Posted by bookgurl99 on June 10, 2003, at 1:07:14
In reply to Re: Important Question-- SSRIs, etc. » bookgurl99, posted by Questionmark on June 9, 2003, at 23:53:12
>Ooh, what are 'neurasthenics'? i like their treatment. Six weeks of bed rest-- that's what i need-- well, no. Now an etERnity of bed rest... that would be nice. ok i'm done
Uh -- i'm not into you seeking out an _eternity_ of bed rest. Are testing out the feeling of suicide?
>But when it comes to neurasthenia, a month or 6 weeks of bed rest was advised.
Here's a short description of neurasthenia done by an academic analyzing a Willa Cather story at http://www.media-culture.org.au/0106/cather.html.
. . . "Discovered" by the neurologist George M. Beard in 1880, neurasthenia was a nervous disorder characterized by a "lack of nerve force" and comprised of a host of neuroses clustered around an overall paralysis of the will.Cultural historian T.J. Jackson Lears, long a student of neurasthenia, defines it as an "immobilizing, self-punishing depression" stemming from "endless self-analysis" and "morbid introspection" (47, 49).
* There is another neat description at http://www.edgarcayce.org/th/tharchiv/research/neurasth.html
I particularly like this part: "In addition to the psychic symptoms here described, the patient also suffers from insomnia. Mostly he has but little difficulty in falling asleep, but the sleep is broken, especially toward the morning hours, and the patient finds difficulty in falling asleep again. If be does, the second sleep is likely to be heavy and the awakening to be accompanied by a feeling of more or less marked prostration. Occasionally the sleep is interrupted a number of times, and often is accompanied by a desire to empty the bladder. Less frequently the patient has difficulty in falling asleep, the oncoming of the first sleep being delayed for an hour or more. The sleep of neurasthenics is rarely refreshing. The patient usually awakens with a feeling of lethargy and depression, and feels but little inclined to activity, especially in the early part of the day. "
hmm. . it all sounds a bit familiar. It sounds like the Questiomark problem!
I like this dx because it addresses simple problems with simple solutions;if a person is tired out, let him rest. it seems much healthier than our pill-popping ways.
unfortunately, it fell out of disuse due to being a little too inclusive. before MRI's and other measuring devices, one couldn't know whether this malaise was due to M.S. or CFS or industrial pollutants, or if the sufferers truly had tired out their consitutions.
poster:bookgurl99
thread:232047
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030609/msgs/232811.html