely to have heard of the meaning of their particular constitution of body and consequently worry about it, but usually after it is too late to do any good. In this matter, as in heart disease, the warning must come before there are any symptoms, or else must not be used at all.

Certain Abuses .—In most of these cases definite warnings with regard to habits of life and indulgence in stimulants and narcotics should be given. Both Prof. Von Leyden and Prof. Mendel of Berlin insist that for patients in whom there is any likelihood of the development of early apoplexy indulgence in alcoholic liquors is almost sure to be serious, but in addition to this generally accepted warning, both of them also insist that smoking has a tendency to produce serious, premature degeneration of arteries, especially in people who already have tendencies in that direction. Overeating and high living in general without moderate exercise causes a plethora of the circulation that must be avoided. On the other hand, violent exercise, running especially to catch trains or cars, haste in the ascent of stairs or hills, heavy lifting, straining at stool, and the like, are particularly prone to have serious consequences for such people. This warning is all the more needed because many a short, stout man acquires the idea that gymnastic work and various exercises indoors may help him to reduce his weight and restore the activity of his earlier years. This is practically always a delusion and indoor gymnastic work is always of dubious value.

What these people need is not more muscle and the wearing off of fat but more air and the burning of it off by increased oxidation. Such patients must be taught to lead tranquil lives without any of the excitement and strenuosity that, after all, accomplishes so little. The sacrifice when first suggested, appears too great a one to make, but after a few years patients instead of feeling that it was a sacrifice at all pronounce it to be a blessing in disguise and are proportionately grateful to their physician. Life for many of these people may be prolonged not for a few years of hustle-bustle, but for many years of good work in quiet and peace, without hurting others by competition, but helping many because there is time in their considerate lives to see something of the sorrow and suffering around them and to relieve it.

Change of Occupation .—In the matter of prophylaxis it is particularly important to insist on the fact that when men have worked at hard manual labor when they are young and then, about middle life, have turned to intense intellectual labor, such as the management and administration of important affairs, they are a little more liable than are the general average of humanity to have an apoplectic seizure at sixty or a little later. Apparently inurement to a particular kind of labor when young makes for the capacity to stand it longer than would otherwise be the case. In this matter, however, the most important factor is heredity. Men who come from long-lived families are likely to live long—indeed far beyond the ordinary term of human life. Even in them, however, certain of these directions are helpful in securing the full measure of life.

After the Stroke.—After a stroke of apoplexy when it becomes clear that nature is about to reassert her control over the circulation in the brain and dispose of the remains of the old hemorrhage, psychotherapeutics is more important than anything else that we have for the treatment of these patients. As a rule, they have been active, vigorous men who are stricken and who suffer more from doing nothing and waiting to get better than from any pain they have to undergo. They know that another stroke may come at any time. It is no wonder that introspection plays its part, that every feeling that they have becomes exaggerated in significance, that their appetite fails them, that their bowels become sluggish, that they do not sleep, or that after having fallen asleep they wake up and then for hours lie awake thinking.

Lack of Air and Exercise .—As they usually have no exercise of any kind, do not get out into the air, and have very little diversion of mind, it is easy to understand that neurotic or hysterical symptoms develop, that they lose all confidence of recovery and make themselves even worse than they are by dwelling on their condition. The only way that this group of symptoms can be treated is by favorable suggestion, by encouragement, by mental reassurance and by occupation of mind.

I have always felt that the condition of affairs which developed in a family immediately after the occurrence of an apoplexy usually makes a very unfavorable environment for the treatment of these cases. It is practically impossible for those who come to visit the patient or for the members of the family for some time to wear anything but the resigned air that indicates that they fear the worst.

Sympathetic Care .—After the stroke at once when survival is assured comes the question of the management of the patient. A devoted daughter seems to be able to do more for an apoplectic father than anyone else. Somehow her youth appeals to him sympathetically, and he has not that feeling of sadness mixed with a little envy that comes so readily to all men when they find themselves slipping out of life while their contemporaries and friends and relatives are left behind. It is as if the idea of his daughter being young and strong, even though he has lost vitality, docs not touch him poignantly because he has always expected that she should have health and strength after he was gone. On the other hand, a daughter is not always a good nurse for a mother. Just why, is hard to say. A hired nurse must take, as a rule, the place close to the mother which, in the case of the father, so naturally falls to the daughter. These ideas may be founded on too few cases to generalize very much about, but I have discussed them with many physicians, including some women physicians, and they agree with them, in general principle at least.

Trained Attendance .—As a rule, then, the first thing that has to be done for a patient who has had apoplexy and who is beginning to recover, is to have trained attendants near him who talk professionally to him and reassure him and do not make him feel constantly the possibility of an approaching end. If his improvement has begun his family must not be allowed to bother him, his affairs should not be talked over and, as far as possible, some occupation of mind should be secured for him. He needs new interests at once. These must be gradually awakened and he must be made to feel as early as possible that though he may be more helpless than before and most of his ordinary occupation in life may be cut off, there are still many interests in life which he may thoroughly enjoy. I shall never forget hearing Thomas Dunn English, the dear old poet to whom in his earlier years we owed "Sweet Alice, Ben Bolt," say at an alumni dinner of the University of Pennsylvania that he used to think that all the good things of life were somehow contained in its first eighty years, but that now since he had past his eightieth birthday (he was at the time in his eighty-third year) he was beginning to agree with Bismarck, who declared under similar circumstances that he had found many interests in the second eighty years of life. At the time English was quite blind, was almost completely deaf, had been seriously ill for several months, and had suffered a rather severe stroke some years before; and yet he made the best speech at the dinner that evening and had the youngest heart of us all—joyous, uplifting, encouraging, optimistic.

Outlook .—Men who have been great workers are prone to think that a stroke of apoplexy means the end of all serious work. Of course, it means nothing of the kind for the majority of patients. Many men find not only enjoyment in life after their recovery from even a serious stroke, but also possibilities of accomplishment sometimes better than they had done before. It has even been known that men who had been occupying themselves with things scarcely worth while, with the mere accumulation of money without any purpose, were awakened to a sense of their responsibilities to life and to their fellowmen by a stroke and planned in the after years institutions or aids to existing institutions that did much to make life more livable for others. Nothing makes a man face life in a better mood to do really effective service for mankind than the prospect of possibly soon having to go out of life.

Encouraging Examples .—On the other hand, many men have been able in spite even of a severe stroke to go on after a time with the work they had been at before and, though feeling its effects, accomplish the best achievements of their lives. A typical example is the case of Pasteur, the great French bacteriologist, to whom we owe most of our modern preventive medicine and to whom Lord Lister frankly attributes the germ idea of the antiseptic theory. When little past fifty, Pasteur after years of hard work and worry suffered from a severe stroke of apoplexy followed by several of slighter character. It seemed absolutely the end of his labors. For more than a year he was able to do nothing. For all his after life he was seriously lame as a consequence of his stroke. In spite of this, which would seem to preclude the possibility of great intellectual work, Pasteur's most important discoveries were developed after this time and he continued for over twenty years to be the leader of biological science. Had he died at the age of fifty or given up his work we would scarcely know him for the great scientist that he afterwards proved.

It is worth while to be able to tell the stories of such lives as examples to patients who are dispirited and downhearted after a stroke. Of course, men must be prevented from doing hard work or from worrying during the time immediately following the hemorrhage of the brain, and, indeed, for some months. Work and worry, though worry much more than work, might easily hasten a recurrence of the seizure. It has always seemed to me, however, that it is impossible to keep the human mind utterly unoccupied. Men must think about something during their waking hours, and if they have not some interests close at heart they worry about themselves. Of the two things, worry is much harder on the tissues, raises blood pressure more, disturbs the circulation of the brain to a greater degree than does work. Anything that a man will interest himself in, then, should be allowed to him, provided, of course, that he is kept from getting into the state of mind which precipitated the rupture of the artery in his brain. It is a change of mental occupation above all that is needed and this is secured by deliberate attempts to interest his mind in various ways and keep him from dwelling on himself and his ills. This injunction cannot be repeated too often.

Change of Mental Interest .—I have already insisted in the chapter on Diversion of Mind that so far as we know at the present time different portions of the brain are occupied with different subjects in which we may interest ourselves. When a man by business worries, occupation with financial affairs, or with political troubles, has apparently worn out one portion of his brain, he may still use other portions to decided advantage. Hence the necessity for finding new interests for the apoplectic after their attack. The best interests for them are those associated in some way with their fellows, because these are accompanied by feelings of consolation, of encouragement, of desire to live and do good to others. These do more to take men out of their moodiness, their morbid introspection, and their self-centeredness, than anything else. With the help of a good nurse, herself of broad interests, this must become the main purpose of the physician's treatment.

Misplaced Sympathy .—After the first few days, when the shock is over, a strong, healthy man who has been suddenly taken down with apoplexy, then rendered helpless as a consequence of the lesion in his brain, rather resents the sympathy and, above all, the frequent expression of the feelings of his friends towards him. Time is needed for him to recover, there is no way of hastening it, he is already impatient at the delay and words of sympathy do him very little good and often add to his impatience. He is to be taken absolutely with professional calm, made to understand that time is the most important element in his cure, provided he will not worry and will have patience to wait and to help as far as he can. I nearly always feel that it is better for these patients to be away from home as soon as they can be moved with safety. This enables them to avoid without much difficulty what they are apt to consider the intrusive and obtrusive sympathy of friends. Especially is this true of business friends, themselves in good health, who come to offer their condolences.

Their hysterical condition is largely influenced by the fact that they are indoors and have so little diversion of mind. Just as soon as possible they must get out of doors. Over and over again I have found that patients did not care to expose themselves to the inquisitive gaze of neighbors and preferred to stay in the house, though the outing would be of much benefit to them. Hence the necessity for getting them away from home, among people whom they can observe without attracting too much attention themselves and, above all, without being the subjects of such obtrusive pity as will disturb them. None of us likes to be pitied and least of all the strong, vigorous man who often has had nothing the matter with him all his life and is now suddenly stricken. It requires years of experience to enable one to take sympathy properly and without resenting it.

Outings and Human Interests .—When patients care for carriage riding I have found that the city park is an excellent place for patients suffering from the effects of apoplexy, who require outdoor air and diversion of mind, yet without exercise or much exertion. The children in the park, if they play around, serve as a better diversion of mind than almost anything else for elderly people thus stricken, for they seem to renew their youth at the sight of the little ones. Grandchildren make the best possible consolers even when they seem to probe deep into old wounds by asking questions and by talking about death. The talk of death from young lips has not the same disturbing effect as from older people. The games of children interest the old once more, and if there is occasional music and the chance to see the passing throng of carriages and motor cars and the pleasure boats and all the rest there is refreshment and reinvigoration in it all that soon brings back to the patient deep, satisfactory, even dreamless uninterrupted sleep at night, and appetite and strength. At first there will usually be some objection to being thus treated as an invalid, but only a few days of experience are needed to convert even the most morbid to the idea that this outing will do them good. As a rule, friends must be warned not to spoil the effect of it by fearing lest the patient should be lonely and so go to the park to entertain him. If the drive, the lake and the children, as well as the passers-by, do not suffice to give the patient sufficient diversion of mind, the visits of friends will not have any favorable effect. As a rule, it is better for them to see the patient at home and even that not too often unless they are of his immediate family.

Where people are able to go away and, above all, where they can have some pleasant companionship, a seaside resort is an ideal place for those recovering from apoplexy. The long ride in a wheel-chair on the boardwalk at least several hours in the morning and afternoon soon acts marvelously. There is constant diversion of mind at any season of the year, for there are lots of people to be seen in all sorts of costumes and the shops and the shows and the passing throng all have their interests. Then the sea air is bracing and tempts to sleepfulness and just as soon as sleep improves courage comes back. I have known patients so hysterical that they were crying every day and that seemed to have given up all hope, improve so much in two weeks at Atlantic City that it seemed little short of marvelous. What is needed, however, is not a stay of a few weeks but of several months.

Prognosis of Strokes.—While, of course, any single stroke may be fatal and no one can tell anything about the prognosis of a rupture of a brain artery, there are many favorable things that can be said to patients, and they are so prone to think of all the unfavorable things that this better side should be presented to them at once. The physician is tempted to present the worst side of the case lest it should be thought that he did not realize how serious the condition was. All the seriousness of it may be impressed upon friends, but the patient must be told all the possibilities of good. I have always felt that the tonic quality of hope was worth more in preventing further damage and in encouraging the beginning of repair than any drug that we have. If patients have been unconscious, just as soon as unconsciousness disappears, they should be told that very probably this is the beginning of recovery and that the great majority of people who have a stroke recover. The more rapidly the symptoms disappear the better is the ultimate prognosis. Many a man who has had a stroke has done years of good work afterwards and very few men who recover fail to accomplish something that is of supreme satisfaction to them. They have a new outlook on life as a consequence of the near vision of death.

Those who have had one stroke usually die in a subsequent one, though, of course, some intermittent disease such as pneumonia or some organic complication may anticipate the second stroke. Those who have had two strokes and survive are often much worried by the old tradition that a third stroke is always fatal. I am reasonably sure that many old men have not survived their third stroke when they felt its premonitory symptoms and knew just what was coming from their previous experience, because they had given up hope on account of this old tradition. Ignorant people or those of the lower classes who have not heard this axiom often survive their third stroke and I have seen a man who had suffered from seven apoplectic seizures.

Complications.—Occasionally a patient, especially if of the educated classes, may be much worried by the fact that while one side is distinctly lamed after his stroke, yet there is also a pronounced weakness on the other side of the body. This sometimes gives rise to the rather appalling thought that there was perhaps a simultaneous rupture on both sides of the brain. It needs to be explained to such patients that this slight weakness, sometimes quite distinct, however, on the side opposite that which is most affected is extremely common. Ordinarily the rupture of an artery on one side of the brain causes a paralysis on the other side of the body. This paralysis or loss of control over muscular action is due to disturbance of the motor tracts of nerves through which muscular action is controlled and directed by the brain, and these normally cross to the other side on the way to the periphery. In nearly everyone the tracts remain uncrossed to some slight extent. In some so much of the pyramidal tract remains uncrossed that there may be decided weakness on the same side as the lesion in the brain.