Could It Be My Nerves?

Abstract

“It must be your nerves.” The diagnosis of “nerves” has been around for centuries. It is a vague term usually used as an explanation for symptoms that don’t seem to have any physical cause, such as anxiety and depression. But it is also used to describe normal anxiousness and other emotional reactions such as grief.

Oh, the nerves, the nerves; the mysteries of this machine called Man! Oh, the little that unhinges it; the poor creatures that we are.

Charles Dickens