Above all, let him eat regularly and not at
too long intervals. I well remember the amazement of a distinguished
naturalist when told that his sleeplessness and irregular pulse were due
to his fasting from nine until six. A biscuit and a glass of porter, at
one o'clock, effected a ready and pleasant cure. As to exercise in the
fresh air, I need say little, except that if the exercise can be made to
have a distinct object, not in the way of business, so much the better.
Nor should I need to add that we may relieve the thinking and worrying
mechanisms by light reading and other amusements, or enforce the lesson
that no hard work should be attempted during digestion. The wise doctor
may haply smile at the commonplace of such directions, but woe be to the
man who neglects them!
When an overworked and worried victim has sufficiently sinned against
these simple laws, if he does not luckily suffer from disturbances of
heart or stomach, he begins to have certain signs of nervous
exhaustion.
As a rule, one of two symptoms appears first, though sometimes both come
together. Work gets to be a little less facile; this astonishes the
subject, especially if he has been under high pressure and doing his
tasks with that ease which comes of excitement. With this, or a little
later, he discovers that he sleeps badly, and that the thoughts of the
day infest his dreams, or so possess him as to make slumber difficult.
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