Brain-work and overwork / edited by George Black.

Date:
[1888?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Brain-work and overwork / edited by George Black. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION. HERE are one or two still untouched subjects 1 upon which it seems right to say a few words before closing this brief essay. In the lives of most men who struggle upwards, there come periods when it is necessary to perform a great deal of labor in a short time. If the object to be gained is sufficiently important, it is perfectly justifiable to take a certain amount of risk of suffering from overwork. The risk is, however, comparatively slight, if the principle of a compensating rest after the exertion be borne in mind. Acute brain exhaustion following a spell of work is an entirely different condition from the breakdown which results from a long-continued strain. In the acute attack, the brain almost invariably recovers itself en- tirely in a comparatively short time. There is, how- ever, great danger in a too frequent repetition of this spendthrift process of paroxysmal labor. When a large production is necessary in a short time, it is important to reduce the strain to the lowest degree possible by attention to the various principles