A Century-Old Guide to Mental Health
In the opening chapter of Nerves and Common Sense (1909), Annie Payson Call explains that many nervous illnesses stem from character defects rather than physical ailments. We often avoid facing our weaknesses due to shame and pride, she says, leading to prolonged suffering. By acknowledging and addressing these character flaws, we can improve our mental health and overcome nervous disorders. Ms. Call encourages us to be honest with ourselves and seek healthier solutions.
It is absolutely not fashionable today to admit that we might be the very cause of our own emotional troubles. But this isn't a question of blame. Regardless of the source of these defects in our character, for they may have been caused by external influences, they are now our knot to untangle. Recognizing and addressing our personal flaws is necessary for overcoming these challenges.
Annie Payson Call was an author from Waltham, Massachusetts, and she wrote several books on the topic of mental wellness. She also published a number of articles in The Ladies' Home Journal.
Here is her introductory exposition on her philosophy:
When there is no organic trouble there can be no doubt that defects of character, inherited or acquired, are at the root of all nervous illness. If this can once be generally recognized and acknowledged, especially by the sufferers themselves, we are in a fair way toward eliminating such illness entirely.
The trouble is people suffer from mortification and an unwillingness to look their bad habits in the face. They have not learned that humiliation can be wholesome, sound, and healthy, and so they keep themselves in a mess of a fog because they will not face the shame necessary to get out of it. They would rather be ill and suffering, and believe themselves to have strong characters than to look the weakness of their characters in the face, own up to them like men, and come out into open fresh air with healthy nerves which will gain in strength as they live.
Any intelligent man or woman who thinks a bit for himself can see the stupidity of this mistaken choice at a glance, and seeing it will act against it and thus do so much toward bringing light to all nervously prostrated humanity.