Emotional health

[Music] did you find anything wrong is my heart no your heart isn't fine shap but what about the pains in my chest and my fast pulse you could have pains in your chest even though there's nothing organically wrong but there must be something I'm nervous and and my heart beats so hard that I can't get to sleep for hours after I go to bed the more you think about it the worse it gets is that right my chest in class sometimes and and find myself counting my pulse I've fallen down on my work at school and and don't get along to well with my instructors there must be some reason for it this can't all be my imagination well let's talk about it sit down I repeat your physical condition is excellent I can't find anything wrong with your heart or any other organ for that matter but still you need treatment I'm going to refer you to a psychiatrist a psychiatrist GE doc I'm not crazy no you're not and you never will be take it easy don't let it upset you person does not have to be crazy to be helped by a psychiat what will everybody think you know people talk I think the same thing myself suppose I had found something wrong with your heart I'd probably send you to a heart specialist for a complete examination and treatment people wouldn't think the less of you for that no I suppose not a psychiatrist is a specialist just like any of the others simp haven't got used to thinking of him except in connection with insanity but I still don't see what he has to do with me I think you are emotionally upset and in that sense you are ill emotional upsets can produce all kinds of symptoms can cause real pain and suffering as a matter of fact they're one of our most common ailments that isn't much consolation well you're definitely not an unusual case next to the cold emotional upsets like yours are our most common illness and now we're treating them as illnesses I still don't think much of the idea of going to a psychiatrist my heart's pounding away right now that's natural you're excited excitement and fear can cause reactions like that can happen to anyone take the before an important game he gets all sorts of peuli feelings there's a tight lump in the pit of his stomach he can't seem to shake off that jumpy sensation he suddenly finds he can't remember signals he's known for weeks but as soon as he gets on the field all that is over he now is the well Tred athlete this athlete simply experienced Syms of pregame excitement nobody worries about them because everybody knows their causes well you wouldn't say there was anything wrong with that football player would you nor with an actor for that matter you've heard about uh stage fright that's true but I'm no athlete or actor where do I get in we all have the same reactions ining you too think back will you ever call down to see the dean remember you were worried and apprehensive you mopped your brow Palms of your hands were sweaty your mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton you were constantly licking your lips that was all just as normal as it could be well scared right your brain had flashed a danger signal and your body reacted to it that sort of thing of course bothered a lot of men during the war in fact it was so common the Navy made a film explaining just these symptoms which you twoo are complaining about scare or excite a man and automatically the body's signal system starts functioning nerves go into and stir up a couple of glands these glands come through a shot of adrenaline and things really begin to happen nerve cells get hopped up you may perspire freely your mouth may get dry as powder your stomach may feel tied up in nuts but it all makes sense you see more clearly you he more keenly your muscles are tense your body is ready to act and act fast but to act at top speed calls for extra energy that's where the liver comes in this is a fuel tank the fuel is sugar and is stored in the liver getting scared gets it out out to the bloodstream to the muscles that need it to get it there quicker the heart pumps and you breathe harder bringing in more oxygen to change that sugar into strength when it really gets going your heart feels about three times bigger than it really is and it pounds away like a trip hammer it may even become painful the heart may feel as if it had sharp points wouldn't surprise me if those are your symptoms they're much more common than you think lots of people have them when they're excited or scared but when you know you're excited when seeing the dean for instance you don't worry about these symptoms because you understand the cause for them but if you a healthy boy have these symptoms without knowing of any cause that's the time to consult a psychiatrist it's his job to uncover that cause how does he do that that's his specialty let him tell you about it I'll make an appointment for you try not to worry thank you Doctor well from all the reports you seem all right physically but I do have pains in my chest tell me about how long have you had they started a little over a year ago do you recall the first time you felt that pain yes it was during exam week at high school I was off one exam I got those pains and was afraid of a heart attack I told my parents about these pains father thought it couldn't be serious but mother worried and took me to the Doctor Who examined me and said there was nothing wrong with my heart did that make you feel any better well mother was afraid the doctor might be wrong she kept on worrying but did those pains persist no after the exam they were gone but I still worried about my heart the immediate cause of that pain was your worry about the exam you knew you were excited that can bring on many different kinds of reactions that pain was probably such a reaction but why do I have the pains now I don't know yet but there is a cause we'll go deeper and find what's really bothering how can you find it we'll just talk you'll come here regularly and tell me about yourself I'll ask questions but mostly you'll just talk about your childhood family school and so on I wouldn't know where to begin or say just talk the way you told me about those chest PS Tell me about your family well we're an average family dad works pretty hard I guess he and I weren't too close how about your mother I was much closer to her dad was sort of strict he didn't have much patience especially when I didn't do what I was supposed to do or when I didn't do too well at school I remember once when I was about 10 years old we had just gotten our report call and I didn't do as well as I had hoped to do dad looked at the card and scolded me for not trying he raised an awful fuss mother was sympathetic as usual dad threatened to make me stay in after school every day and cut out my PL I ran to my mother for protection and this only made him angrier he pulled me away from wanted to spank me my sister was scared and cried I hated my father when this happened and I used to whisper threats under my breath mother finally took me up to my room and put me to bed I guess I remember this because I didn't think my report card was that bad but it did leave me with an uncomfortable feeling in my father's presence and as a result you learned to depend more and more on your mother for comfort your story about the so-called heart attack seems to bear that out I believe that some of your present upset may be due to a certain insecurity you feel being away from home and the protection your mother offered think about that a little and we'll get together again these last few visits have demonstrated the presence of an emotional conflict due to being away from home you see that yes you've brought that out and as we bring these conscious conflicts out into the open your symptoms will tend to disappear or become less exaggerated I'm taking more interest in my classes that's fine as a youngster was your school work consistent not always you see I didn't get along with my teacher I remember being kept after school once because the teacher wanted to discuss my work in general attitude it was a pretty uncomfortable session she wanted some explanation for the fact that my work had fallen off and why I seemed to resent her she told me I had become irritable and wasn't even getting along with my classmates she took out my old records and tried to find the reason for the drop I couldn't tell her anything much I don't suppose she was too satisfied with my explanation although she did go out of her way to help me as I look back I think I blame her for my father's anger at my poor marks well you are making progress you're beginning to uncover the causes for certain reactions that you had we can explain your reactions to your teacher at that time also your nervousness and the falling off of your classwork all of it was undoubtedly due to a fear of failure and the possibility of incurring your father's anger but is it common to blame somebody else like I did with my teacher it's the easiest way out you felt that you weren't to blame your mother's Comfort helped that your teacher gave you the marks for which your father punished you therefore you put her in the same class with your father whom you feared well there were times when I really hated him I remember every now and then he'd lock me in a closet I'd stand there and plan to run away from home I figured they'd be sorry then I even planned to kill my father and then run away and yet you never did but those thoughts left a mark you developed guilt feelings you weren't conscious of despite all the threats you whispered to yourself you did have some affection for him as your father that guilt you felt set up a conflict which only made matters worse I don't hate him now I've grown up but still I resent those those in Authority you can't throw off old patterns quite that easily you carry them over and apply them to new people in completely different environments you may not want to do that but you've set a Groove which you naturally follow I can see now that there's no real cause for those resentments but how will I get rid of them you're doing that now talking about them reasoning them out does more than anything else up to now you've been prejudiced against your father your teacher and those in Authority all this emotional block that warped your reasoning all your thinking came up to it and was warped along certain lines understanding the causes will help break down that emotional block try it for a while you're really doing better now I'll see you on Thursday [Music] I thought I'd never get here on time I was playing tennis you made it though I'm glad to see you taking an interest in outside activi well your heart's not so bad after all I didn't expect I'd ever be doing it four months ago when I started these treatments you're coming along fine how's your work that's much better too I don't spend so much time thinking about myself but you know I have been thinking about something you've talked a lot about guilt feelings resentment uh lack of security and being away from my mother and other things yes they all apply in your case but what I can't see is was I worse than most cases does everybody have these troubles it varies a lot you're no exception a single upset can lead to others usually does environment parental training and your tendency to magnify certain incidents in your own mind can produce some complex results here's a common you have a younger sister do you remember when she was born I was four then but I sure do were you jealous I guess I was I remember that there was a lot of excitement my father and mother were busy with the baby and didn't pay any attention to me when they first told me I had a baby sister I was happy but then mother never any time with me I must have been jealous and resentful I even wished my sister would be sent back I felt that I didn't count anymore I can understand a lot of that now I'll bet you'll tell me that's when I first began to feel insecure about not having my mother to myself that's probably very true but there's a lot more to it than just that as you grew to love your sister you felt guilty about having wanted to send her back but most parents that and try to minimize it yours didn't then again the knowledge that you were going to have a sister or brother but didn't know how or what put other disturbing questions into your mind since your parents never talked to you about these things you must have thought there was something mystical and evil about them parents can prevent a lot of emotional conflict like this especially where the child is as inquisitive as you were I got most of the answers when I grew up yes childhood misinterpretations ands car over and are frequent causes of emotional upsets in young adults I know that now I can understand a lot of things I couldn't before if more parents understood that their thoughtlessness can produce emotional disturbances in children cases like yours would be less frequent but you're really making progress I feel that I am well we'll get together a few more times to keep you on your toes can I go now I have a date a date or an appointment day that's real progress yes he did have a date and from here on his recovery was rapid his case was no more serious or complicated than many others commonly resulting from childhood misunderstandings lack of proper guidance they can be prevented and cured clearing the way for that well balanced state of emotional health so necessary for good progress in school and so important for success and happiness in later life [Music]