PAST IS PROLOGUE

Reflections From Disneyland: A History of Stress and Anxiety

Human beings go to great lengths to exit mental discomfort

Photo by Colton Jones on Unsplash

On April 23, 1842, a certain Mr. S., gentleman farmer aged 50, visited the local medical man with complaints of a “great mental anxiety” for a few weeks because of an increased burden of business duties. Although the record is not specific, the breaking point came when Mr. S. witnessed “some peculiar circumstances” connected with the “indisposition” of a neighbor. The event triggered a powerful emotional response, after which Mr. S. still had to make a business trip to London. This experience seems to have left him overwhelmed.

The medical man prescribed a “blue pill” and a purgative drink, which having failed to produce improvement, he prescribed a second time. Mr. S., dissatisfied with the sole services of the local medical man and having had an episode of the cold sweats at a railway station, turned to William England, M.D., who wrote up the case for a medical journal, entitling it, “Case of Fever, caused by Mental Anxiety.” Dr. England described his patient as showing “great mental anxiety,” manifested in a goggle-eyed, fixed stare, headache, a “tremulous” tongue, gas, lack of appetite, thirst, and poor sleep. The patient was advised to suspend business, and then…