The Remedy

The victim of nervousness should first seek a complete change of environment, and engage in pleasant, and, if possible, profitable occupation.

Thousands of people become nervous wrecks by pursuing work for which they have no natural taste or ability, and many become nervous from the monotony of environment. This is especially true with women, and while it is exceedingly difficult for countless housewives and mothers to escape from this monotony, yet they can secure relief by becoming interested in some work of a public or quasi-public nature, or by taking up a "hobby" that has for its purpose some form of public good.

Therapeutic value of working for the public good.

All people love the plaudits and esteem of their fellow-creatures, and there is nothing that will relieve the monotony and bring that satisfaction which all of us desire more quickly than earnest labor in a worthy cause. Therefore, this is one of the first and the best remedies for that character of nervousness caused by the monotony and narrowed life of the average woman.

The most prolific cause of nervousness, however, is incorrect, unnatural habits of eating and drinking, therefore, the logical remedy must be found in simplifying, leveling, and making the diet conform to the requirements of the body governed, of course, by age, occupation, etc.

The nervous person should eliminate from the diet acids, sweets (see Lesson VIII (Foods Of Vegetable Origin), Vol. II, pp. 313 and 332), flesh foods, and all stimulating beverages.

The effects of wrong eating and drinking.

The following menus, with variations according to the available supply of fruits and vegetables in season, should be adopted:

Suggestions For Spring

Choice of the following menus:

One or two glasses of water should be drunk at each of these meals.

If there is a tendency toward constipation, a liberal portion of wheat bran, thoroughly cooked, should be taken at both the morning and the evening meal.

Bran possesses valuable nutritive properties, such as mineral salts, iron, protein and phosphates, and it harmonizes chemically with all other foods.

Suggestions For Summer

Breakfast

Melon, or any mild subacid or non-acid fruit, such as pears, baked apples, sweet grapes, very ripe peaches, Japanese plums, or persimmons

Choice of whipped egg or junket.

A banana - natural, or baked, if the digestion is slightly impaired

Luncheon

A fresh green salad, such as celery or lettuce, with oil or nuts Onions, uncooked A whipped egg Carrots, peas, or beans

Dinner

Corn, carrots, peas, beans, or squash Half a cup of plain wheat bran, cooked A baked potato A glass of water

Suggestions For Fall

In adopting the two-meals-a-day system, the noon meal should be omitted. This gives the stomach and the irritated nerves a rest, and creates natural hunger which augments both digestion and assimilation. (See Lesson XIII (Classification Of Foods And Food Tables), p. 630).

Breakfast

Melon or peaches.

A very ripe banana, with soaked prunes and cream

A spoonful of nuts.

One or two spoonfuls of whole wheat, cooked very thoroughly

One egg, prepared choice - preferably whipped

One glass of water.

A green salad or some sweet fruit may be eaten at noon if very hungry.

Dinner

Squash or pumpkin, cooked en casserole.

Fresh string beans.

A baked sweet potato.

One or two tablespoonfuls of nuts - choice

Junket or gelatin.

A glass of water..

Suggestions For Winter

First Day: On rising, drink two cups of cool water, and devote from five to ten minutes to vigorous exercises and deep breathing.

Breakfast

A cup of hot water or thin chocolate.

A email portion of boiled wheat.

One exceedingly ripe banana, eaten with cream

One or two eggs, whipped - cream and sugar added

One or two figs, with cream and either nuts or nut butter

Luncheon

Two eggs, whipped; add a flavor of sugar, orange juice, and a glass of milk A cup of hot water

Dinner

Turnips, carrots, parsnips, onions - any two of these

A baked potato or baked beans.

A small portion of fish, white meat of chicken, or an egg

Just before retiring, take exercises as prescribed for the morning, and, if constipated, two or three tablespoonfuls of wheat bran.

Second Day: The same as the first, slightly increasing the quantity of food if hungry.

Third Day: The same as the second, adding one or two baked bananas to the morning meal, and varying the vegetables according to the appetite for the noon and the evening meal. Nearly all vegetables such as turnips, beets, carrots and parsnips may be substituted for one another.

Fourth Day. Breakfast

Tokay or Malaga grapes.

A cup of hot water.

Two eggs, lightly poached, or a very rare omelet

A whole wheat muffin or a bran gem.

A cup of chocolate.

A liberal portion of wheat bran (one-fourth oatmeal), cooked and served as an ordinary cereal, eaten with butter

Luncheon

Choice of either a or b: a Two eggs, prepared as follows: Break into a bowl. Add a teaspoonful of sugar to each egg. Whip five minutes very rapidly with a rotary egg beater. Add a glass of milk and a teaspoonful of orange juice to each egg b A quart of milk and half a cup of bran One baked banana

Dinner

Any green salad - celery or shredded cabbage (very little), with salt and nuts

Choice of any two fresh vegetables Choice of: a One or two exceedingly ripe bananas, baked, eaten with butter or cream b Figs or raisins, with cream A glass of water

Exercise the same as prescribed for the first day.

Fifth Day: The same as the fourth day.

Sixth Day: The same as the first, repeating these menus for a period of three or four weeks.

The nervous person should eat very sparingly of bread and cereal products, with the exception of bran and a few coarse articles, such as flaked or whole wheat or rye, and these should be taken sparingly while under treatment.

A generous quantity of water should be drunk at meals, and mastication should be very thorough.

If the body is overweight or inclined toward obesity, the diet should consist of fewer fat-producing foods, such as grains, potatoes, milk, eggs, and an excess of vegetable proteids. If underweight or inclined toward emaciation, the fat-producing foods should predominate.

Under all conditions of nervousness the patient should take an abundance of exercise and deep breathing in the open air, and sleep out of doors, if possible. An abundance of fresh air breathed into the lungs is the best blood purifier known, and if the blood is kept pure, and forced into every cell and capillary vessel of the body by exercise, the irritated nerves will share in the general improvement.

The cool shower or sponge bath in the morning, preceded and followed by a few minutes' vigorous exercise, is a splendid sedative for irritated nerves.

Recreation

The nervous person should divide the day as nearly as possible into three equal parts - eight hours' pleasant but useful work; eight hours' recreation, and eight hours' sleep.

Under modern civilized conditions the majority of people do not seem to understand recreation. The summer seashore resorts, with their expensive attractions and whirling life, the great hostelries in the hills and mountains, and the lakes where thousands of people congregate, entail upon them certain duties, anxieties, expectations, disappointments, and often financial strain that deprive these places of all features of recreation, and make the sojourn there one of labor and strife. The real purpose that takes most people to these resorts is to be seen; to "star" themselves before the multitude, which in its last analysis is a kind of vanity, and it is obvious that from any effort in this direction no recreation can be obtained. The nervous person should seek a few congenial and thoughtful companions, and get back into the great heart of nature where everything moves in obedience to supreme law. Associate intimately with animals; study their habits, and notice how they respond to kindness; admire their honesty; analyze the love and fidelity of a dog. This is true diversion and recreation. This defines the purpose of life, if there be purpose behind it. This draws a sharp distinction between the condition that makes nervousness and the condition that makes honest, thoughtful, useful human beings.

Necessity for true recreation..