In Nervous Exhaustion (1880) and American Nervousness (1881) George Beard argued that while similar disorders appeared in other countries, neurasthenia was an illness peculiar to America and was brought on by changes in the conditions of the United States in his own time. Elsewhere, Men were expected to follow in their father's footsteps. In America, they were expected to work their way up the economic ladder, to make something of themselves!
But how were they to accomplish this mission if they were plagued all the time by severe fatigue?
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