Abstract
ON the further side of the Atlantic one of the world's great peoples has been swept away by a passion for wild and crazy amusement; on this side the others are locked in the bloodiest war the world has seen: these are the phenomena, at first sight antithetically diverse, which Prof. Patrick brings together in his study of “relaxation.” With them he sets the craving for alcohol, constantly rising in spite of prohibitive legislation, and—longo intervallo—the habits, widespread if not omnipresent, of laughter and profane language. In the author's view all these forms of human behaviour are, at bottom, illustrative of a single principle. The activities and relations of civilised life imply the upbuilding and functioning of extremely complex mental mechanisms, full of tensions, restraints, and inhibitions. To maintain these always in operation is an impossible task. From time to time, therefore, the complexes break up, and man falls back with relief into conduct expressive of simpler mental structures organised and consolidated in the far distant days of the race's childhood: he plays, he laughs, he swears, he fights. Alternatively, he seeks the same end-the temporary dissociation of his too complex mental mechanisms-by means of the narcotic power of alcohol.
The Psychology of Relaxation.
By Prof. G. T. Patrick. Pp. viii + 280. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 5s. net.
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N., T. The Psychology of Relaxation . Nature 98, 128 (1916). https://doi.org/10.1038/098128a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/098128a0