How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.

About “ Nervous Rreakdovjns ” At this point of success, or, let us say, seeming success, tragedy usually overtakes the individual in the form of a “ nervous breakdown Having prepared only for conflict, these one-sided warriors do not know how to make the best of their victories. They have never prepared to hold a fort—only to make it capitulate, and this very fact betrays their underlying discouragement. The victory which they really never dreamed of attaining is occasionally won despite their pessimism. This is their weakness. The enemy flanks them on both sides. They have no one to share their victory with, no one whose love gives their victory meaning. They, who have never surrendered to any obstacle, must capitulate to boredom and loneliness. Suddenly they face the meaning of life, and, in the realization of the futility of their entire past, are seized with the sudden fear of death. The first reaction to their suddenly gained insight is usually depression, which is often followed by a period of frantic searching after gross pleasures. Success, depression, and the quest of enjoyment, however, end in the same blind alley : boredom, satiety, and loneliness. There follows the terror of meaningless, vegetable existence. The mute horror of sleeplessness, anxiety, and restlessness, and the hopeless despair of utter boredom and lack of interest complete the picture. Unless help comes from the outside, these so-called successful men and women break. Whether the break takes shape as a neurosis, insanity, suicide, as a temporary “ nervous breakdown ” or as lasting melancholia and depression, is of little importance at this point. The character of the “ break ” depends upon individual physiological and environmental conditions too compli¬ cated to describe in a general book. What is of interest to the general reader is the fact that the prestige, money, power, and security gained by these men and women is completely nullified by their inability to hold their conquests. It seems hardly worth while to slave and