WAR EFFECTS ON THE MIND.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 April 1920, Page 12

WAR EFFECTS ON THE MIND.

i EDINBURGH DOCTOR SCOFFS AT SPIRITUALISM. The war's ejects upon the mimjUprone fp external influences were rp£4>rrect to by Professor Oorge M. Robertson. Physician Superintendent of.tfcc Ko' :il Edinburgh Asylum, at the; annual meeting. Discussing the effects of the war generally, Dr. Robertson said that the anxious mond cxpyjfkfcd during the war had continued*';]" j, a lesser degree, and it was possible t-ha'i soml; °f the pessimistic opinions Uiat vere c urrc nt ''"d no other foundation. ' Dr. Roliertw.,l' hiio made allusion to the present day interest in/ matters spiritualistic, , He recalled there were many who had sustained bereavements during the war and bore these with equanimity in the days of crowded incidents and amidst the pressure of war activities, but who found it much harder to bear up now, although time has elapsed. "Some," he said, "have broken down since the war came to an end- Many as i solace to their feelings have taken an interest in Spiritualism. - "I do not consider either Sir Conan Doyle or Sir Oliver Lodge to be safe judges, whose opinion should he accepted in this difficult and important subject, in view of their bereavements and unconscious desires. If the wish be father to the thought, it is mother to the hallucination of the sense. "The tricks the brain can play Without calling in spiritualistic aid are simply astounding, and only those who have made a study of morbid as well as normal psvchologv realise thoj full truth of this. "It is strange that these phenomena, if supernatural, should occur most frequently when there is disorganisation and dislocation of the mental functions. In toxic conditions like delirium tremens hallucinations or sight are easily arous. Ed and the -.latient may be extremely suggestible.'' I r.\ ■