p. 71 | A Jaded Head

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Feb 27, 1879

A Jaded Head

DR. CORNELIUS R. AGNEW, of this city, in a recent lecture before the Young Men's Christian Association, said: "The term a jaded head applies to the head that cannot be depended upon for a long stretch of work, that grows weary prematurely, that has to be coaxed from the pillow in the morning, and that does not force the work of the day cheerfully. There are more of such heads than might be supposed. They are found in every rank of life: but chiefly among persons of sedentary pursuits and among both sexes and almost all ages above fourteen. Generally the early symptoms of the malady is discomfort during headwork in the back of the head and in the upper part of the spinal region.

He is a happy man who meets this symptom with rest, and seeks in sunlight and fresh air some fresh investments for his nervous system, and drops every habit that does not do him positive good. If he takes to artificial stimulants for relief, he will begin a career which, sooner or later, will place him among the incurables or bring him to an untimely end. Alcohol and all sleep-producing drugs are dangerous in the highest degree; for they mask the malady, without curing it. No organ in the human body is so abused as the brain, and no organ is so well fitted for daily use. Still, the brain is not so susceptible to disease as some suppose. It was probable there was not a man present who had not during the day abused his brain by overwork, anger, tobacco, alcohol, fuss, hurry, too little sleep, too much sleep, by indolence, by not studying to be quiet, by not doing his own business, by attempting to do something beyond his reach, by attempting to do something for which he had not been sufficiently educated, by carrying an evil conscience, or by the unmanly strain of trying to outdo his neighbor. The remedy of the jaded head is the giving up of all habits which cannot be defended by the highest kind of reasoning; the careful determining by each man of his ability to stand work; the avoidance of doing anything for which a man has no adequate education; rest, recreation, and the keeping up of the tissue-building powers by wholesome food. If there is more nervous disease in this country than elsewhere, it is because the average American youth is supposed to be able to do anything. Men should know on what points they are ignorant, and so escape many damaging strains. Mental application does not weaken the brain. It strengthens it, if not carried to the length at which wholesome food and plenty of sleep fail to refresh it."

In concluding his address, Dr. Agnew said that various diseases increase as large cities are approached. Never in any age have man's faculties been so taxed as now; and the great problem is for each man to do his share of the world's work and keep well. The civilization of to-day does not call for any faculties that a man does not possess; but it calls upon him to use in the best manner the faculties he has, and learn how to bear the strain of living.—N. Y. Independent.