INDEX
Page numbers refer to the print edition but are hyperlinked to the appropriate location in the e-book.
acedia: Cassian on, 34–38; Chaucer on, 43; in The Divine Comedy, 44–51; Evagrius on, 32–34; Hugh of Saint Victor on, 39–40; melancholia redefined as, 17, 31; modern, 180; as sin, 32; sociocultural context of, 197; symptoms and indicators of, 31; as term (etymology, definitions), 32, 38; Thomas Aquinas on, 40–42; work as antidote to, 36–38
adaptation energy, 205–9, 212. See also energy (human); stress
adrenaline, 205, 221
aestheticism, in Against Nature, 101–5
Against Nature (Huysman), 101–5
agency: acedia and, 33–34, 40–42, 46; Ficino on, 63; neoliberal and conservative views on, 42–43, 195–96, 220, 235; questions pertaining to, 11; sin vs. vice and, 39. See also personal responsibility; willpower
aging, 206, 236
agrarian societies, 117, 133. See also natural rhythms
Allen, Woody, 85
American Nervousness (Beard), 91. See also Beard, George M.
Anderson, Kevin, 239
Andronicus, Donna, 219
anhedonia, 180
animal spirits, 8, 86, 166. See also life energy
antibiotics, 196
Antichrist (Trier; film), 68
antidepressants, 12, 171–75, 179–80, 183
Antirrhetikos (Evagrius), 32–34
anxiety, 22, 29–30, 107, 151, 236. See also nervousness
apathy, 6, 31, 40–41, 43, 48–49, 52. See also inaction and paralysis; willpower
Apollonius of Rhodes, 22–29
appetite, loss of, 25, 26–27, 104, 176. See also diet
Argonautica (Apollonius), 23–29
Aristotle: Ficino and, 54; on melancholia, 17, 18, 127; on semen, 73; on sleep, 145–46; on sullenness, 46
asceticism, 123–24. See also Protestant work ethic
asthenic nervous diseases, 89–90
astrology, 53–55, 62–63. See also Ficino, Marsilio; Sebald, W. G.
automation, 211–12. See also factory work; technology
autonomy (freedom), as cause of depression, 181–83
Avicenna, 73, 76
 
bacterial-infection model, 200
Bagi, Steve, 218–19
balance: homeostasis, 204; in humoral theory, 15–16, 59–60, 204–5 (see also humoral theory); of nerve force, 93–94, 99; of work and rest, 143, 144 (see also rest). See also brain: chemical imbalance in
Barr, Y. M., 186
Barthes, Roland, 180
“Bartleby, the Scrivener” (Melville), 161–65
battery, as metaphor, 218–19
Baudelaire, Charles, 103
Beard, George M.: economic metaphors of, for nerve force, 6, 93–94; Freud and, 107, 151; on neurasthenia, 91–95, 105–6, 117, 177; sociocultural context of, 108–9, 139, 197
Beck, Sebastian, 216
belief, and illness, 193, 199–201, 234. See also chronic fatigue syndrome
Benedict XVI (pope), 1–2, 45
Benjamin, Walter, 57
Berufspflicht (duty to one’s calling), 120–21
“Beyond the Pleasure Principle” (Freud), 116, 155–59
biomedical research, 15, 22, 192, 201, 244n.1
bipolar disorder, 28–29. See also Argonautica
black bile: Ficino on, 56–57, 59–60; in humoral theory, 16, 18–19, 46, 235 (see also humoral theory)
black moods, 19
blistering, 16
blood: bloodletting and leeching, 12, 16, 18; Ficino on, 55, 56, 59; Galen on, 16, 18, 19, 22, 46; Mitchell on, 137–38; stress response and, 205, 217, 218. See also vampires and vampirism
body: effect of, on mind/soul, 16–22, 246n.21; homeostasis and, 204; as machine, 87, 206, 218–19, 222; mind’s effect on (Apollonius), 22–29; mind’s effect on (Ficino), 56–57; mind’s effect on (scientific), 29–30; sleep and, 145–46 (see also sleep); stress response of, 204–6, 218 (see also stress). See also brain; energy (human); immune system; nerves
Boltanski, Luc, 220
Bono, James J., 222
brain: as battery, 90; chemical imbalance in, 15, 21, 116, 172, 181 (see also antidepressants; medication; serotonin); as computer, 219–23; and melancholia, 18–19, 56; mental illness as disease of, 198; neurotransmitters in, 15, 172, 221; overstimulation and overwork of, 134–35, 139–40, 144 (see also rest: rest cure); sleep and, 145, 146. See also “brain work”; cognitive impairment; mind
“brain work”: burnout and, 227; exhaustion theories and, 9, 236; Freud on, 150; gender ideology and, 140–42 (see also women); limited by Darwin, 144; melancholia and, 17, 55–57; neurasthenia and, 92–94, 104, 105, 134, 136, 203. See also acedia; creativity; genius
Brown, John, 89–90
Brunonian theory, 89–90
Buddenbrooks (T. Mann), 125–27
burnout: causes of, 9, 204, 212–13 (see also stress); defined by its opposites, 180; definitions of, 213–16; economic and social costs of, 38, 216–17; frequent diagnosis of, 4; individual experiences with, 218–23; in literature, 223–32; symptoms of, 6, 213–14, 215, 223; treatment suggestions for, 217–18; twenty-first-century discourses on, 203–4, 216, 217, 220; valorization of, 95, 218, 231
Burnt-Out Case, A (Greene), 223–26
Byron, Lord, 81
 
Calvin, John, 123
Cameron, David, 43
candida, 196
Cannon, Walter B., 204
Canterbury Tales, The (Chaucer), 43
Capital (Das Kapital; Marx), 80
Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Pikkety), 129
capitalism: age of greed and, 195–96; burnout as economic problem of, 38, 216–17; climate change and, 238, 240; disenchantment with (capitalism fatigue), 128–31; Francis I on, 241–42; in literature, 114, 125–27, 164 (see also specific works); Mitchell on, 140; modern preoccupation with exhaustion and, 9; natural rhythms disrupted by, 117, 133–34, 147–48; nerve force, energy likened to capital, 93–94, 99, 119, 139–40; psychological costs of, 117–18, 131 (see also Buddenbrooks; burnout); stress and, 210–12; traditionalism vs., 121–22, 254n.13; vampirism as metaphor for, 80; Weber on, 120–24. See also work
Carmilla (Le Fanu), 80–84
Cassian, Saint John, 34–38, 177
catastrophes, in Melancholia, 69–70
Celestine V (pope), 2, 45
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 187, 195
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 43
Cheyne, George, 61, 87–89, 108–9
Chiapello, Eve, 220
childhood, desire to return to, 113–14
China, 66, 108. See also qi
Christian theology. See acedia; Canterbury Tales, The; Divine Comedy, The; Francis I; religion; sin
Chronic Fatigue and Its Syndromes (Wessely), 196. See also Wessely, Simon
chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS). See chronic fatigue syndrome
chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): coexisting physical conditions of, 187; controversy over psychological aspects of, 189–94, 198–99, 201; Darwin and, 143; depression and, 191, 199; diagnostic criteria of, 186, 259n.9; dietary restrictions with, 61; emergence of, as diagnosis, 184–85; frequent diagnosis of, 4, 195; individual experiences with, 187–91; sociocultural developments and, 195–98; suspected causes of, 184–87, 191–94, 196–99; symptoms of, 5, 184–87, 188–89; terms for, 184, 259n.1; treatment of, 187
civilization: decline of, 23–24, 103; degeneration theory and, 77–79 (see also degeneration theory); Freud on sexual drive and, 151–54; nervous weakness and, in Buddenbrooks, 125–27; neurasthenia as disease of, 92, 95–100, 105, 117. See also capitalism; sociocultural developments; technology; work
Civilization and Its Discontents (Freud), 151–54, 158–59
“‘Civilized’ Sexual Morality and Modern Nervous Illness” (Freud), 151–52
climate change, 3, 238–41
cognitive behavioral theory, 17, 40
cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), 12, 181, 191, 192, 222–23
cognitive impairment: as acedia symptom, 31, 35–36; as burnout symptom, 221; as chronic fatigue syndrome symptom, 184, 186; clouded judgment and, 19; as depression symptom, 176–77; difficulty concentrating and, 21, 35–36, 107, 146, 176–77, 184, 186, 221; as exhaustion symptom, 21, 233; lack of sleep and, 145, 146; as melancholia symptom, 59; as neurasthenia symptom, 107
coldness: of feet, 6, 91; of heart, 26, 43; in humoral theory, 16, 19; in Le Fanu, 83; melancholia and, 56, 59; Saturn associated with, 54, 55; as stressor, 205
colonial oppression, Freud on, 154
“Common Neurotic State, The” (Freud), 151
concentration, difficulty with, 21, 35–36, 107, 146, 176–77, 184, 186, 221
concentration camps, 167–68
conservation of resources (COR) theory, 214–15
contrapasso, law of, 45
Corfield, David, 29, 199–200, 244n.11, 246n.37
cortisol, 217
Crary, Jonathan, 147–49
creativity, 17, 54, 127. See also “brain work”
cruelty, human, 66, 67
culture(s): decline of, 23–24, 77–79, 103 (see also degeneration theory); Ehrenberg on depression and, 181–83; Freud on, 153–55, 159; “lateness” of, and ennui/decadence, 5; stress and, 210–12. See also agrarian societies; civilization; sociocultural developments; technology
 
Dante Alighieri, 44–51
darkness, and melancholia, 18–19
Darwin, Charles, 94, 142–44
David, Anthony, 259n.9
Dead in Love, The (Gautier), 80
death: adaptation energy depletion and, 206, 207; death drive (death wish), 69, 115–16, 150, 157–65, 167–68, 178 (see also suicide and suicidal thoughts); fear of, 13, 236; in literature, 65–66, 82; “too tired to die,” 170, 174
Death in Venice (T. Mann), 226–32
decadence, 101–5
decay, in The Rings of Saturn, 64–65
Degeneration (Nordau), 78, 94
degeneration theory, 77–79, 94–95, 100, 105. See also Against Nature
demons and demonic possession, 10, 32–33, 34
depression: antidepressants and, 12, 171–75, 179–80, 183; atypical, 173; autonomy (freedom) as cause of, 181–83; behavioral symptoms of, 6, 18, 25, 175, 176–77, 181–83; biomedical research on, 15, 22, 244n.1; bipolar disorder and, 28–29; burnout and, 216; as chemical imbalance in brain, 15, 21, 172, 181 (see also antidepressants); chronic fatigue syndrome and, 191, 199; debate over causes of, treatments for, 181–82; diet and exercise and, 20; economic and social costs of, 38; exhaustion as symptom of, 3, 5, 6, 175–77; frequent diagnosis of, 3–4, 108, 172; genetic predisposition to, 19; individual experiences with, 169–70, 173–75, 177–80 (see also specific individuals); mental/emotional symptoms of, 6, 159, 176–77, 180, 181–83; modern epidemic of, 9; negative attention and memory biases and, 19; neurasthenia and, 107–8 (see also neurasthenia); “noonday demon” and, 33, 177–80; official diagnoses of, 176–77; psychological treatments for (see cognitive behavioral therapy; psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis; psychotherapy); as realistic worldview, 68, 70–71, 180; rise of, as diagnosis, 107–8, 170; statistics for, 172. See also acedia; despair; despondency; melancholia; specific symptoms
Descartes, René, 86
Desert Fathers, 32. See also Evagrius Ponticus
despair, 24–29, 39–40, 43. See also depression; despondency
despondency, 20, 24–29. See also depression; despair
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), 106, 176–77
diet, 12; melancholia and, 19–20, 60–61; nervous weakness and, 88–89; neurasthenia and, 104; refusal of nourishment, 25, 26–27 (see also appetite, loss of); Sebald’s description of fish and chips and, 64; vegetarian, 88, 89
digestive disorders, 76, 91, 104
Divine Comedy, The (Dante), 44–51
Dracula (Stoker), 80
Dr. Bieber’s Temptation (H. Mann), 96–97, 98
dreams, 146
Drowned and the Saved, The (P. Levi), 167
DSM. See Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Dürer, Albrecht, 58
Dyer, Richard, 81
 
eccentrics, 65
economic metaphors. See metaphors and similes: economic, for energy, nerve force
education, of women, 139–40
ego, 39, 46, 150, 156–57, 159–61, 165, 170–71. See also Freud, Sigmund
Ehrenberg, Alain, 58, 171, 181–83, 220
Ekirch, Roger, 146–47
élan vital, 8, 166. See also life energy
electricity, 87, 90
electrotherapy, 12, 90, 119
Eliot, T. S., 109–10
emetics, 12, 16
emotional exhaustion, 5. See also burnout; depression; melancholia; neurasthenia
encephalomyelitis, 185. See also chronic fatigue syndrome
endocrinology, 205, 207–8, 217, 218
energy (generally), 238. See also thermodynamics, second law of
energy (human): adaptation energy, 212; in astrological doctrine, 53; burnout and, 218–19; concentration camp survival and, 167–68; in COR theory, 215; depressives’ lack of, 173–74, 176–79, 183; in The Divine Comedy, 44–45, 47–51; energy conservation theory (sleep) and, 145; Ficino on, 61–63; Freud on, 150–61, 165, 171; Janet’s energy-insufficiency model, 165–66, 257n.32; as limited resource, 6–7; as opposite of exhaustion, 8; rarely defined or quantified, 167; scientific model of, lacking, 8, 234; sexual activities and, 73, 75–77, 81–82, 151–52; stress and, 205–9, 217; Western vs. Eastern models of, 8, 108, 208. See also chronic fatigue syndrome; exhaustion; life energy; nerve force
English Malady, The (Cheyne), 87–89
environment, concerns about, 31, 196, 237–42
epistemes, 198
Epstein, Michael, 186
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), 186
Erb, Wilhelm, 97–98, 151
Essential Guide to Burnout, The (Procter and Procter), 217–18
Evagrius Ponticus, 32–34, 38
evolutionary biology, 94. See also degeneration theory
exercise, 12, 20, 60–61
exhaustion: core cultural values and, 12, 124; core symptoms of diagnoses related to, 5, 21, 177, 223 (see also specific symptoms and diagnoses); defined by its opposites, 7–8; definition of, 4–8; economic and social costs of, 38, 216–17; historical changes in perception of dominant symptoms of, 9–11, 12, 233–34; historical explanations of, 11–12 (see also specific diagnoses and theories); as key theme in Argonautica, 28–29 (see also Argonautica); mental or social causation theories of, 235–36 (see also acedia; chronic fatigue syndrome; depression; Freud, Sigmund; neurasthenia; personal responsibility; sin); opposites of, 7–8; one’s own era as most exhausted, 8–9, 88–89, 148, 236, 237; organic causation theories of, 235–36 (see also brain: chemical imbalance in; chronic fatigue syndrome; depression; humoral theory; nerves; neurasthenia; viruses); primordial fears and, 13; as result of stress response, 205–7; sexual activities and, 60, 73–74, 75, 84 (see also sex and sexuality); as term (origins, etymology, associations), 6–8. See also mental exhaustion; physical exhaustion; spiritual exhaustion; specific symptoms, diagnoses, and topics
 
factory work, 117–18, 202–3, 211–12
faith: acedia and, 17, 38, 40 (see also acedia); desire for, 104; lukewarm, 45. See also Divine Comedy, The; religion
“Fall of the House of Usher, The” (Poe), 85
Fat and Blood and How to Make Them (Mitchell), 137
fatigue: acedia and, 35 (see also acedia); psychasthenia and, 165–66; saturnine disposition and, 54; “science” of, 202–3; as symptom of depression/melancholia, 59, 176 (see also depression; melancholia); as warning signal, 133–34. See also chronic fatigue syndrome; weariness
Fatigue (Mosso), 203
fear, 20, 46, 52, 54, 67, 91. See also anxiety
Ferenczi, Sándor, 77
feudalism, in Oblomov, 112–13
fibromyalgia, 185. See also chronic fatigue syndrome
Ficino, Marsilio, 52–63, 71, 73–74, 127, 177, 197. See also melancholia; Saturn
fiction, 13–14. See also specific works
fisherman, parable of, 121–22, 254n.13
food. See diet
Foucault, Michel, 198, 220
Francis I (pope), 240–42
freedom (autonomy), and depression, 181–83
frenzy, 54
Freud, Sigmund: on agency and willpower, 42; on death drive, 116, 150, 157–59, 160–61, 165; dual-drive theory of, 8, 155–59, 160–61, 165; influence of, 170; on Janet’s model, 166; on life drive, 8, 150, 157–58, 165; on melancholia, 17, 46, 159–61, 170–71; on sexuality and sexual behavior, 77, 78, 107, 150–55, 160, 165
Freudenberger, Herbert J., 213
 
Galen of Pergamum: on “animal spirits” and nerves, 8, 86; Ficino and, 52, 53, 54, 61; humoral theory of, 15–22, 46; on melancholia, 16–22, 46, 177; on seminal expulsion, 73; on soul/spirit, 20–22, 57, 246n.21
Galvani, Luigi, 87
Gautier, Théophile, 80
gender. See women
genes and heredity: adaptation energy and, 207; degeneration theory and, 77–78, 94–95, 100; depression and, 19; Janet on energy levels and, 166; neurasthenia and, 100, 105
genius, 17, 54, 127. See also creativity
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, 135–38, 139, 144
Goncharov, Ivan, 111–16, 131
Gorgievsky, Marjan J., 214–15
Gothic, 79. See also vampires and vampirism
Greece, ancient, 8, 23–24. See also Argonautica; Aristotle; Galen of Pergamum; Hippocrates; humoral theory
Greene, Graham, 223–26
Gregory I the Great (pope), 38
Gregory XII (pope), 45
grief. See sadness
Griesinger, Wilhelm, 198
 
Hamlet (Shakespeare), 57
happiness, 129–30, 152–53
Harvey, William, 222
headache, 104, 107, 186
Hegel, G. F., 57
Helmholtz, Hermann von, 238
heredity. See genes and heredity
Hippocrates, 15, 20, 46, 53, 74
Hobfoll, Stevan E., 214–15
Holocaust, 67, 167–68
homeostasis, 204
homosexuality, vampires associated with, 80–84
hopelessness: as acedia symptom, 31, 33, 43; as depression symptom, 176–77; in literature, 24–29, 48–49, 66, 67; as melancholia symptom, 52, 59; as neurasthenia symptom, 91
hormones. See endocrinology
Hugh of Saint Victor, 39–40, 41
human energy. See energy (human)
human-services sector, 213–14
humoral theory, 15–22, 46, 55–56, 59–60, 72–74, 204–5. See also Ficino, Marsilio; Galen of Pergamum; melancholia
Huysman, Joris-Karl, 101–5
hydrotherapy, 12, 90, 119, 143–44
hypersensitivity, 87
hypochondria, 87, 98, 108, 125, 143
hysteria, 10, 87, 92, 140–41, 185, 193
Hystories (Showalter), 193
 
ICD-10. See International Classification of Diseases
id, 150, 156–57, 161, 165. See also Freud, Sigmund
identity and work, 13, 118, 120, 228–29
idleness, 36–37, 43. See also apathy; inaction and paralysis; lethargy; rest
If This Is a Man (P. Levi), 167–68
Imipramine, 172
immune system, 30, 196, 197, 235, 246n.41
inaction and paralysis: in literature, 25, 26, 57 (see also apathy); Paul on, 36; Sebald and, 64, 67
industrialization, 117–18, 133–34, 202–3. See also capitalism; technology; work
inequality, 128–30
inferiority, sense of, 160, 170–71, 181–83. See also worthlessness, sense of
information overload, 220–23
In Search of Lost Time (Proust), 98, 106
insomnia, 91, 104, 107, 147, 176. See also sleep
“Instincts and Their Vicissitudes” (Freud), 155–56
intellectual patients. See “brain work”; creativity; genius; specific individuals and fictional works
International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), 106–7, 176–77, 215–16, 259n.9
Iproniazid, 171–72
irritability: as acedia symptom, 31, 32, 33; in “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” 161, 163; as exhaustion symptom, 5; as melancholia symptom, 17, 21; nerves and, 87, 91; as neurasthenia symptom, 6, 91–92, 100, 107, 177 (see also Against Nature)
 
Jafry, Nasim Marie, 187–92
James, Henry, 96
James, William, 246n.34
Janet, Pierre-Marie-Félix, 165–66
Japan, 108
Jason and the Golden Fleece, 22–29
Johnson, Mark, 244n.11
 
Kafka, Franz, 96, 182
Kermode, Frank, 237
Klein, Naomi, 240
Kline, Nathan, 172
Klosterman, Wolf-Günther, 46
Knox, John, 123
Krafft-Ebing, Richard von: degeneration theory and, 94; dietary suggestions of, 61; Freud and, 107, 151; influenced by Darwin, 142; on neurasthenia, 98–100, 105–6, 117, 177; sociocultural context of, 108–9; on women and work, 141
Kraus, Karl, 98
Kuhn, Roland, 171–72
Kury, Patrick, 204
 
Lakoff, George, 244n.11
languor, 81–83
Laqueur, Thomas, 74–75
Lazarus, Richard S., 210
laziness, 47, 48, 112. See also apathy; lethargy; Oblomov; sloth
Leader, Darian, 29, 199–200, 244n.11, 246n.37
lechery, 74. See also sex and sexuality
Le Fanu, Sheridan, 80–84
Leiter, Michael, 214
lesbianism, 80–84
lethargy: as acedia symptom, 31, 33, 35–36 (see also acedia); as melancholia symptom, 18, 20, 52, 59 (see also melancholia); as neurasthenia symptom, 6 (see also neurasthenia); in Oblomov, 111–13
Levi, Lennart, 210–12
Levi, Primo, 167–68
Lewis, Matthew, 79
libido. See life drive, theories of; sex and sexuality
life drive, theories of, 8, 150, 157–58
life energy: nerves and, 86, 87, 90 (see also nerve force); sexual activities and, 73, 75–77, 81–82; vampirism and, 80, 81–83, 208–9 (see also vampires and vampirism); Western and Eastern models of, 8, 108, 208. See also energy (human)
literature, 13–14. See also specific works
Lombroso, Cesare, 78
loss, and melancholia, 159–60, 171. See also sadness
love, 49, 68, 179–80
Lowestoft, England, 65
Luther, Martin, 123
 
Magic Mountain, The (T. Mann), 98
Mallarmé, Stéphane, 103
Malthus, Thomas Robert, 238
manic depression (bipolar disorder), 28–29. See also Argonautica
Mann, Heinrich, 96–97, 98
Mann, Thomas, 98, 125–27, 131, 226–32
Mars, 53–54
Marx, Karl, 117–18
Maslach, Christina, 213–14
masturbation, 60, 72–73, 74–77, 79, 81, 151. See also sex and sexuality
meat, 19–20, 88, 89
Meckel, Miriam, 219–23
medical discourses: bacterial-infection model, 200; on chronic fatigue syndrome, 184–87, 189, 191–94, 198–99, 201 (see also chronic fatigue syndrome); gender and diagnosis, 137–42; monocausal external-agent illness models, 200; on nerves, 86–94 (see also neurasthenia); referenced by exhaustion-based syndromes, 197; on sex and sexuality, 60, 72–73, 75–77, 79, 81–82, 84 (see also sex and sexuality); sociocultural/historical developments and, 11, 95, 108–9, 233; symptoms shaped by, 10–11, 193, 200–201. See also specific diagnoses and topics
medication, 12, 171–75, 179–80, 183. See also tonics
melancholia: Cheyne on, 87; creativity/genius and, 17, 54, 127; exhaustion as symptom of, 5, 17; as fashionable disease, 96; Ficino on, 55–63 (see also Ficino, Marsilio); Freud on, 17, 46, 159–61, 170–71 (see also Freud, Sigmund); Galen on, 15–22, 46 (see also Galen of Pergamum); in literature and film, 22–29, 63–71, 82; masturbation and, 76; melancholic/saturnine temperament, 54, 57, 59–60; sociohistorical models/explanations of, 17, 31; symptoms and associated complaints of, 16–17, 19, 20, 46, 52, 67, 159 (see also specific symptoms); valorization of, 17, 53, 54, 70–71. See also acedia; depression
Melancholia (Trier; film), 67–71, 180
Melencolia I (Dürer), 58
Melville, Herman, 161–65
mental exhaustion, 107, 134–35. See also Against Nature; cognitive impairment; depression; melancholia; neurasthenia
mental illness, psychiatric vs. biological origins of, 198. See also specific diagnoses
Mercury, 55
metaphors and similes: body as machine, 87, 206, 218–19, 222; brain as computer, 219–23; economic, for energy, nerve force, 93–94, 99, 119, 139–40, 206–7; energy vampire, 219; influence of, 6–7, 234–35, 262n.38; life stages, for stress, 206; military, in immunological arguments, 197; vampirism, for capitalism, 80; vine and oak tree, 177–79
Michels, Robert, 119–20
Middle Ages: demonic possession in, 10; melancholia redefined as acedia in, 17, 31 (see also acedia); sloth, concept of, in, 31–32; views on sexual activity in, 72, 73–74. See also Avicenna; Chaucer, Geoffrey; Dante Alighieri; Ficino, Marsilio
mind: belief and illness, 10, 193, 199–201, 234 (see also chronic fatigue syndrome: controversy over psychological aspects of); body affected by (Apollonius), 22–29; body affected by (Ficino), 56–57, 74; body affected by (scientific), 29–30; body’s effect on, 16–22; as computer, 220–22; difficulty concentrating and, 21, 35–36, 107, 146, 176–77, 184, 186, 221; Freud’s dual-drive theory of, 155–59; overstimulation, overwork, and, 134–35 (see also rest: rest cure); positive thinking and, 29. See also brain; cognitive behavioral therapy; depression; mental exhaustion; psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis; psychology; psychotherapy
Mitchell, Silas Weir, 61, 90, 134–35, 137–38, 139–41, 197
Modern Times (Chaplin; film), 202
Monastic Institutes, The (Cassian), 34–35. See also Cassian, Saint John
monastic life. See acedia
Monk, The (Lewis), 79
monogamy, 152
Morel, Bénédict Augustin, 77–78
Morita therapy, 108
Mosso, Angelo, 203
“Mourning and Melancholia” (Freud), 159–60, 170–71
Mrs. Dalloway (Woolf), 139
music, 60, 61–62, 69
myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). See chronic fatigue syndrome
 
natural resources, depletion of, 3, 237–38, 241. See also climate change
natural rhythms, 8–9, 117, 133–34, 146–48, 213
neoliberalism, 42–43, 195–96, 220, 235, 238
nerve force: definition of, 87; lack of, 86, 90, 91, 106; limited supply of, 6, 87, 90, 93–94, 119, 139–40; management (balance) of, 6, 93–94, 99, 119–20. See also energy (human); nerves; neurasthenia
nerves: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century beliefs about, 86–94; Galen on, 86; imagery of, 109; twenty-first-century understanding of, 86; weak (nervous weakness), 87–88, 91, 93–94, 99–100, 126–27, 235 (see also Cheyne, George; neurasthenia; rest: rest cure). See also nerve force; nervous breakdown; nervousness; neurasthenia
“nervous age,” 90–91. See also nerves; nervousness
nervous breakdown, 109–10, 118–19
nervousness: cultural, 90–91; as disposition, 84–85, 93–94, 104–5 (see also neurasthenia); as symptom of exhaustion, 5. See also anxiety
neurasthenia: antipathy toward patients/diagnosis of, 98, 193; Beard on, 6, 91–95, 105–6, 107, 108–9, 117, 139 (see also Beard, George M.); burnout compared with, 227; chronic fatigue syndrome compared with, 196–97; civilization/technology and, 92, 95, 96–98, 99–100, 105, 117; as diagnosis (definition, origins, influence), 91–92, 106–8, 170, 253n.46, 259n.9; Freud on sexuality and, 150–55; individual experiences with, 96, 109–10, 118–20, 137–39; intellect/class and, 92–93, 104, 105, 136 (see also “brain work”); Krafft-Ebing on, 98–100, 105–6, 107, 108–9, 117 (see also Krafft-Ebing, Richard von); in literature, 96–98, 101–6, 109–10, 135–37, 139, 226–27; masturbation linked to exhaustion and, 76–77, 151 (see also masturbation); national variations of, 108, 252n.19; as organic disorder, 91–92, 105–6; popularity of, 95–99, 106–7, 170; as postexertion malaise, 134; symptoms and associated complaints if, 5, 6, 17, 91, 104, 106–7, 108; types of, 106–7; valorization of, 92–93, 95; women and, 135–42. See also nerves; nervous breakdown; psychasthenia; rest: rest cure
neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), 222–23
neurotransmitters, 15, 172, 221
Nirvana principle, 116, 158. See also Freud, Sigmund: on death drive
“noonday demon,” 32–33, 34
Noonday Demon, The (Solomon), 177–80
Nordau, Max, 78, 94
norepinephrine, 15
Nymphomaniac (Trier; film), 68
 
obesity, 89
Oblomov (Goncharov), 111–16
Obsessions et la psychasthénie, Les (Obsession and Pschyasthenia; Janet), 165–66
occupational therapy, 12, 90
Occupy movement, 130–31
Odysseus, 24
Onania; or, the Heinous Sin of Self-Pollution (anon.), 75
“On Being Ill” (Woolf), 139
“On Care for Our Common Home” (Francis I), 240–42
On Healthy and Sick Nerves (Krafft-Ebing), 98–100. See also Krafft-Ebing, Richard von
On the Affected Parts (Galen), 18. See also Galen of Pergamum
“On the Grounds for Detaching a Particular Syndrome from Neurasthenia Under the Description ‘Anxiety Neurosis’” (Freud), 151
On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 94
On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith (Hugh of Saint Victor), 39–40
Oosterhuis, Harry, 78
Oppenheim, Janet, 94
orphic dancing, 61–62
 
pain, in chronic fatigue syndrome, 186
paralysis. See inaction and paralysis
past, nostalgia for, 8, 9–10, 88–89, 100, 148–49, 209
Pastorpain (Bagi), 218–19
Paul, Saint, 36, 43
personality traits, 16. See also temperament
personal responsibility: acedia and, 41–42; burnout and, 217; depression/melancholia and, 171, 181–83; desire for freedom from, 113–14; exhaustion caused by behavioral choices, 84; Ficino on, 63; neoliberalism/political conservatism and, 42–43, 195–96, 220, 235; for stress management, 206–7. See also agency; willpower
pessimism, 52, 70–71, 154–55
phlegm, in humoral theory, 16, 21, 59
physical exhaustion: in chronic fatigue syndrome, 187–89 (see also chronic fatigue syndrome); in literature and film, 27–28, 44–45, 47–49, 51, 69; in neurasthenia, 107 (see also Against Nature; neurasthenia); symptoms of, 5, 44–45, 66–67. See also depression; melancholia
Pikkety, Thomas, 129, 130
placebo effect, 29, 246n.36
planetary resources. See natural resources, depletion of
planets, influence of, 53–54. See also Saturn
Plato, 21, 52
pneuma, 8, 166, 246n.21. See also Galen of Pergamum
Poe, Edgar Allan, 85, 103
Polidori, John, 80
political apathy, 3
popes, resignation of, 1–3, 45
positive thinking, 29
possession, demonic, 10
postexertion malaise, 35
postviral fatigue syndrome (PVFS). See chronic fatigue syndrome
Price of Inequality, The (Stiglitz), 128–29
Problemata (Aristotle), 17, 54
Procter, Andrew and Elizabeth, 217
productivity, 13, 202–3. See also capitalism; work
Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, The (Weber), 118, 120–24. See also Weber, Max
Protestant Reformation, 123–24
Protestant work ethic, 120–24, 227
Proust, Marcel, 96, 98, 106
Prozac, 172–75
Prozac Nation (Wurtzel), 173–75
psychasthenia, 165–66, 257n.32
psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis, 39, 107, 116, 181, 189–94. See also Freud, Sigmund
psychology: belief and illness, 193, 199–201, 234; chronic fatigue syndrome and, 189–94, 198–99 (see also chronic fatigue syndrome); depressives’ view as more realistic and, 70–71, 180; psychological tension, 166 (see also Janet, Pierre-Marie-Félix); stress research and, 210–12. See also brain; cognitive behavioral theory; depression; Freud, Sigmund; Janet, Pierre-Marie-Félix; mind; psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis; psychotherapy
Psychopathia Sexualis (Krafft-Ebing), 94. See also Krafft-Ebing, Richard von
psychotherapy, 180, 181, 189–94. See also cognitive behavioral therapy
 
qi, 8, 108, 166, 208
 
Rabinbach, Anson, 118, 124–25, 202–3
Radkau, Joachim, 90–91, 118
raw materials. See natural resources, depletion of
recuperation hypothesis, 145–46
religion: acedia and, 17, 38, 40 (see also acedia); in A Burnt-Out Case, 223–26; desire for lost belief, 104; Freud on, 153; lukewarm faith, 45; and Protestant work ethic, 123–24; Sabbath and, 132–33, 242; on sex and sexuality, 72, 74. See also Divine Comedy, The; sin
resources, conservation of (COR) theory, 214–15
resources, natural. See natural resources, depletion of
rest: adaption energy and, 207; changing attitudes toward, 123–24 (see also Protestant work ethic); chronic fatigue syndrome and, 196–97; as cure for burnout, 217; Darwin on, 143; definition of, 132; desire for, 13, 114–15, 148 (see also death: death drive; Oblomov); rest cure, 12, 90, 109–10, 135–38, 197; on Sabbath, 132–33, 242. See also sleep
restlessness, 6, 17, 33, 35, 36
rhythms. See natural rhythms
Rings of Saturn, The (Sebald), 63–67, 71
Röggla, Kathrin, 262n.38
Romantic era, 17, 54
Rosario, Vernon A., 79
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 79
ruin(s), in The Rings of Saturn, 65–66
 
Sabbath, 132–33, 242
Sade, Marquis de, 81
sadness (sorrow): acedia and, 39–41, 43, 46, 50–51; melancholia and, 20, 22, 46, 50, 52, 67; saturnine disposition and, 54
Saturn, 53–54, 55, 62–63, 64, 66. See also Ficino, Marsilio; Sebald, W. G.; temperament: melancholic (saturnine)
scholars, melancholia of, 55–57. See also “brain work”
seasickness, 142–43
Sebald, W. G., 63–67, 71
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRUIs), 15, 172. See also serotonin
self-discipline, in Death in Venice, 228–30
self-hatred (self-loathing), 6, 17, 57, 131, 159–60, 170–71, 173
self-reflexivity, 56–58, 71
Selye, Hans, 204–9
seminal fluid, 60, 73. See also sex and sexuality
serotonin, 15, 116, 172, 221. See also brain: chemical imbalance in
Seven Deadly Sins, 31, 32, 38, 44, 247n.16. See also Divine Comedy, The
sex and sexuality: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century discourses on, 72–79, 81; Freud on, 77, 78, 107, 150–55, 160; homosexuality, 80–84; humoral theory and, 73–74; medieval discourses on, 60, 72–74; premature ejaculation, 91; sexual activity and energy, 60, 73, 75–77, 151–52, 235; sins of, 72, 74, 79 (see also masturbation); vampires and homosexuality, 80–84
“Sexuality in the Aetiology of the Neuroses” (Freud), 151
Shakespeare, William, 57
Shorter, Edward, 10, 185, 193–95, 197, 200–201
Showalter, Elaine, 193
sin: acedia and, 17, 32–39, 40–51; in The Divine Comedy, 44–51; exhaustion as, 235; rest and nonproductive activity as, 124; Seven Deadly Sins, 31, 32, 38, 247n.16; sexual, 72, 74, 79 (see also masturbation); vs. vice, 39
sleep, 145–49; chronic fatigue syndrome and, 186; depression/melancholia and, 20, 60, 174, 176; insomnia, 91, 104, 107, 147, 176; sleepiness, 31, 33, 44, 49, 91
sloth, 31–32, 38, 47–50. See also acedia
sluggishness, 33, 43, 46, 54, 59
sociocultural developments: burnout and, 203–4; changes in perception of exhaustion symptoms and, 9–11, 12; chronic fatigue syndrome and, 194–98; core cultural values and exhaustion, 12, 124; medical discourses and, 11, 95, 108–9, 233 (see also medical discourses; specific diagnoses); nostalgic/conservative/apocalyptic responses to, 8–10, 88–89, 100, 133, 148–49, 209 (see also specific individuals); Protestant Reformation as, 123–24 (see also Protestant work ethic); stress and, 210–12; women’s emancipation, medical diagnosis, and, 139–42 (see also women); work and, 116–17 (see also capitalism; technology; work). See also civilization; Greece, ancient; Middle Ages
solar affinities, 62
Solomon, Andrew, 33, 177
somatization, 191, 193–94
sorrow. See sadness
soul: acedia and, 36 (see also acedia); Ficino on, 55–57; Galen on, 20–22, 57, 246n.21
spirit, 55, 63. See also acedia; faith; Ficino, Marsilio; soul
spiritual exhaustion, 1–3, 5, 40–41, 44–51, 223–26. See also acedia
“Staff Burn-Out” (Freudenberger), 213
Starling, Ernest H., 207
state, responsibility of, 211–12, 220
State of Me, The (Jafry), 187–91. See also Jafry, Nasim Marie
Steffen, Will, 239–40
Stiglitz, Joseph, 128–29, 130, 131
stimulants, 12, 90
stimulation therapies, 119. See also electrotherapy; hydrotherapy
Stockholm Resilience Centre, 238, 239
stomach, 18, 76, 91, 104. See also diet
stress, 30, 203–12, 214–15, 235
Stress of Life, The (Selye), 208. See also Selye, Hans
Stress Without Distress (Selye), 209. See also Selye, Hans
suicide and suicidal thoughts, 99, 138, 173, 174, 176. See also death: death drive
sullenness, 45–46
Summa Theologiae (Thomas Aquinas), 40–42, 74
superego, 39, 150, 159, 160–61, 165, 171, 182. See also Freud, Sigmund
Svevo, Italo, 98
 
Taylor, Shelley E., 70–71
technology: burnout and, 9, 213, 221–22; exhaustion theories on, 237; Francis I on, 241–42; as modern stressor, 211–12; natural rhythms disrupted by, 8–9, 117, 133–34, 146–48, 213; neurasthenia and, 93, 95, 96–98; progress driven by desire to reduce work, 124–25
teeth, 139
temperament: astrological doctrine on, 53–54; melancholic (saturnine), 54, 57, 59–60 (see also melancholia); nervous, 84–85, 93–94, 105 (see also Against Nature; neurasthenia); neurasthenic, 108
thermodynamics, second law of, 90, 238
This Changes Everything (Klein), 240
Thomas Aquinas, Saint, 40–42, 74
Three Books on Life (Ficino), 52–63, 71, 73–74. See also Ficino, Marsilio
Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (Freud), 78
Tieck, Ludwig, 80, 251n.20
Tissot, Samuel-Auguste, 75–76, 79
tonics, 12, 61, 90
torpor, 31, 40, 54, 59
traditionalism vs. capitalism, 121–22, 254n.13
Treatise on Physical, Intellectual and Moral Degeneracy in the Human Species and the Causes That Produce These Diseased Varieties (Morel), 77–78
treatments, 234–35. See also antidepressants; diet; specific diagnoses, treatments, and therapies
Trier, Lars von, 67–71, 180
Tristan (T. Mann), 98
Turner, Aidan, 129, 130, 131
24/7 (Crary), 147–49
 
vampires and vampirism, 79–84, 140, 208–9, 219
“Vampyre, The” (Polidori), 80
vine and oak tree, as metaphor, 177–79
Virgil, in The Divine Comedy, 44–46, 47–49, 51
viruses, 184–87, 235. See also chronic fatigue syndrome
 
Wagner, Greta, 220
Wake Not the Dead (Tieck), 80, 251n.20
Waste Land, The (Eliot), 109–10
water cure. See hydrotherapy
Wear and Tear (Mitchell), 137, 139–40
“wear-and-tear” principle, 206
weariness, 31, 34–35, 40, 52, 58. See also fatigue; spiritual exhaustion
Weariness of the Self, The (Ehrenberg), 58. See also Ehrenberg, Alain
Weber, Max, 118–24, 131
Wenzel, Siegfried, 37–38
Wessely, Simon, 191–92, 196, 199, 259n.9
Why Do People Get Ill? (Leader and Corfield), 29, 199–200. See also Corfield, David; Leader, Darian
Wilde, Oscar, 81, 91, 96, 101
willpower, 11, 17, 47, 49, 235. See also agency; personal responsibility
Wolff, Harold G., 210
women, 137–42. See also specific individuals
Woolf, Virginia, 96, 138–39, 144
work: as antidote to acedia, 36–38; burnout and, 9, 95, 202–3, 213–17, 220 (see also burnout); changing nature of, 117–18, 120; class, neurasthenia, and, 92–93 (see also neurasthenia); desire to avoid responsibility of, 113–14; fatigue and productivity, 13, 202–3, 260n.2; human-services sector and, 213–14; identity and, 13, 118, 120, 228–29; Krafft-Ebing on women and, 141; maximum-results-with-minimum-effort mentality of, 128; in Oblomov, 112–16; Protestant ethic of, 120–24; repetitive labor in, 117–18, 202–3, 211–12; stress and, 203, 210–12, 260n.2 (see also burnout); technological progress driven by desire to reduce, 124–25; workers’ worldviews shaped by metaphors of, 262n.38. See also capitalism; natural rhythms
World Bank, 239
World Health Organization (WHO), 4, 172, 203, 210, 259n.9. See also International Classification of Diseases
worthlessness, sense of, 160, 170, 176
wrath, 45
Wurtzel, Elizabeth, 173–75
 
yeast infection, 196
yellow bile, in humoral theory, 16
“Yellow Wallpaper, The” (Gilman), 135–37. See also Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
youth, restoring, 208–9
 
zeal, 50
Zeno’s Conscience (Svevo), 98