Some Causes of Nervousness.
IMPERFECT and insufficient sleep is one of the most frequent causes of nervousness. Next to air, sleep is the greatest need of man. “Who sleeps eats,” says the ancient proverb. Those who suffer from nervousness on account of insufficient sleep, should lose no time in correcting the evil. Everything calculated to excite the brain or disturb the nerves for two or three hours before bedtime, such as stimulating beverages, hearty food, exciting conversation or literature, should be rigidly avoided. Another fruitful cause of nervousness is bad air. Many a child grows pale and sickly from attendance, as is supposed, at school, and the parents think the child is studying too hard. In a large majority of such cases, the evil results are the consequences of the impure air the child breathes; and would not follow twice as severe mental application in a room thoroughly and constantly ventilated. Doubtless a large part of the teachers who “break down” in teaching, do so because of the bad air they breathe from day to day. Many a housekeeper would escape attacks of nervousness if she would keep the windows up and the doors open, and let the sunlight pour into the rooms with healing in its beams. Another cause of nervousness is indulgence in strong tea and coffee. The person who depends on his coffee as the main article of breakfast, will be sure to eat less nutritious food at that meal than if his beverage were cold water; the nerves, only stimulated, but not fed, will, by and by, mutiny. The strength which comes from stimulating drinks of all kinds is fictitious, not real; it is a draft on the future that will some time be presented for payment to an empty exchequer. Overwork often produces nervousness, and the cure is rest. Many people think they must go on killing themselves by slow degrees in this way, and when they have succeeded, lookers-on are no wiser than before, but keep on taxing themselves beyond their strength, and paying the penalty. Of all the causes of nervousness the most prolific is worry. If, having done our best, we could only leave the consequences to the Higher Powers; if we could but be content to take life as it is, and make the most of it; to do the duty of the hour promptly and with fidelity, and think no more about it; to open our hearts to all the gentle influences of nature that woo us, and enjoy without murmur or question, the good and the evil that fall to our lots, confident that they are alike beneficial; to live aright in the present, and leave the future to God, what a world of trouble and anxiety we would be saved! Plenty of sleep, plenty of air, plenty of food, and an abounding trust in the goodness of God, will keep those who enjoy these blessings from the torture of nervousness.—N. Y. Tribune.