The Foundations of Personality by Abraham Myerson (sites to read books for free TXT) 📖
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never knew, but a remarkable transformation took place. The man
changed over, studied hard, read outside literature and actually
asked for the privilege of working in the laboratory Sundays and
holidays so that he might learn more. When this was known to the
rest of the class, there were bets placed that he would not
“last,” but quite to the surprise of everybody D. M. gained in
momentum as he went along. As a matter of fact, his interest on
the subject grew, and he is now a bacteriologist of good
standing. In fact, his lack of interest in other matters has
helped him, since he has no distracting tastes or pleasures.
Thus there are persons of specialized interest and energy, and it
may well be that there is for most of the hypokinetic a line of
work that would act to energize them. The problem, therefore, in
each case is to find the latent ability and interest and to
regard no case as really hopeless. I say this despite the fact
that I believe some cases are hopeless. The pessimistic attitude
on the part of parent or teacher kills effort; the optimistic
attitude fosters energetic effort.
6. The irritable hypokinetic. Irritability[1] of a pathological
type as a phase of lowered energy is well known to every
physiologist and in the practical everyday world is seen in the
tired and sick. There are people who from the very start of life
show lowered endurance, who respond to certain stimuli in an
excessive manner and are easily exhausted. This type the
neurologist calls the congenital neurasthenic, and it may be we
are dealing here with some defect in the elimination of fatigue
products. This, however, is only a guess, and the disease factor,
if there is any, is entirely unknown. I do not pretend that the
person I am to describe is entirely representative of this group.
Indeed, no dozen cases would show all the symptoms and
peculiarities of the irritable hypokinetic group.
[1] One must take care not to mistake the irritability which is
the characteristic of all living tissue for the irritability here
considered.
E. is a man at present thirty years of age. In person he is of
average height, rather slender, with delicate features, somewhat
bald, quick in action and speech. He flushes easily and thus
often has high color, especially when fatigued or excited. This
“vasomotor irritability,” as the physicians call it, is quite
common in this group of people, and in fact in all neurasthenia,
whether acquired or congenital. Though I have described E. as
belonging to the slender type of person, it is necessary to say
that stout, rugged-looking people are often irritable and
hypokinetic.
As a child E. “never could stand excitement or strain,” as his
mother says. What is meant is this: that he became overexcited
under almost any circumstances and became profoundly fatigued
afterwards. As we have seen, the intense diffusion of excitement
throughout the whole body is a sign of the childish and inferior
organism; as maturity approaches and throughout childhood
excitability decreases and is better localized. When a noise is
heard an infant jumps, and so do people like E., but the better
controlled merely turn their head and eyes to see what the source
of the noise may be. This lack of control of excitement extended
in E.‘s case to play, entertainment, novelty of any kind, crowds
and especially to the disagreeable excitement of quarrels,
fights, terrifying experiences, etc. Under anger he trembled,
grew pale, and his shouts and screams were beyond control; under
fear he became actually sick, vomited and showed a liability to
syncope of an alarming kind. E. was not the selfish type of the
neurasthenic; he was gentle and kind and ready to share with
everybody, a lovable boy of an intensely sociable nature.
Nevertheless, his high excitability and his quick fatigue made it
necessary to shelter him, for any effort at toughening merely
brought about a “breakdown.”
Here we must reemphasize the fundamental importance of the
fatigue reactions. The normal fatigue reaction is to feel weary,
to desire rest and to be able to rest and sleep. The abnormal
reaction, one directly opposed to the well-being of the
individual, is to feel exhausted, to become restless and to find
it difficult to sleep. There are children who thrive on
excitement and exertion; they sleep sounder for it, they
recuperate readily and gain in strength and endurance with every
ordinary burden put upon them. There are others to whom anything
but the least excitement and exertion acts as a poison, making
them restless and exhausted. Not all children who show this
perverse fatigue reaction grow up with it. It may be only a
temporary phase of their lives, but while it lasts it is very
troublesome.
In E.‘s case the overexcitable hypokinetic stage lasted until
about the ninth year, and then there was a great improvement,
though he still was of the same general type. He became a fairly
good runner for a short distance, learned to swim, though he
stood the cold water poorly, was clever and graceful as a dancer
and was quite popular. At sixteen he left school to enter
business, because of the straitened means of his family. He
entered into adolescent period later and suffered greatly from
his sixteenth to nineteenth year from, fatigue, hypochondriacal
fears, and had to have a good deal of medical attention at this
time. Sex questions perplexed him, for he became quite passionate
and at the same time had much moral repugnance to illicit
relations. His sexual curiosity was intense, and he read all
manner of books on the subject, went to the burlesque shows on
the sly and almost became obsessed on sex matters.
At this stage he made only a mediocre showing in his business
career, though his evident honesty secured him promotion to a
clerk’s position. After his nineteenth year he seemed to gain
again in energy and endurance and was fairly well until his
twenty-eighth year, though he had to nurse his endurance at all
times, developed very regular habits of sleep, diet, etc., and in
this manner got along. Once he had an opportunity to join an
organization which would have paid him a better salary, but the
hours were irregular, and it would have demanded much exertion
and excitement, so he passed it by.
In 1917 he joined the army, partly because of patriotic motives,
partly because he was convinced that army life might develop his
endurance and energy. He was sent to an army post in the South
and within two months of his entrance had “broken down.” He was
sleepless, restless, was irritable and “jumpy,” had lost appetite
and the feeling of endurance. Life seemed intolerable, though he
had no desire to do away with himself, for he had no quarrel with
life itself but was disgusted with his inferiority. He was
hospitalized, but this did little good and he was afterwards
discharged as medically unfit.
This, of course, hurt his pride, but essentially he was greatly
relieved. He made but slow improvement until through the
munificence of Uncle Sam he was given a new start in life through
the Vocational Reeducation Board. Like many other city men, he
has dreamed of the “chicken farm” as the ideal occupation free
from too much work and yet lucrative. This, of course, is a
mistaken notion, but while learning the work he is happy and is
slowly regaining his energy. What time will bring forth no one
can tell, but this is certain: throughout his life he will have
to rely on good habits, carefully adjusted to his energy, in
order to protect himself from the bankruptcy that so easily comes
on him. A philosophy of life which will help to control his
irritability is necessary, and the intelligent of the hypokinetic
irritable acquire the habits and the philosophy necessary for
their welfare.
Any neurologist could cite any number of such cases with varying
traits of character, high intelligence or feebleminded,
controlled in morals or uncontrolled, happily or unhappily
situated, whose central difficulty is an irritable and easily
exhausted store of energy. They are easily excited and excitement
burns them out; that is the long and short of their situation.
Sex, love, hatred, anger, strain, fear in all its forms,
illness,—all these and many other emotions and happenings may
break them down. Such people, and those who care for them, must
not make the mistake of thinking that rough handling,
strenuosity, will cure what is apparently a fixed character.
There is an irritable, high-energy type—irritable
hyperkinetic—that is well contrasted with the foregoing. This
explosive personality works by fits and starts but does not wear
out, merely, as it were, settles down to his ordinary pace when
he rests up. He is like a six-day bicycle racer who plugs along
but every now and then sprints like mad for a few laps and then
comes back to a pace that would kill the average rider. I shall
not trouble to cite such a case, but I can think of at least one
man of good attainments who is of this explosive hyperkinetic
type. He responds to every demand with a burst of energy, and his
quota of ordinary activities is simply appalling.
Neglecting the further types of energy display for the simple
reason that this quality shades off into every conceivable type
and is also a part of every nature, we turn to the types of
emotional mood display. With these it is necessary to consider
excitability as well, and the most interesting beings are here
our objects of study.
I wish first to emphasize my belief that where there is a great
natural variation in excitability and emotionality in
individuals, there is not nearly so much in races as we think,
and that social heredity is tradition and cultural level plays
the more important role in this. My friend and colleague, Dr. A.
Warren Stearns, has made a study which shows that while the
immigrant Italian is excitable and quick to anger and of
revengeful reactions, his American-born descendent has so far
controlled and changed this type of reaction that he does not
especially figure in police records, in murders or assaults. My
own studies of the second and especially the third generation Jew
show there is an almost complete approach to the “American” type
in emotional display, in what is known as poise. This third
generation Jewish-American has dropped all the mannerisms of
excitability in gesture and voice, and his adherence to good form
includes that attitude of nonchalant humor so characteristic of
the American.
1. The generally excitable, overemotional type. This type is more
common in the Latin, Hebrew and Celtic races. In some respects it
corresponds to the hypokinetic irritable, but it is not
necessarily hypokinetic. The artistic type of person, so called,
is of this group, but is, of course, talented as well. Talent
need not be present, and there are persons of no artistic ability
whatever who show a generalized, excitable-emotional temperament.
All young children show the main traits of this type, and there
is something essentially simple about all these folk, no matter
how civilized or sophisticated they get to be.
A. L., a woman of fifty, belongs to this group. She is a Jewess
and now a widow. All of her life her character and temperament
have been the same, and though her experiences have been varied
she has not in any essential altered. This last is rather
characteristic of the group, for experience has but little effect
on their emotional reactions.
A. L. cries very easily and readily, but her tears are easily
dried and her joy is grotesquely childlike. She is readily
frightened, worries without restraint and finds a melancholy
satisfaction in the worst.
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