Do You Suffer from a Psychological Complex? Fear... Envy... Shyness...??

How many a brother of ours in the human family possesses mental and bodily powers that would enable him to perform valuable works and services for society and for himself, if he but knew how to use these powers and direct them firmly and soundly. And how often we find him, in the depths of his soul, complaining of something that pains him and disturbs the order of his course through life. Yes — he suffers from a psychological complex: anxiety, or indecision, or fear, or envy, or shyness..... And this complex very often stands as a solid barrier between its victim and his success. It embitters his life and causes him deep psychological disturbances which may lead to the loss of his mental and bodily balance — that is, if these psychological ailments are left to run on and burrow into the depths of the soul.

Mariam is a girl of lovely appearance, nineteen years old. I knew her and kept her company through her school life, and she was among the outstanding students. She puts on an air of peace of mind and a cheerful face, but we see her always silent, not daring to speak in gatherings and circles, afraid of frequenting the clubs and of contact with people. It is fear — that psychological ailment — that rules her and possesses all her feelings. If she walks, she fears to stumble; if she speaks, she fears to blunder; if she gestures, she fears criticism... Fear has spread its black veil over her. The days followed one another while this Mariam lived in the darkness of her fancies and her forebodings, and it was not long before her worries laid her low; her forebodings shattered her nerves, embittered her life, and broke her personality apart. Mariam ought

to have looked into the hidden places and corners of her soul for the cause of this psychological anxiety... She ought not to have surrendered to the forebodings, but occupied her hours of leisure, kept up her mixing in society and in the clubs, helped the poor and the wretched, and trusted in herself.

As for Nadia, she suffers from the inferiority complex: the feeling that she is unable to keep pace with others, and that she stands lower than others in gifts and capacities. Such a feeling cannot inspire contentment in a person's soul, and so Nadia tries to adopt in her life a manner showing that she is not lower than others but higher than they, by displaying her personality in a brilliant image, more glittering than it is in reality. So she walks with a strut and speaks

in a loud, booming voice, and most of her topics are the praising of herself and talk of her past and her future. But behind these attempts there lies hidden a deep feeling of inadequacy which embitters her life and troubles her mind; and very often it breeds in her soul a mad desire for superiority. Then the struggle between this desire and the inner incapacity flares up, and leads to a state of madness which Dr. Alfred Adler called the madness of grandeur, and to which many of our brothers in society fall victim.

Because of the gravity of these psychological ailments, which threaten the very being of the individual and of society, it is our duty to treat them as bodily diseases are treated: doctors should specialize in them, and we should establish hospitals for them, as is the case in the advanced countries. The most modern methods followed in treating these ailments are suggestion and psychoanalysis. Suggestion means that the doctor suggests to the patient the opposite of what he feels. As for modern psychoanalysis — Freud's — it means reaching the origin of the illness, which usually goes back to the stage of childhood. All the analyst does is to bring the patient, by drawing him out, to empty what is in his breast and to utter all the past events and memories, until he arrives at the distant, fundamental root of the illness; and then treatment becomes easy.

But there are, dear reader, certain ways of guarding against these ailments getting out of hand:

— Keep yourself always busy with useful work; join the clubs; take part in every activity that agrees with your particular inclinations, and multiply your social connections. Think of serving others, especially the poor and the needy among them. For in helping others we forget ourselves and feel happiness.

— Trust in yourself; do not despair over any flaw or bodily defect in you. God has not yet created the perfect man. Rather, cultivate your good talents and qualities, and use all the mental and bodily faculties you have been granted; in this way you will have rid yourself of the weakness in you.

— Live in the present: do not let your bad memories of the past occupy the chief place in your thinking.

— Order your life: set a time for everything.

— Face difficulties and meet life with a smiling face; do not attempt to retreat from your hard tasks; march on — beware of hesitation; be confident of yourself.