The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

worry, but even then worry is likely to lead him to
work so long that his judgement becomes clouded
and bankruptcy comes sooner than if he worked
less. In every case it is the emotional trouble, not
the work, that causes the breakdown.
The psychology of worry is by no means simple. I
have spoken already of mental discipline, namely
the habit of thinking of things at the right time. This
has ‘its importance, first because it makes it
possible to get through the day’s work with less
expenditure of thought, secondly because it affords
a cure for insomnia, and thirdly because it
promotes efficiency and wisdom in decisions. But
methods of this kind do not touch the subconscious
or the unconscious, and when a trouble is grave no
method is of much avail unless it penetrates below
the level of consciousness. There has been a great
deal of study by psychologists of the operation of
the unconscious upon the conscious, but much less
of the operation of the conscious upon the
unconscious. Yet the latter is of vast importance in
the subject of mental hygiene, and must be