Ich bin auf die folgende Geschichte eines Patienten von Bates/Lierman gestossen, deraufgrund von erfolgreichem Augentrainig in eine Irrenanstalt eingewiesen wurde - dabei sollte doch gerade der Rekrutierungsdienst der amerikanischen Armee überhaupt nichts dagegen haben, wenn ein Kandidat beim Sehtest unbedingt die Nationalhymne singen will (um dadurch 100%ige Sehschärfe ohne Brille zu demonstrieren)
.
Der arme Mann, aber immerhin wurde er später wieder freigelassen...
MENTAL STRAIN - Case No. 1
There are many people generally considered insane, who are really under a severe mental strain, which can be relieved by relaxation. A young man, aged 27, had large staring eyes, which would make anyone uncomfortable to look at him. X asked what his trouble was. He smiled and said: "Now, that*s just what I am trying to find out. Nobody seems to want me. Everybody thinks I am crazy."
I answered: "You are wrong; I don't think you are crazy." Just the same this poor fellow did make me sort of creepy. I was just a little afraid of him, but dared not show my fear.
He had much to say, but the main thing he wanted me to know was that he was not insane. When he calmed down a bit, I said: "Now let me say something. t know that you are staring so badly that if you don't stop it you can easily become insane or blind."
I wanted htm to understand that I could not help him nor anyone else, If he continued staring his eyes out of his head. I asked Dr. Bates to examine his eyes and to tell me what treatment was best for him. The doctor reported that there was nothing organically wrong with his eyes, but that he was under a terrible mental strain. I understood very well what was before me when Dr. Bates said: "I think you had better knock on my door if the patient tries you too much."
After I had taken his name and address, I asked him where he was employed. His eyes protruded and he stared without blinking, as he answered: "Didn't I tell you that no one wants me? I cannot get any work. America is at war. Does Uncle Sam want me? No, I have been to all the recruiting stations here in New York, and all of them have refused me. I want to fight for my country, but they won't give me a chance."
He actually wept and I could not refrain from crying too. His mind was affected, yes, but when he was calm all he could think of was Uncle Sam and how he wanted to fight for him. I had not been acquainted with him half an hour when I understood easily enough why the United States could not use him. He demonstrated to Dr. Bates and to me very clearly that one cannot have normal vision with a mental strain. I placed him ten feet from the test card and told him I wanted to test his vision. He answered: "I hope you will be able to improve my sight, because I think my nervousness will also improve."
He read a few lines of the card, but when he reached the fifty line, he leaned forward in his chair, wrinkled his forehead, and his eyes began to bulge. At that moment a small mirror from my purse came in very handy. I held it before him and the expression of his face changed immediately from strain and tension to a look of amazement. He waited for me to speak, and what I said affected him deeply. He covered his face with his hands and wept. I kept quiet but touched his shoulder lightly to reassure him. When he raised his head a few moments later, he said: "Maybe that is why they refused me. I guess they saw what you saw. No wonder they thought I was crazy."
I feared more hysteria, so I said that if he would let me help him, no doubt the IT. S. Army would be glad to admit htm into the service. After his first visit, he left the office, feeling much encouraged. I could not Improve his vision beyond the fifty line that day, and decided not to test each eye separately. All I could record was 10/50 with both eyes.
A week later he came again. Apparently he had forgotten to practice. His vision was still 10/50 with both eyes. I directed him to cover one eye and read the card with the other. His vision with each eye separately was the same, namely, 10/50. He told me that I had encouraged him so much that he tried again to enlist.
I said: "You cannot expect to win out unless you take time to practice. This you must do all day long. When you tire of palming, keep your eyes closed and imagine something perfectly." While I was telling him all this, he had his eyes covered with his hands, and was moving his body from side to side, very slowly. What he did next certainly frighened me. Without removing his hands from his eyes he asked in a loud voice: "Do you mind if I sing 'America* while I am reading the card?"
I answered: "No, but perhaps the other patients might object Just wait a moment and I will ask the doctor."
Dr. Bates said that if singing was his way of relaxing, by all means let him sing. That was all that was necessary. He sang every word without a mistake, and after each verge he would stop long enough to read the card. After the first verse he read two more lines, 10/30. When he finished the hymn, he also finished reading the whole card without a mistake. He blinked his eyes as he moved his body from side to side, and I noticed a great change in the expression of his face. I directed him to sing "America" when he practiced reading the test card at home, every day. He left us In a very happy mood and promised to practice as he was told.
We did not hear from him until a year later when we received a letter from him, written from Bellevue Hospital, but mailed by a friend outside. In his letter he stated that he was all right, although he was confined. He also explained why he was sent there. It seems that when he applied at a recruiting station for enlistment, they found his vision imperfect. When he insisted that if they would only let him sing "America" his vision would at once become normal, the officers of the recruiting station considered this statement so absurd that they believed he must be crazy. He was at once sent to the insane ward of Bellevue, where he was promptly admitted. While there, he wrote a play of three acts, all about the doctors, the nurses, and patients. It was well written, and after he had persuaded some of the doctors to read it, they recommended his discharge.
He called to see us and I found hia vision normal, 10/10. His mental strain was relieved and did not return except temporarily, when he became excited and talked rapidly.
( http://www.iblindness.org/books/lierman/ch4.html )
