Poor Beard!!

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the role of the seminal 19th-century neurologist, Jean-Martin Charcot, in the internationalization of neurasthenia, previously known as “the American disease.” Background: The New York neurologist, George Beard, first described neurasthenia in 1869 and considered it a disorder related to the particular stress of modern civilization, most typified in the United States. Methods: Charcot’s personal files on neurasthenia from the Bibliothèque Charcot, Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, were studied and his teaching lessons and lectures were examined. Results: Charcot presented numerous cases of neurasthenia, always crediting Beard with the original name and description. Calling Beard’s 1880 work a “remarkable monograph,” Charcot emphasized that patients with neurasthenia also comprised the bulk of his own private practice. Focusing on the signs of sexual impotency, fatigue, and a tight band of pressure around the head, Charcot categorically distinguished patients with neurasthenica from patients with hysteria. Like Beard, Charcot concluded that the origin of neurasthenia was psychological stress and felt the European society also fostered the environment to precipitate the disease. Charcot adamantly opposed extrapolations that called for early childhood educational reforms to reduce current classroom stress. Charcot sympathized more with the treating physician than the patient, calling neurasthenics insufferable (insupportables). On the front sheet of his neurasthenia file, he wrote in large script, “Poor Beard!!” Conclusion: By emphasizing the prevalence of neurasthenia and extending Beard’s observations, Charcot internationally legitimized the new diagnosis. Adding neurasthenia to the other neurologic descriptions from the United States by Hammond, Mitchell, and Dana, Charcot helped to foster the recognition of the American Neurologic School.