Attitudes and Health

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Walking home from school, Marv Baker is in a funk this afternoon not only in not making the first string for the basketball team, that first team solely which will travel for away games, but believing that he didn't make the first string in having missed a few practices in being sick which he couldn't help. He arrives home to find their family physician, Dr. Thomas, there as Marv's older sister, Alice Baker, has come home sick from work with an upset stomach, the cause of which he can only determine upon a more comprehensive physical at his office. He thinks he has a diagnosis when Mrs. Baker says that Alice has of late been worrying about a possible promotion, that stress which led to her making more mistakes at work, and as a result getting passed up for the promotion, she, since, who has been feeling dejected. Dr. Thomas thus determines that Alice's worry has made her physically sick. Equating Alice's situation with his own, Marv comes to the understanding that his own worry about possibly making the first team was what probably made him sick. He begins to learn from Dr. Thomas measures to overcome these attitude issues leading to physical illness: discover the facts in what is required, and look at the situation from a broader perspective.