Page 6 - Palmer_Yearbook_1943
P. 6
The R e c o i l 1 9 4 3
Chiropractic. W e have seen enough to convince anyone that Chiropractors should
occupy posts in every mental hospital.
Yes, these are the insane cases— the dementia praecoxes, the schizophreniacs, the
paranoiacs, the melancholiacs, ad infinitum to the extent o f the G reek vocabulary.
These are the people living the living death— the people herded by the thousands
into asylums throughout the world: a vast number of them separated from home and
fam ily, freedom, life as you and I enjoy it— by a spinal distortion— vertebrae— out of
alignment, awaiting, sometimes forever in this life, the adjusting hands of a competent
Chiropractor.
There exists an appalling lack of interest and sympathy for these unfortunate
victims of insanity. General practitioners do not always understand them. They
find them distasteful patients; they are frequently afraid o f them— too often urge that
they be sent to state institutions; suggest that money not be wasted on them— “ they’ll
never get well anyway” . They send them off to a great state asylum, to be herded
with hundreds of others "w ho can't get well” ; where tragically few doctors and nurses
will care for them; where they can be drugged into insensibility, half boiled in a hy
drotherapy room or strapped in bed, day in and day out— where you have to fight to
get them out, once they are in.
I f you could see for yourself what Chiropractic can do for these people; if enough
could— they'd raise a cry that would force the legislatures to take adequate measures
for the Chiropractic care of the insane.
But many have seen. During these past few years, we have read hundreds of
letters from all parts of the United States and Canada, seeking information concerning
our methods; letters, significantly, from organizations of all kinds; from legislators,
clergymen, teachers— even from college and high school students who wished material
for school themes.
It has been easy for those o f us working in the mental field to predict that
sooner or later our science must occupy an im portant position in the field o f mental
disease, but today we find that the very success we have achieved, has brought about
a crisis. Success has taxed our facilities to such a degree that we are unable to
handle the increasing numbers of patients that need our care. Every day Chiroprac
tic institutions are forced to reject needy patients; every day our field practitioners
are forced to follow the same course. T his is a serious situation. It is tragic that
patients must be denied a service that has proven its ability. O f course the solution
to the problem lies with the State.
H ow ev er, b efo re long, rapidly increasing pu blic pressure w ill call fo r
a show -dow n on this vital question. T h e force o f public opinion developed
by grateful fam ilies and by other w ell'inform ed peop le will persuade our
legislators to follow one o f tw o courses — ma\e room fo r C hiropractic
psychiatrists on state hospital staffs— or build separate C hiropractic hospitals
and then staff them exclusively with C hiropractors.
T h e pressure needed to effect these legislative changes is already developing.
Committees from state legislatures are visiting our Chiropractic hospitals to study
our methods at first hand; to discuss with staff members w-ays and means o f adapting
their state asylums to our methods. O ther individual legislators are writing request
ing inform ation they may use to influence their fellow members.
So the good work goes on. T he barriers break down. Our record of achieve
ment in this specialized but vastly important field cannot be ignored.
page four
Chiropractic. W e have seen enough to convince anyone that Chiropractors should
occupy posts in every mental hospital.
Yes, these are the insane cases— the dementia praecoxes, the schizophreniacs, the
paranoiacs, the melancholiacs, ad infinitum to the extent o f the G reek vocabulary.
These are the people living the living death— the people herded by the thousands
into asylums throughout the world: a vast number of them separated from home and
fam ily, freedom, life as you and I enjoy it— by a spinal distortion— vertebrae— out of
alignment, awaiting, sometimes forever in this life, the adjusting hands of a competent
Chiropractor.
There exists an appalling lack of interest and sympathy for these unfortunate
victims of insanity. General practitioners do not always understand them. They
find them distasteful patients; they are frequently afraid o f them— too often urge that
they be sent to state institutions; suggest that money not be wasted on them— “ they’ll
never get well anyway” . They send them off to a great state asylum, to be herded
with hundreds of others "w ho can't get well” ; where tragically few doctors and nurses
will care for them; where they can be drugged into insensibility, half boiled in a hy
drotherapy room or strapped in bed, day in and day out— where you have to fight to
get them out, once they are in.
I f you could see for yourself what Chiropractic can do for these people; if enough
could— they'd raise a cry that would force the legislatures to take adequate measures
for the Chiropractic care of the insane.
But many have seen. During these past few years, we have read hundreds of
letters from all parts of the United States and Canada, seeking information concerning
our methods; letters, significantly, from organizations of all kinds; from legislators,
clergymen, teachers— even from college and high school students who wished material
for school themes.
It has been easy for those o f us working in the mental field to predict that
sooner or later our science must occupy an im portant position in the field o f mental
disease, but today we find that the very success we have achieved, has brought about
a crisis. Success has taxed our facilities to such a degree that we are unable to
handle the increasing numbers of patients that need our care. Every day Chiroprac
tic institutions are forced to reject needy patients; every day our field practitioners
are forced to follow the same course. T his is a serious situation. It is tragic that
patients must be denied a service that has proven its ability. O f course the solution
to the problem lies with the State.
H ow ev er, b efo re long, rapidly increasing pu blic pressure w ill call fo r
a show -dow n on this vital question. T h e force o f public opinion developed
by grateful fam ilies and by other w ell'inform ed peop le will persuade our
legislators to follow one o f tw o courses — ma\e room fo r C hiropractic
psychiatrists on state hospital staffs— or build separate C hiropractic hospitals
and then staff them exclusively with C hiropractors.
T h e pressure needed to effect these legislative changes is already developing.
Committees from state legislatures are visiting our Chiropractic hospitals to study
our methods at first hand; to discuss with staff members w-ays and means o f adapting
their state asylums to our methods. O ther individual legislators are writing request
ing inform ation they may use to influence their fellow members.
So the good work goes on. T he barriers break down. Our record of achieve
ment in this specialized but vastly important field cannot be ignored.
page four
