Harder on the public psyche has been the plunge of the Nikkei 225 stock index below 10,000 for the first time in 18 years.

And if the press is any reflection of the public psyche, then that psyche has been bruised.

And the Depression left scars on the public psyche, producing the fear that without continuous large government outlays, the private economy would falter.

It tapped into the public psyche in a way that reached beyond the draw of even Mary Martin, the star.

News events, particularly those dominated by terrorism and violence, have kidnapped a public psyche that once looked to literature for its thrills.

But is this defense open only to those whose crimes resonate in our public psyche?

Worse still, the name was often associated with Girobank in the public psyche, making little distinction between the welfare cheque and the business.

When the public psyche is confident, no one really notices grains.

Is it any wonder that years later, when the public psyche began to waver, I took up whole grains?

Perhaps it is too soon for the public psyche to accept a gulf war era.