Page:The Art of Helping People Out of Trouble (1924).pdf/102

 advanced in years, who seemed to be utterly incapable of grappling with the situation. From what he said—and this was later confirmed by the relatives—Miss Hansen's mother had been of unsound mind. The invalid sister had never developed fully either physically or mentally.

The social worker now persuaded Miss Hansen to visit a psychiatrist, who reported that she was suffering from a manic-depressive form of mental disease in which in all likelihood heredity was a factor, and that probably her mental abnormality had been progressing slowly and steadily.

The relatives who were consulted said that they had been puzzled about Miss Hansen and were deeply interested in her. She had never taken them into her confidence, although she had often asked them for money and had always received what she requested. One of the relatives was a lawyer. He immediately offered to take charge of her legal affairs, which were exceedingly involved. He and the other members of the family were eager and willing to help her and her familyfamily. [sic]

Each of the persons who had been associated with Miss Hansen knew only his or her part of the story and was ignorant of the other aspects of her life. Miss Hansen herself had never realized what