Burnout 100 years ago referred to as neurasthenia

Burnout already existed 100 years ago

24/03/2014

In connection with burnout is spoken again and again of a so-called fashion diagnosis. But the phenomenon is not that modern. Already one hundred years ago, working people in particular suffered from severe stress, which annoyed them. At that time the condition was called neurasthenia.

From the pocket watch to the smartphone
Already 100 years ago, growing cities, increasing traffic and more technology were recognized in everyday life as factors for stress. A reason for inner unrest was at that time for example the pocket watch, on which some people always looked, in order not to be late. Nowadays the constant view of the smartphone is identified as a threat to the health of the soul. The phenomenon known today as burnout was called neurasthenia 100 years ago. The successful author Florian Illies writes in his bestseller „1913“ about the Austrian author Robert Musil (1880-1942): „Scoffers sang: „Never stop and never hurry, otherwise the neurasthenia haste.“ The writer had gone to a neurologist in 1913 because he was under the „mindlessness“ his former work as a librarian at the Technical University in Vienna.

Burnout at that time was called neurasthenia
Musil told the doctor that he was suffering from attacks of palpitations with a chopping pulse, twitching while falling asleep, and a digestive disorder associated with depression, physical and mental fatigue. As Illies writes in his book, this would be called burnout today, but at the time the diagnosis was: neurasthenia. By the end of the 19th century, this condition was a widespread phenomenon and as early as 1900, it was perceived in Central Europe as an epidemic to become one of the most common diagnoses in the years before 1914.

Diagnoses are imports from the USA
The Bielefeld historian Joachim Radkau, who is an expert in mentality, medical and environmental history, explained: „There are striking analogies between the rapid increase in complaints of 'burnout' in the last two decades and the 'neurasthenia' wave a century before.“ Both diagnoses are imports from the USA and in both cases they are especially in the German cultural area. The term „neurasthenia“ was made famous by New York neurologist George M. Beard in 1880. „This suffering was often associated with the long-term effects of the electrical revolution of the time, similar to today's burnout with the digital revolution, the overstrain of the Internet and constant accessibility via the mobile phone“, Radkau.

Emperor Wilhelm II was regarded as Oberneurastheniker of the Reich
As the historian further reported, in contemporary literature that was true „Rushing and chasing“ of modern economic life as a common cause. But then patient records would also indicate that sexual frustration was at least as much in the game. Also Sigmund Freud's fixation on sexual origins of the neuroses should only be understood against this background. The sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) is another prominent example. His correspondence was swarming with nervous complaints. The „nervous discourse“ In the years before 1914, more and more came into politics. „The reproach of nervous weakness flew back and forth, especially among those politicians who themselves were suspected of nervousness. Wilhelm II was considered insiders as the Oberneurastheniker of the Reich“, Radkau. The historian thinks that the German Emperor gave way to the warmongers in the July Crisis of 1914, and explains that he was anxious not to feed the suspicion of nervous weakness.

Dangerous medicalization of politics
And in 2014, a hundred years later, Radkau sees a parallel: „Even today, the Nerve-Palaver threatens to jump over to politics; There one reads, between the EU and Russia around the Ukraine a "war of nerves" led, as if the EU by her hardness against Moscow must put her nerve power to the test.“ However, be such „Medicalization of politics“ dangerous „and runs counter to a sober weighing of one's own interests“, so the historian. He added: „As one can credit Chancellor Angela Merkel that they very unlike the last German emperor at least against an insinuation must not keep: against the nervousness.“

Problematic diagnosis
One problem, which presumably occurred even then, is the diagnosis. Burnout is very inaccurately used today for a variety of symptoms. These included fatigue, fatigue, insomnia and a strong desire to retreat. However, these symptoms could also be signs of depression. So whether a burnout is actually behind it is often difficult to diagnose. According to estimates, about one quarter to one third of Germans would claim to suffer from the feeling of being burnt out. Concrete figures of those actually affected by burnout, however, were difficult to identify due to the blurring in the demarcation of other mental illnesses. (Sb)