Brain fag

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Brain fag or cerebropathy was defined by the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary as "a hypochondriacal condition verging upon insanity, occurring in those whose brains have been unduly taxed". This condition is largely psychological. There is not significant medical evidence that suggests that it is a result of a chemical imbalance of neurotransmitters or of the dysfunction of receptor protiens on the post-synaptic membrane or of enzymes responsible for breaking down used neurotransmitters. The brain is still a very mysterious place, however, and this perspective on cerebropathy could change drastically in the next few years.

The country with the highest estimated rate of cerebropathy is Japan. Many men and women spend over 90 hours every week in the office, which is thought to disturb not only the nervous system by overstimulation and lack of sleep but also disrupt the endocrine system because of overexposure to other human beings. Women's menstrual cycles, for example, can become erratic from excessive pheromone influence, especially in busy, stressful, workplaces.

A number of other extreme medical conditions have been connected to actual cerebropathy (very different than made-up cerebropathy) such as ADD, ADHD, obesity, heart failure, cancers of the liver, colon, and prostate, muscle spasms, rupturing of the spleen, nephronic bleeding as well as other sorts of renal bleeding. This list shows how pivotal the central nervous system is in holding together the rest of the organ systems and how disturbed your body can become when the brain is under extreme stress.

The largest recorded mass diagnosis of cerebropathy was in the 70s when Americans were returning from Vietnam. It is postulated that the new policies the army had adopted after WWII combined with the psychologically demanding guerilla-style warfare used by the Vietnamese were responsible for wearing away the brain's ability to recognize good from bad, pain from reward, and other basic psychological distinctions.

Psychiatry

Brain Fag is also known (in psychiatry) as a culture bound syndrome occurring in Nigerian students often attributed to excessive study.

For non-fictitious disorders of the brain, see encephalopathy. "Cerebropathy" is generally used to mean "encepalopathy" in modern writing.