1. Environmental stresses may be lessened and natural resistance strengthened.
2. Procreation of defective stock may be checked.
3. Procreation of normal stock may be increased.
The methods now in use to prevent physical disease may be applied to a considerable extent in preventing mental disease. They include the dissemination of knowledge of hygiene and sanitation, prompt treatment of incipient diseases, segregation of those suffering from contagious diseases, and immunization of those liable to exposure to pathogenic germs. Another line of attack consists in safeguarding the public from injurious food and artificial beverages and from polluted air and water. The abolition of the liquor traffic and the movement to check the spread of syphilis are examples of effective work along these lines.
Economic and social stresses should be lightened for those unable to withstand them. It is far easier to relieve an overburdened man by taking part of his load than to wait until he is exhausted and then carry him together with his burden. Physicians, parents, and teachers should be alert to detect signs of mental disorder and apply the proper remedy before complete breakdown occurs.
Mental clinics and social workers are of large service in giving treatment in incipient cases. Many a case of mental disease is averted by adjusting the environment to the individual and by giving him a clear understanding of his mental difficulties and the best methods of meeting them. Wide extension of mental-clinic work is clearly indicated.
The new science of mental hygiene is teaching us that individuals with unfavorable heredity may do much to overcome their constitutional tendencies and to preserve their mental health. It is of the highest importance, therefore, that mental hygiene be taught and practiced in the public schools along with physical hygiene.
A decade ago sterilization of defectives was widely advocated and laws making provision for it were passed in several states. These measures have availed little because they have not been supported by active public sentiment. Judging from the present outlook, we cannot hope that sterilization will soon be an effective means of preventing mental disease.