 Who is the Tenth Man? The Tenth Man is the one man in ten in your community who needs or will need some form of psychiatric guidance. Yes, one out of ten of us will suffer at some time in our lives from a nervous or mental illness. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Ralph Bellamy. Our story is called The Tie That Binds. And it concerns the Moran's. I'm sure you know them. They live in that white shingled house in the middle of the block. There are four of them, Julia and Frank, Betsy, their 19-year-old daughter, and Helen, Frank's unmarried sister who lives with them. Perhaps you haven't seen Julia Moran around lately. That's because she's been at the state hospital recovering from a mental illness. But you'll be glad to know that she's well again, so well that she's coming home for a trial visit. Now, many hospitals have a follow-up program for homecoming patients. The social worker is sent to prepare the family for the patient's return. This hasn't been done in Julia's case because the state hasn't allowed enough in its budget for sufficient social workers. However, Miss Carlson, the social worker at the hospital, is having a last-minute talk with Julia. Let me see now. Have I packed everything? Oh, those photographs on the bureau. Mustn't forget those, my family. From now on, you'll have the real thing and won't have to be content with photographs. Yes. After seven months, one week, and four days, I'll be with my family again. Oh, I do hope everything goes smoothly on this visit. The doctor said there was no reason why I couldn't stay home for good if all went well. And it will, I'm sure of it. If I can just get back into that old, familiar groove, taking care of my house and family and seeing my friends again, I know I'll be all right. Betsy! Betsy! Yes, Anne Helen? Take your nose out of that book and come help me get supper. All right, coming. It's almost six o'clock. Your mother and dad ought to be here any minute. Why, here they are now. Betsy, help me! It's good to have you back. It's good to be back with you again. Julia, dear. Hello, Helen. Here, Julia. Sit down. Oh, Frank, you're carrying this china doll stuff a little too far. I never was delicate. A little unbalanced in the head, maybe. Julia, don't joke about, you know, about that sort of thing. I suppose you're right, Helen. It really wasn't much of a joke. You know, the hospital and all. I was lucky to have recovered so quickly when I think of those poor people who were still there. But you're home now, old girl. Here to stay. Oh, Frank, I think I'm going to cry. No, I'm not. I'm too happy and too hungry. Helen, what's burning in the kitchen? Oh, dear. The roast. You can't go near the kitchen, ma. Anne Helen and I are taking care of dinner. Betsy! Oh, Frank, I've been looking forward to this moment for so long. There's something I want to talk to you about, Julia. Don't you think you ought to take it easy for a while? Oh, I plan to, dear. But I can do housework. Well, I thought, Julia, if we got somebody in to cook... No, Frank, we couldn't afford it. It's out of the question, dear. Well, we'll talk about it later. Are you doing anything special? No, dear. I'm a lady of leisure now. Just sit here by the window and watch people pass by on the street. Poor Mrs. Williams slaves away in the kitchen. Oh, you know, Dad. He likes to be protective and all that. Well, it's beginning to get on my nerves. As a matter of fact, ma, I was going to ask you for some help. Oh, what is it, dear? Something need mending? Oh, nothing so prosaic. I was going to ask your help with a report I have to prepare for psychology class. Why? How can I help? Well, I'd like to do something really spectacular, like a report on how it feels to get shock treatments. Or something like that. Oh, I see. Now, you can give me all that stuff firsthand. What was it like? Betsy, isn't there something else you can report on? Well, I just thought I'd take advantage of my own personal connection with mental illness. Betsy, darling, you have no personal connection with mental illness, and I hope you never do. That was my experience, something that was exclusively my own. Since you've never been ill, you couldn't possibly understand what it's like. So your report would fall rather flat, I'm afraid. All right. I'll try and think of something else. Oh, hello, Helen. Come and sit down. You look all tired out. Oh, Aunt Helen, I'm going upstairs, ma. All right, dear. Well, Julia, I ran into Jim Robinson, you know, next door. I brought his wife back from the hospital with the new baby today. The Mrs. is pretty weak, he says. I guess he was looking for someone to help get supper for himself and the other children. Oh, Helen, let me go. I'd love to help them out. That's what neighbors are for. Why, Julia, you know Frank wouldn't like it. Can't I even visit with them a bit? I've been home two weeks now and haven't even seen any of the neighbors. Didn't you tell him I was coming home? Well, as a matter of fact, I haven't been doing much visiting lately, Julia. Why not, Helen? Well, you know all this trouble and everything. Helen, you seem to think I ought to be ashamed or something because I was sick. No, I don't mean that. But people are bound to feel a little uneasy about you, now that you've been a mental patient. I mean ordinary people like the Robinsons next door. It even makes me feel a little strange if I allow myself to think about it. Hey, Helen, it wasn't very nice of you to say that. Well, you insisted on talking about it. Now you know how I feel. Julia, where are you going? I'm going upstairs. Julia, don't go. I'm sorry it was mean and spiteful of me to say that. I didn't mean it, really, Julia. Julia, please come back. I'm Miss Carlson, the social worker from the hospital. Oh, yes, I'm glad to meet you, Miss Carlson. This is my aunt Helen, Miss Moran, and this is my father. How do you do? I called you, Miss Carlson, because I'm afraid I've upset Julia dreadfully. I was trying to tell her how people feel about her illness, and she reacted very badly. She went upstairs to her room. Gee, maybe it was something I said. Maybe all this is my fault. Your fault? Yes, I was asking Mother to tell me some of her hospital experiences from my psych class report, and she seemed strange as if she didn't want to talk about it. Well, after all, that's perfectly natural, isn't it? Won't she ever be able to talk about her illness? Of course she will. But at first, it would be better to let it come up naturally in the conversation. After all, Betsy, your questions were probably not to help her feel at ease, but merely to satisfy your own curiosity. Yes, I see what you mean. I guess it was selfish of me. Now, let me see. Mrs. Moran's been home for several weeks. I suppose she's been renewing her acquaintances in the neighborhood. Well, no. She's been sticking pretty closely to the house. That's odd for a friendly person like Mrs. Moran. Hasn't she been feeling well? Oh, she feels fine, but, well, after all, she's just back from the hospital. It's too soon for her to be getting around. Oh, but mental illness isn't like physical illness in that respect. Convalescents don't need rest. They need activity. They do? Oh, yes, social contacts and a fuller life. Not a more restricted one. But, Miss Carlson, don't you think Julia might even go away for a while? You know, take a little trip until things blow over. Blow over? Until what blows over? Well, I mean, if Julia tries to see her old friends, it might be, you know, uncomfortable for everybody concerned. Miss Moran, your neighbors won't feel uncomfortable with Mrs. Moran unless she herself meets them with feelings of shame and uneasiness. When she left the hospital, she was perfectly natural. It's Helen who's been ashamed and uneasy about this thing, not Julia. Everybody feels that way about insanity. It's a kind of inborn fear. I wanted Julia to stay home to protect her against that feeling in others. I don't think that fear is born in this. I think it's learned from books and the movies we see and from the fearful attitudes of others. If we educate ourselves to see mental disorder as an illness, like tuberculosis, and not as a terror, that sensible attitude in ourselves will influence others to be sensible. I only hope you haven't undermined Julia's self-confidence, Helen. I've certainly not helped her by treating her like a nimbolid. Miss Carlson, it's a shame you couldn't have told us these things before Mother came home. Now it may be too late. No, I don't think so. It's just that Mrs. Moran has been protected a little too much. If we loosen those ties of love just a bit and let Mrs. Moran test out her new liberty, I'm sure her self-confidence will be as strong as ever. Hello? Oh, hello, Jim. Say, I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on that new arrival. Well, that's fine. How's Doris? He's still pretty weak, huh? What? Oh, I think so. Anyway, I'll ask her, oh, Helen. Yes, Frank? There are pretty much of a dither next door at the Robinson's. Will you go over to fix supper for them? Well, yes. Okay, Jim, she'd be glad to. Oh, by the way, Julia's home. Yes, it is. Well, thanks, yes. All right, I'll tell her. Goodbye, Jim. I'm sorry, Miss Carlson. Now, where were we? Well, I think we've covered everything now, but I'll be on my way. But I'll be back next week to see Mrs. Moran. Goodbye. Goodbye, Miss Carlson. And thank you. Well, I'm glad she came, Frank. I guess I have behaved pretty badly. I'm sorry. That's all right, Helen. We've all got to start afresh with Julia, I think. Well, I better go next door. Just a moment, Helen. When I told Jim that Julia was home, he asked if she could come over. He said Doris would be glad to see Julia again. Oh, I'll go and tell Mother. She'll be glad to hear that. No, Betsy, let me go. I want to give her a little pleasure for a change. And I have an apology to make. For most of the ills that afflict mankind, there are wonderful drugs to combat the disease and bring healing. But there is no wonder drug to keep us and those about us mentally healthy. By helping those returning from mental hospitals to reestablish themselves, we can help others to preserve their health. In the play you just heard, the Moran family's peace of mind could have been saved by an earlier visit from the social worker. Do your hospitals supply adequate social work coverage? What about your community? You have just heard Ralph Bellamy as narrator in The Tie That Binds, produced by the National Mental Health Foundation and presented in association with other organizations dedicated to the preservation of mental health.