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

only from the “ assault neurotic ” in the fact that he approaches a useful problem in the same intense, single- track fashion. The superiority complex, so-called, is to be considered an example of the assault neurosis. The typical business man who focusses his entire energy on his job, neglecting his social and sexual responsibilities, fits into this category, as does the Don Juan who emphasizes sex to the exclusion of all else. The super-enthusiasts, the over-ambitious aggressive go-getters, adopt this strategy as the most appropriate to their ends. We may well imagine that the assault neurotic wastes little friendliness on his fellow-men. He is too intense in his approach to his goal. Hurry is the keynote of the assault neurosis, while suspicion, avarice, the will-to-power, the desire for great riches, for leadership, no matter of what, are its common attributes. The assault neurotic must be at the head of the line. He must be unique by being at the top, by being always the first, the best, the most famous. If he fails in his neurosis, and cannot reconcile himself to his failure, the nervous breakdown, and that form of insanity known as paranoia, in which systematized delusions of persecution, suspicion, and misanthropy are the common symptoms, are likely to follow in his wake. The greatest proportion of “ nervous breakdowns ” that occur in previously successful business men are the results of failure of this “ shock-troop ” assault on a single problem of life. Underlying this neurosis is the fear of not being noticed, of being left behind, of arriving too late. Assault neurotics dream of flying or of per¬ forming herculean feats. They are the little Napoleons of daily life. Not infrequently they actually accomplish something of value, but as a rule, they leave a trail of unhappiness in the wake of their successes. 2. Hesitation at a distance from the battle-front. In this, the commonest form of neurotic behaviour, the man who has been carried along during the early part of his life by the applause and help of his parents and environment, coming face to face with reality for the first time, shrinks