Certain symptoms of nervous exhaustion / by George M. Beard.

  • Beard, George M. (George Miller), 1839-1883.
Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Certain symptoms of nervous exhaustion / by George M. Beard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    stant cliaractoristics; its symptoms lurk in ambush and burst upon us wlien least looked for, when we fancy ourselves ut- terly and forever delivered from their presence. The neu- rasthenic patient cannot, therefore, trust himself a half hour or even a moment in advance. In the morning, he may be, or feel, able to walk five miles; in the afternoon, from no traceable cause, it may be a task to cross the street. Even in the midst of any labor—mental or muscular—his strength gives out as suddenly as if he were struck by lightning. I knew a man prostrated for two years with profound neuras- thenia, who, if he rose and crossed the room, might become absolutely aphonic. Tavo ladies have been under mj’ care Avho could walk readily for perhaps a block or more, when instantly, and Avithout warning, tlieir legs Avould give avra’ beneath them. Special Idiosyncrasies in Regard to Food, Medicine and Exter- nal Irritants.—Wlien the nervous system becomes exhausted, it is apt to develop various idiosyncrasies not before ob- served; some of them are of high interest. Opium, for example, is likely to aggraAvate insomnia in many nenrasthenic patients, instead of putting them asleep, unless, indeed, A'ery large doses are used. Formerly opium Avas our chief—almost our only dependence AA^hen Ave AAdshed to put one asleep. Xoav Ave scarcely think of using it for that purpose in the treat- ment of the iieiwous, except Avhen there is seA’ere pain to be relieved. Opium for the iierA'ously exliausted preA’ents sleen almost as much as coffee. So frequent is this idiosyncrasy, that Avere it not for the bromides and cannabis indica and electricity, we Avould be utterly disarmed in the presence of these cases. In regard to alcohol, some are so susceptible that a drop of any form of liquor is instantly and injuriously felt in some part of the systeni.^ Others, on the otl'ier hand, lose all un- pleasant susceptilfility to alcohol, and can bear it in incredi- ble quantities, and may sometimes l>e ]irotited by it. A huh' Avhom I knoAV,had for years been passing through a series of symptoms of neiwous depression that our most honored e.\- perts had failed to relieve. One day an ignorant and, I be- lieve, mregidar ])ractitioner came into her house, and without inquiring into her case at all, told her in a rough and author-