Hysteria, insomnia, hypochondria, asthma, skin rashes, hay fever, premature baldness, inebriety, nervous exhaustion, brain collapse -- all were symptoms of neurasthenia, the bizarre psychophysiological illness that plagued America's intellectual and economic elite around the turn of the century. In this lively and compelling book, Tom Lutz explores the origins and impact of "American nervousness" on the lives and work of such diverse figures as Theodore Roosevelt, Henry and William James, Edith Wharton, W.E.B. DuBois, and Charolotte Perkins Gilman. He maintains that this disease, perceived as a sign of "extraordinary spirituality and sensitivity," helped the American upper class to come to terms with radical changes in social life: labor unrest, the beginnings of overseas empire, a massive influx of immigrants, the addition of growing numbers of married women to the workforce, and countless technological advances. - Back cover.