In 1875, the English physician, Dr. George Johnson, wrote an article in The Lancet which he called, "Lectures on Some Nervous Disorders that Result from Overwork and Anxiety." Since 1853 Dr. Johnson had been studying cases of fatigue he thought might fall into the category of fatigue caused by "overwork and anxiety."
In his Lancet article he describes the symptoms of a twenty-three-year overworked legal clerk:
"For several weeks he had suffered from headache, confusion of thought, and inability to work. His appetite was bad, and he complained of uneasiness after taking food. He slept badly, and he was much distressed by dreams. The cause of the symptoms in this case was overwork of brain."
Dr. Johnson concludes:
"We may commonly notice, that an overworked man, whether his work be mechanical or mental, becomes an over anxious, nervous man. The overtaxing of the strength is attended by a sense of fatigue and exhaustion, loss of appetite for food, and often by inability to sleep soundly; with this there comes an anxious dread of breaking down, and the combination of fatigue, anxiety, and unrefreshing sleep is a common cause of mental and bodily collapse."
