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Cultures of Neurasthenia
From Beard to the First World War
Series: - Clio Medica Online, Volume: 63
- Clio Medica, Volume: 63
Neurasthenia, meaning nerve weakness, was âinventedâ in the United States as a disorder of modernity, caused by the fast pace of urban life. Soon after, from the early 1880s onwards, this modern disease crossed the Atlantic. Neurasthenia became much less âpopularâ in Britain or the Netherlands than in Germany. Neurastheniaâs heyday continued into the first decade of the twentieth century. The label referred to conditions similar to those currently labelled as chronic fatigue syndrome. Why this rise and fall of neurasthenia, and why these differences in popularity
This book, which emerged out of an Anglo-Dutch-German conference held in June 2000, explores neurastheniaâs many-sided history from a comparative perspective.
This book, which emerged out of an Anglo-Dutch-German conference held in June 2000, explores neurastheniaâs many-sided history from a comparative perspective.
Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra is Professor of Social and Cultural History at the University of Amsterdam. She has published on the granting of asylum in the Dutch Republic, deviance and tolerance (16th-20th centuries), witchcraft and cultures of misfortune (16th-20th centuries), the reception of homoeopathy in the Netherlands (19th-20th centuries), and on women and alternative health care in the Netherlands (20th century). She has recently edited in English, with Hilary Marland and Hans de Waardt, Illness and Healing Alternatives in Western Europe (London: Routledge, 1997), and, with Roy Porter, Cultures of Psychiatry and Mental Health Care in Postwar Britain and the Netherlands (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1998).
Roy Porter is Professor of the Social History of Medicine at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London. Recent books include Doctor of Society: Thomas Beddoes and the Sick Trade in Late Enlightenment England (London: Routledge, 1991); London: A Social History (Hamish Hamilton, 1994); âThe Greatest Benefit to Mankindâ: A Medical History of Humanity (London: HarperCollins, 1997); and Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World (Harmondsworth: Allen Lane, 2000) and Bodies Politic: Disease, Death and the Doctors in Britain: 1650-1914 (London: Reaktion Books, 2001). He is co-author of The History of Bethlam (London: Routledge, 1997) and of Gout: The Patrician Malady (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998).
Roy Porter is Professor of the Social History of Medicine at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London. Recent books include Doctor of Society: Thomas Beddoes and the Sick Trade in Late Enlightenment England (London: Routledge, 1991); London: A Social History (Hamish Hamilton, 1994); âThe Greatest Benefit to Mankindâ: A Medical History of Humanity (London: HarperCollins, 1997); and Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World (Harmondsworth: Allen Lane, 2000) and Bodies Politic: Disease, Death and the Doctors in Britain: 1650-1914 (London: Reaktion Books, 2001). He is co-author of The History of Bethlam (London: Routledge, 1997) and of Gout: The Patrician Malady (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998).
"The volume is an important addition to the historical literature on neurasthenia and should be welcomed as a significant contribution to scholarship." - in: Journal of the History of Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 42, No. 1 (2006)
"Cultures of Neurasthenia is a welcome contribution, not only to history of medicine but also to broader social and cultural history general. â¦This collection is an inspiring invitation to medical and social historians to join forces and embark on more comparative work." - in: Wellcome History, Vol. 22 (2003)
"â¦a fascinating and colourful book ⦠and a valuable contribution to the history of psychiatry and psychiatric treatment." - in: Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, Vol. 5, No. 2 (2002)
"Wer sich also über die Neurasthenie informieren will, greift mit Gewinn zu diesem Sammelband." - in: Gesnerus, Swiss Journal of the History of Medicine and Sciences, Vol. 59 (2002)
"â¦varied and thought-provoking⦠[â¦] This is [â¦] a timely and welcome volume." - in: Social History of Medicine, Vol. 15, No. 3 (2002)
"â¦worthwhileâ¦" â Mark Welch, in: Metapsychology Online Book Reviews (2002)
"â¦a great collection that deserves a wide readershipâ¦" - in: Medical History, 47(2) (April 2003)
"Cultures of Neurasthenia is a welcome contribution, not only to history of medicine but also to broader social and cultural history general. â¦This collection is an inspiring invitation to medical and social historians to join forces and embark on more comparative work." - in: Wellcome History, Vol. 22 (2003)
"â¦a fascinating and colourful book ⦠and a valuable contribution to the history of psychiatry and psychiatric treatment." - in: Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, Vol. 5, No. 2 (2002)
"Wer sich also über die Neurasthenie informieren will, greift mit Gewinn zu diesem Sammelband." - in: Gesnerus, Swiss Journal of the History of Medicine and Sciences, Vol. 59 (2002)
"â¦varied and thought-provoking⦠[â¦] This is [â¦] a timely and welcome volume." - in: Social History of Medicine, Vol. 15, No. 3 (2002)
"â¦worthwhileâ¦" â Mark Welch, in: Metapsychology Online Book Reviews (2002)
"â¦a great collection that deserves a wide readershipâ¦" - in: Medical History, 47(2) (April 2003)
Marijke GIJSWIJT-HOFSTRA: Introduction: Cultures of Neurasthenia from Beard to the First World War
Roy PORTER: Nervousness, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Style: From Luxury to Labour
Tom LUTZ: Varieties of Medical Experience: Doctors and Patients, Psyche and Soma in America
Mathew THOMSON: Neurasthenia in Britain: An Overview
Chandak SENGOOPTA: âA Mob of Incoherent Symptomsâ ? Neurasthenia in British Medical Discourse, 1860-1920
Hilary MARLAND: âUterine Mischiefâ: W.S. Playfair and his Neurasthenic Patients
Michael NEVE :Public Views of Neurasthenia: Britain, 1880-1930
Doris KAUFMANN: Neurasthenia in Wilhelmine Germany: Culture, Sexuality, and the Demands of Nature
Volker ROELCKE: Electrified Nerves, Degenerated Bodies: Medical Discourses on Neurasthenia in Germany, circa 1880-1914
Joachim RADKAU: The Neurasthenic Experience in Imperial Germany: Expeditions into Patient Records and Side-looks upon General History
Heinz-Peter SCHMIEDEBACH: The Public's View of Neurasthenia in Germany: Looking for a New Rhythm of Life
Joost VIJSELAAR: Neurasthenia in the Netherlands
Jessica SLIJKHUIS: Neurasthenia as Pandora's Box? 'Zenuwachtigheid' and Dutch Psychiatry around 1900
Marijke GIJSWIJT-HOFSTRA: In Search of Dutch Neurasthenics from the 1880s to the early-1920s
Nelleke BAKKER: A Harmless Disease: Children and Neurasthenia in the Netherlands
Christopher E. FORTH: Neurasthenia and Manhood in fin-de-siecle France
Sonu SHAMDASANI: Claire, Lise, Jean, Nadia, and Gisele: Preliminary Notes towards a Characterisation of Pierre Janet's Psychasthenia
List of Illustrations
Roy PORTER: Nervousness, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Style: From Luxury to Labour
Tom LUTZ: Varieties of Medical Experience: Doctors and Patients, Psyche and Soma in America
Mathew THOMSON: Neurasthenia in Britain: An Overview
Chandak SENGOOPTA: âA Mob of Incoherent Symptomsâ ? Neurasthenia in British Medical Discourse, 1860-1920
Hilary MARLAND: âUterine Mischiefâ: W.S. Playfair and his Neurasthenic Patients
Michael NEVE :Public Views of Neurasthenia: Britain, 1880-1930
Doris KAUFMANN: Neurasthenia in Wilhelmine Germany: Culture, Sexuality, and the Demands of Nature
Volker ROELCKE: Electrified Nerves, Degenerated Bodies: Medical Discourses on Neurasthenia in Germany, circa 1880-1914
Joachim RADKAU: The Neurasthenic Experience in Imperial Germany: Expeditions into Patient Records and Side-looks upon General History
Heinz-Peter SCHMIEDEBACH: The Public's View of Neurasthenia in Germany: Looking for a New Rhythm of Life
Joost VIJSELAAR: Neurasthenia in the Netherlands
Jessica SLIJKHUIS: Neurasthenia as Pandora's Box? 'Zenuwachtigheid' and Dutch Psychiatry around 1900
Marijke GIJSWIJT-HOFSTRA: In Search of Dutch Neurasthenics from the 1880s to the early-1920s
Nelleke BAKKER: A Harmless Disease: Children and Neurasthenia in the Netherlands
Christopher E. FORTH: Neurasthenia and Manhood in fin-de-siecle France
Sonu SHAMDASANI: Claire, Lise, Jean, Nadia, and Gisele: Preliminary Notes towards a Characterisation of Pierre Janet's Psychasthenia
List of Illustrations