POWER OF SUGGESTION

Evening Star, Issue 19796, 21 February 1928, Page 10

POWER OF SUGGESTION

SEASICKNESS DUE TO FEAR

The power of suggestion is more potent than drugs to” combat unpleasant eventualities on tbo briny deep, according to Dr W. N. Boldyreff, physiologist of Battle Creek Sanatorium. Says Science Service’s ‘Daily Science News Bulletin ’ (Washington):—“Dr Boldyreff believes that fear is at the bottom of the gastric and intestinal disturbances that produce seasickness. The psychic reaction of fright, in his opinion,_ inhibits the secretions of digestive juices, which afterward pour forth with greater force, irritating the sensitive lining of the intestine, with tho consequences which need no elucidation. Suggestion is the rational means of preventing the malady, he declares: while the best method of curative suggestion would be lectures on the causes and prevention of seasickness, so .that the prospective victims would hav,e their apprehensions removed as far as possible. Training the hands on boats so that tactless comments to passengers suggesting _ seasickness are reduced to a minimum would likewise be an important factor in lessening its incidence ,in the physiologist’s estimation. Women and children are seasick more than men, but even old sailors who have followed the sea for many years are not immune. Of the dozen or more drugs in current use as remedies Dr Boldyreff recommends only atropin for severe cases. Lemon or orange juice sometimes helps, while cigarettes should bo packed away for consumption after landing, since nicotine apparently increases predisposition for seasickness.”