Neurasthenia / by Gilbert Ballet ; translated from the third French edition by P. Campbell Smith.

Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Neurasthenia / by Gilbert Ballet ; translated from the third French edition by P. Campbell Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    54/450 (page 18)
    exhaustion. But the term over brain-pressure is vague, because it is too comprehensive. It is evi- dent that the brain may be subjected in many ways to over-pressure, and as among the modes of cere- bral activity there are some peculiarly apt to pro- duce neurasthenia, it is necessary, in order to de- fine precisely the role of mental over-pressure in the genesis of the affection vv^e are considering, to group the cases in natural categories and to ex- amine them separately. From our present point of view it is convenient to consider the effects of over brain-pressure in the sphere of the intellec- tual faculties and in that of the emotions. Excess of Intellectual Work.—It is certain that intense or too prolonged intellectual work may give rise even in an energetic and well-balanced man to symptoms of a neurasthenic nature, such as insomnia, dyspepsia, persistent headache, etc. Great workers, scholars, scientists, literary men, and young people preparing for examinations often fall at the time of professional competitions,^ after a period of excessive toil, into a state of cerebral depression, mingled with some symptoms of excitement, which compels them to interrupt their exertions. But in general the forms of neurasthenia that develop under these conditions are neither persistent nor grave. Some days of rest, a stay in the country, or a short hydrothera- iJhat is, competitive examinations for entry into special training schools or public functions. There are many more of these ia France than in England.—Trans.