Sensitive appetite

“ Application of Principles.—What is needed for the mental treatment of patients with defective appetite, is that they should be made to realize that appetite is a function of habit, rather than of absolute natural craving in the conditions in which men and women live at the present time. ”

“ Thus appetite for food, and the flow of gastric juice, can be aroused by the sight of good food, or by hearing or reading about food, or even by merely thinking of food; and both anger and sex appetite can be aroused in corresponding ways. ”

“ Children want food and drink before they know what it is they want, and birds in the nest, open their little mouths for the worm their mother brings them.
Appetites indulged in become strong, and are often uncontrolled by the reason and will; as the indulged appetite for liquor. A strong and healthy mind should [Pg 12] control the appetites, as we have learned it should control the emotions, and we are justly held responsible for the consequences of an indulged appetite. ”

“ Want of appetite is not always a morbid symptom, nor even a sign of imperfect digestion. Nature may have found it necessary to muster all the energies of our system for some special purpose, momentarily of paramount importance. ”

“ But now contrast that with the issue of all other methods of satisfying human appetites, be they lower or be they higher. They result either in satiety or in a tyrannical, diseased appetite which increases faster than the power of satisfying it increases. ”

“ Appetite declares itself by languor in the stomach, and a slight sensation of fatigue.
The soul at the same time busies itself with things analogous to its wants; memory recalls food that has flattered its taste; imagination fancies that it sees them, and something like a dream takes place. This state is not without pleasure, and we have heard many adepts say, with joy in their heart, "What a pleasure it is to have a good appetite, when we are certain of a good meal." ”

“ Emotional states of all sorts—grief, anger, anxiety, or excitement—put a stop to the process or interfere with its action, so that the sense of appetite is absent, and the taking of food is apt to be followed by discomfort or pain or vomiting. No doubt good digestion leads to a placid mind, but it is Page 53 equally true that a placid mind is necessary for good digestion. Therefore we civilised people, living lives of mental stress and strain, try to increase the suggestive force of our surroundings and to provoke appetite by all devices calculated to stimulate the æsthetic sense. ”

“ I speak to you as I think you will most easily understand me. Are you not, while careful to fill your belly, disregarding another appetite in your heart, which spoils the pleasure of your life and keeps you continually wretched? ”

“ This is not a lecture directed against the fancy drink habit, or a temperance sermon, but just an illustration of the difference between a natural instinct and an acquired habit, or appetite. Appetite is an acquired habit of eating or drinking, and has but little to do with real hunger or thirst. ”

“ The appetite is the true criterion by which he may know what his body needs. If he feels a thirst for alcoholic drink, it is akin to a hunger for any special class of foods. He is not to ask his servant, the stomach, whether it is willing to do the work of transformation. ”

“ Loss of appetite may, of course, mean that the body is busy combating toxins in the blood, but in a nervous person it usually means a symbolic loss of appetite for something in life, a struggle of the personality against something for which he has "no stomach." Psycho-analysis often reveals the source of the trouble, and a little bullying helps along the good work. By simply taking away a harmful means of expression, we may often force the subconscious mind to find a better language. ”

“ If it is your desire that your circulatory, respiratory, and digestive functions, should be discharged properly, normally, if you want your appetite to be good, your sleep sound, your humor equable, avoid all emotions that are over-strong, all pleasures that are too intense, and meet the inevitable sorrows and the cruel agonies of life with a resigned and firm soul. Ever have some occupation to employ and divert your mind, and to make it proof against the temptations of want or of desire. ”

“ Feelings and Appetite.—There is no need for a serious stomach condition to develop, to diminish, or eliminate appetite. The sight of an accident on the street, especially if blood is shed, will entirely take away the appetite of many persons. Now that suicide beneath the wheels of subway trains has become a rather frequent way of going out of life, physicians note that nervous patients who happen to see these sad affairs have no appetite, not alone for the next meal, but sometimes for several days. Some people have no appetite at all if there is a dead body in the house where they live. ”

“ It is of great importance, therefore, to watch the appetites of body and of mind; to study the laws of healthy equilibrium; and, above all, to learn to know and understand the dangers of prolonged self-indulgence of the appetites of pleasure in mere animal sensation and wild imagination. Appetite, properly so called, apprises man of the natural wants of the organism, and compliance with these internal promptings is rewarded by the double pleasure of the sense of taste in eating, and the feeling of comfort within, arising from the food supplied to the digestive system. ”

“ That an impression made upon the stomach by a medicinal agent, should be the means of exciting an action in the distant parts of the machine, will not appear extraordinary when we consider how universal a sympathy and control this central organ exercises over every function of the body; imbued with exquisite and diversified sensibilities,—subjected to the first and coarsest impressions of our various ingesta,—stretched occasionally to an enormous extent by the unrestricted indulgence of appetite,—disturbed by the passions,—exhausted by volition, and debilitated by intense thinking ”

“ Yet numbers of people attempt to justify the gratification of their gluttonous proclivities by the statement that they are "blessed with a good appetite," while the truth of the matter is, they are cursed with an inordinate lust for food. ”

“ Their indolent appetite examines, compares, judges, and, at length, abandons itself to the incomparable dainties from which it unceasingly seems to draw new ardour. But alas! pleasure, like pain, has its limits here below. Strength grows less, and becomes extinguished; the eye loses its greedy covetousness; [XXII_19] the palate languishes; the tongue becomes paralysed; the stomach sinks, and that which before pleased, now creates only fatigue and disgust. ”

“ The influence of the mental emotions on the digestion is so great that it is important that the conversation at meals should be as cheerful as possible, and no unpleasant subject should be discussed: anything that disturbs the appetite disturbs the digestion also. ”

“ Thirst for water will assert itself for a moment, sometimes asking but a drop and again for a full glass ; and, afterwards, when near the point of complete saturation, appetite will hesitate for a moment, as if searching around for some rare substance and may find its final satisfaction in a single spoonful of sweet, or of a sip of something in sight. "The appetite, satisfied by the infiltering process, is a sweetly appeased appetite, calm, rested, contented, normal. ”

“ The more we masticate the less we desire to eat, and the more normal our appetites become. This in itself is a thing to be desired, for it is far easier not to have an abnormal appetite than it is to control it when it has fastened itself upon us. ”

“ If sensations of hunger are neglected, appetite is lost; on the other hand, if the stomach's warning of "I have had enough" is unheeded, the nerves of that organ after a time get wearied, and no longer send their important message to the brain, so that a habit of over-eating is acquired. ”

“ We know all this very well, and yet we are prone to think of appetite as something regulated by instinct, and representing the real needs of the organism in its cravings and the limitations of the necessity of food by its satisfaction. In our sophisticated modern life instinct will often fail entirely to fulfill these purposes. Appetite for those who live much indoors is a question of {265} habit and regulation rather than of instinct. ”

“ We all know how easy it is to lose the appetite by emotional disturbance. We may come into the house after a brisk walk, when we know that dinner is going to be better than usual, quite ready to anticipate the pleasure we are to have in eating it and with appetite craving that dinner shall not be delayed, we find a telegram announcing the death of a friend or the illness of a relative or some other bad news, and in an instant our appetite has disappeared. It makes no difference to us for hours whether we eat or not. What we eat gives us no satisfaction. ”

“ When loss of appetite is occasioned by depraved humours, we must give those kinds of food and drink which will either clear away such humours by vomiting, or downwards by the bowels, or those that by dilution will render them better. You have the materials of these things treated of in the First Book of this work. Should the loss of appetite be occasioned by debility, since all debility is owing to an intemperament of the parts, we must cure the species of intemperament by its contraries. ”

“ Did you ever notice that the drink habit calls forth just such symptoms? The craving and "all-gone" feeling is characteristic of both forms of abnormal appetite. The man who is craving a smoke, or a chew of tobacco feels the same way.
A man often wonders why he cannot get a dinner such as "mother used to cook." Do you know why he cannot get it? Simply because he has replaced his natural Hunger by an abnormal appetite, and he does not feel satisfied unless he gratifies that Appetite, which renders the homely fare of the past an impossibility. ”

“ Whatever be the organic states, which occasion these painful feelings, that are elementary in our appetites, there can be no doubt, that some organic affections precede them, as truly as some affection of an external organ precedes the pain of a burn, or the painful temporary blindness, when we are dazzled with excessive light. And though, in the case of the appetite, we may give the same name to the pain, and to the desire of that which is to relieve the pain ”

“ Loss of sleep and appetite do not invariably occur from an attack of the “grand passion,” but they have been known to follow in its wake. Perhaps your food is not well chosen, and that you need fresh air and exercise, or perhaps a tonic. ”

“ The appetite, the eager craving after food, is, indeed, a very complex sensation, and often not merely the need of the organism for food material is necessary for its excitement, but also a condition of thorough well-being, together with a normal healthy feeling in all parts of the digestive tract. ”

“ Attend to the demands of appetite, but use all your judgment in determining whether it is a natural, undepraved craving of the system which speaks, or an acquired and vicious taste, and give or withhold accordingly; and, above all, never eat when you have no appetite. ”

“ The drunkard may say to him, “My appetite is stronger than yours; more, therefore, is necessary, in order to make me ‘feel well;’ and if you cannot deny yourself, how can I control a more raging appetite?” ”

“ As the actual uneasiness which appetite implies can only be excited by the irritable state of my own body, so neither can the desire of the correspondent gratification subsist in that intense degree which properly constitutes appetite, except when it tends to relieve that very same uneasiness by which it was excited. ”

“ The appetite comes in eating, as the proverb says, and grows by what it feeds on. And the psychic self, torn with conflicting desires, is ever the house divided against itself, which must surely fall. ”

“ Well marked sympathies are excited in various organs; the nervous system may suffer especially; the woman’s temper and disposition may change; she may become capricious, may have likes and dislikes in eating, especially if her digestion is weak; there may be loss of appetite, heartburn, increased flow of saliva, toothache, excitability of mind, sleepiness, etc. ”

“ As, for instance, sudden anxiety, as of the non-arrival of a friend when expected, may cause an increase of the peristaltic action, while prolonged anxiety is apt to cause the contrary effect. Joy over good news or at the return of long-absent friends diminishes gastric secretion and causes loss of appetite. ”

“ The digestive powers are weakened, the tone of the stomach is relaxed, and, instead of the healthful craving for food which should occur at the proper interval, the appetite is destroyed, and food of every kind is nauseated.—Exactly similar is the case with the mental appetite. ”

“ Even in gratifying the appetite most nearly on the same plane as the sexual appetite—namely, that of hunger—he has more or less regard for his own well-being, more or less consideration for the wishes of others, and a constant desire to attain the standard expected of him. ”

“ The same eager appetite will bring up the ideas of various aliments from prior associations; and if a new association of it, when particularly eager, happen to be made with this or that food or liquor, the sympathetic eager appetite will ever after bring in the idea of that food or liquor, and adhere inseparably to it. The same eager appetite may also be transferred upon something that is not properly a food, from its exorbitant nature, prior nauseas in respect of common food, and accidental joint appearance. ”

“ Since I was a child, I may say, I had never known myself to lack good appetite, and I now found that so far from weakening my desire and enjoyment of my victuals, as would seem most fitting in a young woman of sentiment, the fatigues, emotions, and excitements of the day before had but set a keener edge to my relish of these, as of all other good things in what I could but think, despite all drawbacks, was a very engaging and gladsome world. ”