254 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS •vere regular she made a big effort to make herself clean and tidy, but if there was a break in her appointments she would soon revert to her untidy and dishevelled ways. M. H. M.: 37. Schizophrenic. A long-term patient. Solitary and withdrawn and resistive to attention, very anti-social. She always walked with her head down and had a very heavy growth of hair on the face. Has been attending the Beauty Salon for depilatory treatment and takes an interest in herself. Is most pleased about her face and now walks with her head well up and attends all activities and also goes out for week-ends. F. F.: 34. Schizophrenic. Long-term patient. Very truculent and uncertain and solitary. Rather hesitant about treating her in the Beauty Salon but she enjoys it thoroughly and is completely relaxed with the treatment. Takes more interest in herself and is now ablc to enioy both indoor activities and bus rides in the country. Annie M.: 45. Chronic depressive. Having fortnightly treatments. Never used make-up before and to begin with very reluctant to come. Nice looking, rather mousey type of woman with "wen" on her head, for which she refused operative treatment all her life. After second treatment asked for advice on colour for lipsticks, etc. Then demanded a perm and was given a "home" perm by the ward nurse which was very successful. Now makes up daily and last week suggested to the doctor that the "wen" might now be removed. Mary T.: Chronic psychotic. After first treatment burst into tears and said she looked like her "bonny sister." She had never before mentioned her family. Mrs. N.: 78. Senile. She "didnae like a' that stuff on her face but thought nurse's hands real soothing and she could dae wi' a cup of tea now." Marie A.: Young schizophrenic. Felt she might go to the weekly dances now as she didn't look so bad. Could the sewing room help her to make a new dress ? Rose M.: Maniac depressive. Treated both when maniac and whe•x depressed, seemed to respond particularly well when maniac, soothed and calmed quite perceptibly. Not so responsive when depressed, although ward reports say she doesn't revert to bed quite so frequently after treatment. Louise M.: 26. Schizophrenic. Prostitute. Very badly made up with dyed orange hair and very heavy make-up. When face cleaned up, which took a considerable time, her natural skin was perfect. Nurse then gave her a rather emphasized make-up as she obviously wanted this, but Louise was disgusted and said she looked too plain. Ten minutes later she had dealt with that and was back to original heavy make-up. Refuses to return to the Beauty Room. A.: A short-stay patient, who had responded well to treatment in other

THE HOSPITAL BEAUTY SCHEME 255 respects, came the day before her return to her home and was given a simple beauty treatment which involved all the techniques she could use herself later. One of the difficulties she had to face was loss of respect from her husband, who was ashamed at the way his wife's personal appearance had deteriorated as her nervous illness had increased. T.: An extremely pretty young mother aged about 22 who, following the birth of her baby, had suffered. a nervous breakdown. One of her symptoms was that she lost all interest in her appearance. Encouraged by treatments in the Beauty Salon which restored her natural good looks and, with them, her confidence, she once more started to take care of her skin and was soon discharged from the hospital as fit. Group Reaction It had been difficult to persuade a whole group of schizophrenics in a ß ward to take any interest in themselves. After several of them had visited ß the Beauty Room, quite spontaneously, they asked the nurses each morning if they might cleanse their faces and put on make-up when previously there had been the greatest difficulty in getting them to wash even their hands. I hope that these case histories show that patients of all types and ages can benefit from beauty treatments. But I do not wish to leave you with the idea that beauty treatments on their own can effect complete cures. They are one factor, albeit a very important one, in a whole series of thera- peutic treatments. As you will have noted, they frequently form a starting point and they are most certainly a link. Because the very idea of cosmetics and attractive things appeal to women, they are something for the patient, back in the stress of normal life, to hang on to and build up. SPASTICS We have not confined our attention to mental patients only. We have done a considerable amount of work with spastics. Their problem is a rather different one. They are, by reason of their physical difficulties, very much shut away from the world and need to be brought in contact with reality in as many ways as possible. Furthermore, they have to go through very arduous and difficult training routines to rehabilitate their maimed limbs. This means a tremendous amount of hard work and ingenuity on the part of the House Mothers who look after them and train them, and also great personal determination by the patients themselves. If a spastic does not have real character she will not overcome her disabilities. But remarkable results are obtained. Not only could they see themselves looking more attractive, but they could learn how to take care of their skin which, because each movement takes so much effort and so long to accomplish, is often a difficult task. So the importance of the Beauty Scheme to spastics was