Henry Baird Favill, AB, MD, LL.D., 1860-1916, a ... - University Library

286 HENRY BAIRD FAVILL
"A Mind that Found Itself."
remarkable books of the age,
With tremendous conviction and singleness of purpose
he has devoted himself to the amelioration of social conditions
as they bear upon the question of mental integrity.
He has formed a society in Connecticut, which is doing
effective work.
He conceived the idea of a National Committee which
should do a comprehensive work in this direction. He
selected a Board of Directors from all over the country.
I am here speaking a word in behalf of that Committee.
A proper question is, what is our program? At the
moment it is rather indefinite, and yet in a general way I
can say to you what we propose to do.
In the first place, we need money to carry on an effective
work. We hope to get that from some source. As
the next step, which seems logically to be the last step,
which we shall probably pursue, we propose actively to take
up what is known as after-care of the insane. That means
the establishing of relations between patients who are about
to be discharged as cured, or partially cured, and their
outside work, establishing a connection which will continue
a wise supervision out into their social relations. The value
of this is
two-fold.
In the first place, its tendency is to prevent relapse by
foreseeing conditions unfavorable to the individual and preventing
their harmful operation.
In this way probably a
very large percentage of the relapses can be prevented.
But, more than this, and probably far more important
than this, will be the relationship which becomes thereby
established with the family and group and entire social
circle of the individual.
is
In establishing a harmonious relation in this way, there
no doubt that a great deal of impending mental disaster
can be averted. It is one of the ways by which early contact
with mental disturbances can be secured.
Please realize the difficulty on this point. Supposing,