THE NERVOUS TEMPERAMENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2378, 12 January 1922, Page 4

THE NERVOUS TEMPERAMENT.

A nervous temperament is a great handicap in life, and may bring a man into a doctor’s consulting room when no other condition is present. Now, to begin with, we must lay down the law that a nervous temperament is curable. Self-control, will-power, and determination are the “drugs” we use to cure the complaint. Bet us, with one contemptuous wave of the hand banish that absurd idea that a bottle of medicine is the correct treatment. It is a great mistake to keep a nervous child to himself; he should mix with other children, and compete with them. Our sports and games help to develop character. Have you ever had the curiosity to watch the eleven little boys go in at cricket. One is as cool as a cucumber, another very nervous and fidgety; another in a blue funk, and so on. Let the nervous boy grit his teeth, overcome his nervousness, and go in and make fifty runs, and he lias learnt his first lesson in self-control. Wrap him up in cotton-wool and let him watch a game instead of playing it, and he learns nothing. When he grows up and has to interview the head of a department about getting a job, he will scarcely be able to say “Good morning, sir,’’ without choking and spluttering.