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Segregation in special institutions seems on the whole desirable for nervous patients. Against it has been urged the facts that a patient's depression or irritability may be increased by his companions' nerves and that he is apt to imitate others' symptoms, but these arguments have not been supported by experience. On the other hand it has been found that a nervous case in the general wards of a hospital attracts painful attention from the other patients, and that his tremors, stuttering, or shuffling gait are made the subject of their jokes. A man whose ills are what wounded men call imaginary can expect from them little sympathy.

In any institution where shell shock cases are successfully treated, the greatest care is taken to make the surroundings cheerful and to have the atmosphere charged with optimism. Patients of this kind are extremely sensitive to suggestion. If they are to recover, everything around them must suggest hope and recovery. The first step in the cure is to make them believe they are going to get well. In this task the personality of doctors and nurses plays a big role. They must have common sense, real sympathy, the strength of will to disguise it, and great confidence, but above all the power to command their patients' confidence.

It is the doctor's first duty to find out what is worrying his patients. He may use the simple method of sympathetic questioning or the modern psychoanalysis, but his aim is always to bring to light the hidden complex which Is at the root of their nervous symptoms. He then tries to make the patients understand their symptoms, to face squarely the facts responsible for their breakdown, and to build up their will power. Physical treatment, such as electric currents, baths, and massage, may be a valuable adjunct to psycho-therapeutic measures but can easily be overdone. If it tends to center the patient's interest more closely on his condition, it is definitely bad.

Suggestion has effected some sudden and dramatic cures and Is always a powerful aid in furnishing the initial Impulse to self-control. A simple Illustration Is the man who insisted that his left leg was completely paralyzed. Asked about the strength of his right leg, he kicked out with it strongly, unconscious that he was at the time standing on his left. Similarly, men who have lost their power of speech have found it when physically hurt or through suddenly joining in the well-known chorus of a song. Suggestion cures are, however, not always permanent, for while the fixed idea may be dissipated, the state of mind which made it possible remains. This must be changed by longer treatment. The affected muscle groups must also be systematically re-educated before the cure Is complete. The case of a Canadian soldier suffering from paraplegia is interesting both for the psychic cause of his trouble and for the way In which he was cured. The man in question received a slight wound and a severe shock from the explosion of a shell which blew in the wall of the trench where he was standing. The wound healed rapidly, but the purely functional paraplegia persisted with great stubbornness. On being questioned, the man said that he had seen a companion have both legs blown off; later he admitted that he had a sister unable to walk and that he had dreaded receiving an injury which would make another helpless invalid in the family. In the endeavor to prove to him that his fears were unfounded, the doctors anesthetized him and while he was unconscious raised his legs in front of him with bent knees. When he came out of the anesthetic, he was told that he had himself raised his knees and was ordered to lower them into a more convenient position. The result was a distinct movement of the muscles. From this time the man knew that his muscles were not lifeless, and through graduated, continued practice he finally regained complete control.

Since the main factor in the cure of any functional nervous disease is the will of the patient, everything must be done to make life seem worth while to him. Games and gentle sports in the open air are beneficial, but better than anything else is some light interesting work. Almost any kind of work will serve the purpose if it is not too fatiguing or so monotonous that it becomes mechanical. Creative work with the fingers is usually attractive to nervous patients. If it is in addition work in which they can progress by definite steps, always conscious of their own improvement, it seldom fails to have an excellent effect upon both their spirits and their bodies. After a few weeks or even days of some congenial occupation, men begin to take a new interest in life. Their eyes brighten; their limbs stop trembling; they are no longer racked by dreams. With the awakening of their interest their will and initiative are also aroused, and their cure then is not far off.

Various occupations have been introduced into the hospitals and convalescent homes of our allies as a means of refitting nervously shattered men for the business of life. At the Central Hospital for Nervous Diseases at Cobourg, Ontario, to which are sent the severer shock cases among the Canadian returned soldiers, patients are started at some simple occupational work such as basketry or clay modeling; as they become capable of greater effort, they are directed to carpentry, pottery, or gardening. At Golders Green in London, the first Home of Recovery for discharged soldiers unable to earn a living because of their nervous condition, great emphasis is placed on intensive garden culture. French methods are used -- cold frames, cloches, heavy fertilizing, and other means of forcing -- and a surprising number of vegetables are produced on a small plot of ground. It is hoped that the work will not only serve a remedial purpose, but that it will provide a livelihood later to men who can never make a complete recovery. In connection with the garden culture, there are operated carpentry, ironworking, and basketry shops for making the glass frames, packing crates, tools, and containers. Other shops are for motor mechanics, electric fitting, and shoemaking.