In 1869, Doctor George Beard diagnosed the first case of “neurasthenia,” translated from Greek as the lack of nervous energy (Schuster, Lecture). Following this initial diagnosis, neurasthenia became a catch all for any symptom that didn’t have a specific medical diagnosis. This included things such as insomnia, anxiety, or even the lack of ability to give birth. The idea behind the diagnosis is that the body was not working correctly because of stress due to the rapid urbanization going on during that period. This urbanization led to the decrease of Americans using their bodies in what was conceived as the correct way, which was to work long hours outdoors in a rustic fashion such as what the pioneers who trekked across plains did. Since …show more content…
This practice was diligently watched by the news and was made public by the White House so that they could show how hard the politicians were working. One of these people that was focused on by the media was Secretary of State Elihu Root who was admitted to William Muldoon’s training farm (Roosevelt Visited Root at Muldoon’s). William Muldoon was a retired boxer at this time and decided to open his training farm and sanitarium. These camps were similar to the Camp cure in that the point was to get in lots of physical exercise and be put on a strict diet that would create a healthy ideal of someone who is fit both mentally and physically. While at this training camp, it was reported that, “ He [Root] rides horseback, throws the medicine ball, boxes, walks, and enjoys life thoroughly.”(Roosevelt Visited Root at Muldoon’s) It continues on and includes that Root is gaining a pound a week. This was not the only political visitor to Muldoon’s. Another patient includes Brigadier General J. Franklin Bell, who was Chief of staff was also admitted. Bell had a similar regiment to Root but it also included things such as, “reading the sports pages of the newspapers, taking gymnastics and other exercises.” (Muldoon Curing Gen. Bell). It can be gathered from both reports of the politicians that it was important that in order to be cured it was important to endeavor in traditionally masculine activities, from physical activities to staying up-to-date on sports teams. In contrast the improved cure for women still focused on an ideal of feminine