Part 24 (2/2)
_In children_, especially those who have recently acquired the habit, it can be broken up by admonis.h.i.+ng them of its sinfulness, and portraying in vivid colors its terrible results, if the child is old enough to comprehend such admonitions. In addition to faithful warnings, the attention of the child should be fully occupied by work, study, or pleasant recreation. He should not be left alone at any time, lest he yield to temptation. Work is an excellent remedy; work that will really make him very tired, so that when he goes to bed he will have no disposition to defile himself. It is best to place such a child under the care of a faithful person of older years, whose special duty it shall be to watch him night and day until the habit is thoroughly overcome.
In younger children, with whom moral considerations will have no particular weight, other devices may be used. Bandaging the parts has been practiced with success. Tying the hands is also successful in some cases; but this will not always succeed, for they will often contrive to continue the habit in other ways, as by working the limbs, or lying upon the abdomen. Covering the organs with a cage has been practiced with entire success. A remedy which is almost always successful in small boys is circ.u.mcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis.
The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anaesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed. If any attempt is made to watch the child, he should be so carefully surrounded by vigilance that he cannot possibly transgress without detection. If he is only partially watched, he soon learns to elude observation, and thus the effect is only to make him cunning in his vice.
_In adults_, or youths, a different plan must be pursued. In these cases, moral considerations, and the inevitable consequences to health of body and mind, are the chief influences by which a reform is to be effected, if at all. These considerations may be urged with all possible eloquence and earnestness, but should not be exaggerated. The truth is terrible enough. If there are any special influences which may be brought to bear upon a particular individual,--and there always will be something of this sort owing to peculiarities of temperament or circ.u.mstances,--these should be promptly employed and applied in such a manner as to secure for them their full bearing.
But after all, the most must be done by the individual himself. All that others can do for him is to surround him with favoring circ.u.mstances and arouse him to a proper sense of his real condition and danger. If this can be thoroughly accomplished, there is much reason to hope; but if the individual has become so lost to all sense of purity, all aspirations toward good and n.o.ble objects, that he cannot be made to feel the need of reformation, his case is hopeless.
_How May a Person Help Himself?_--The following suggestions will be found useful in fighting the battle with vice and habit:--
1. Begin by a resolution to reform, strengthened by the most solemn vows.
2. Resolve to reform _now_; not to-morrow or next week, but this very minute. Thousands have sunk to perdition while resolving to indulge ”only this once.”
3. Begin the work of reform by purging the mind. If a lewd thought enters the mind, dispel it at once. Cultivate a loathing for concupiscence.
Never harbor such ideas for an instant, for they will surely lead to the overt act. If, perchance, the physical sin should not be committed, the thought itself is sin, and it leaves a physical as well as a moral scar almost as deep and hideous as that inflicted by the grosser crime.
4. As a help to purity of mind, whenever impure thoughts enter, immediately direct the mind upon the purest object with which you are acquainted. Flee from the special exciting cause, if there is one, and engage in some active labor or other exercise that will divert the mind into another channel.
5. Avoid solitude, for then it is that temptation comes, and you are most likely to fail. Avoid equally all other causes which may lead to the act.
6. Strictly comply with all the rules laid down for the cultivation of chast.i.ty and the maintenance of continence.
7. Above all, seek for grace and help from the Source of all spiritual strength in every time of temptation, relying upon the promise, ”Seek, and ye shall find.”
Hopeful Courage.--An individual who will earnestly set himself about the work of purifying his mind and redeeming his body, if he will conscientiously adopt, and perseveringly apply, the remedies pointed out, _may be sure of success_. There can be no possible chance for failure. Triumph is certain. Patience may be tried and faith tested, but unwavering trust in G.o.d and nature, and an executed determination to do all on his part, will bring to every such one certain recovery.
There may be some scars left, a few traces of the injury wrought; but the deliverance will be none the less triumphant. Faith and perseverance will work wonders.
General Regimen and Treatment.--After long abuse of the s.e.xual organs, and in many cases after a short course of sin, the whole system becomes deteriorated; digestion is impaired, the muscles are weakened, the circulation is unbalanced, the nerves are irritable, the brain--especially the back and lower portion of it--is congested, the skin is torpid, the bowels are inactive, the general health is deranged in almost every particular. All of these morbid conditions serve to keep up the very difficulty which has produced and is increasing them.
Any curative effort, to be effective, then, must be directed to these as well as to local conditions; and it is pretty certainly established that local remedies or applications alone will rarely accomplish any appreciable good, at least of a permanent character.
Many of the observations on treatment are equally applicable to both s.e.xes; but particular directions have been especially adapted to males, and chiefly with the cure of seminal emissions as the object in view.
This remark will explain any seeming lack of completeness.
Mental and Moral Treatment.--The greatest impediment to recovery is usually found in the mind of the patient. His hopeless despair, melancholy, sullen apathy in many cases, want of energy, and fickleness of mind, thwart all attempts that are made for him. In other cases, the want of willpower, or neglect to exercise the will in controlling the thoughts, completely counteracts all that can be done for him. He must be made to understand this well, and then all possible means must be employed to attract his attention from himself, from brooding over his ills. Occupy him, interest him, or teach him to occupy and interest himself. The enthusiastic study of some one of the natural sciences is a most excellent auxiliary in effecting this.
The thing of first importance is that the patient should obtain command of his thoughts; by this means, he can do more for himself than all the doctors can do for him. ”But I cannot control my thoughts,” says the patient. A young man said to me, ”O doctor, you don't know how I feel. I despise myself; I hate myself; I often feel inclined to kill myself. My mind is always full of abominable images; my thoughts run away with me and I cannot help myself.” The tears ran down his face in streams as he told me of his slavery. He solemnly affirmed that he had never performed the act of self-pollution but once in his life: and yet for years he had been a constant sufferer from nocturnal emissions until his manhood was nearly lost, evidently the result of the mental onanism which he had practiced without imagining the possibility of harm.
But it is not true that control of the thoughts is impossible. Thoughts are the result of the action of the brain; and the action of the brain may be controlled as well as the movements of a voluntary muscle. It may be more difficult, especially when the resolution is weakened, as it is by this vice; but so long as there are left any remnants of will and reason, control is possible. To strengthen the will must be one of the objects of mental treatment, and exercise is the method by which it may be accomplished. The thing for a sufferer to say, is not, ”I can't,” but, ”I can and I will control my thoughts.” Suggestions which will aid in accomplis.h.i.+ng this have already been given under the heading, ”Cure of the Habit.”
We cannot forbear to add a word further respecting the worth of religion in aiding these sufferers. If there is any living creature who needs the help of true religion, of faith in G.o.d, in Christ, and in the efficacy of prayer, it is one of these. If there is any poor mortal who can not afford to be deprived of the aid of a sympathizing Saviour, it is one who has enervated his will, degraded his soul, and depraved his body by the vile habit of self-abuse. A compa.s.sionate Redeemer will succor even these defiled ones, if they truly ”hunger and thirst” after purity, and if they set about the work of reforming themselves in good earnest, and with right motives.
Exercise.--Physical exercise is a most powerful aid to pure thoughts.
When unchaste ideas intrude, engage at once in something which will demand energetic muscular exercise. Pursue the effort until fatigued, if necessary, making, all the while, a powerful mental effort to control the mind. Of course, evil thoughts will not be expelled by thinking of them, but by displacing them by pure thoughts. Exercise aids this greatly.
Exercise is also essential to balance the circulation, and thus relieve congestion of internal organs. Sedentary persons especially need systematic exercise. No single form of exercise is so excellent as walking. Four or five miles a day are none too many to secure a proper amount of muscular exercise. Gymnastics, the ”health-lift,” ”Indian clubs,” ”dumb-bells,” rowing, and other forms of exercise are all good; but none of them should be carried to excess. Ball-playing is likely to be made a source of injury by exciting, in vigorous compet.i.tion, too violent and spasmodic action.
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