The idea that any mental disorder is physically inherited is disturbing and frightening to many Americans, especially since our country has emphasized the psychoanalytical approach to curing emotional problems. One remembers Ingmar Bergman's classic film Through a Glass Darkly; there, a young woman is going mad, again, and we learn that her mother died in an institution for the insane. Scandanavia has long realized and accepted the notion that perhaps madness can be inherited. America is only now considering the theory, guardedly.
In the controversy over cause, however, we should not lose sight of remedies that alleviate or help control the condition. It is clear that psychoanalysis and psychiatric therapy have helped many people. Others claim relief from drugs and even electro-shock therapy. Soon we may have tests, taken from body samples, that will pinpoint specific deficiencies in the body that, when corrected, will lead the patient to renewed mental vigor. Currently some doctors do hair analyses to see if certain nutrients are lacking in a person's body. This and other methods, especially those related to the health food movement, are frowned on by the traditional medical profession. Yet the need for extra vitamin C and its usefulness in preventing colds, or even cancer, is a controversy that continues. Obviously, more scientific data is needed. Until then, sensitive persons can look only to themselves and follow paths of moderation and try to keep their own bodies and minds in balance by whatever means seem appropriate and useful to them.
Then there is the last period of Plath's life — when she had been seriously ill with flu for some time, and she was using drugs to get herself up and down for work and sleep. Certainly her body was not in any balanced, healthy condition at the time of her death. Did she ever eat or exercise properly? We have no real evidence that she did.
