Neurasthenia Reincarnated: Examining the Rise of Autonomic Nerve Dysregulation in Contemporary Taiwan

• In Event: Neurosocieties: Interdisciplinary Explorations of the Brain, Culture and Ethics 2

Abstract

Autonomic nerve dysregulation (zilü shenjing shitiao; hereafter AND) has recently been gaining popularity in clinical encounters in Taiwan. However, its meaning remains vague. Unlike a formal medical diagnosis, it refers to a wide array of physical and mental symptoms whose pathologies are allegedly associated with the autonomic nervous system (ANS). As the ANS controls vital functions of human beings, such as heartbeat, respiration, digestion, and sex, AND signifies morbidity of vitality. Most medical practitioners concur that AND symptoms are functional but not necessarily psychological. In this sense, AND is similar to neurasthenia, which was once prevalent but is now obsolete. However, how are they related?
To answer this question, this study draws on in-depth interviews with clinical practitioners on both notions of neurasthenia and AND. It also traces the ebbing of neurasthenia and the rise of AND in contemporary Taiwan by reviewing relevant literature and archives. Preliminary findings suggest that AND should not be treated as a mere continuation or euphemism of neurasthenia. Rather, it is more appropriate to conceptualize AND as neurasthenia reincarnated through the conjoining of several factors, such as concretizing technological innovation (specifically heart rate variability measurements), transnational knowledge travel, medico-cultural syncretism, and public stigma of mental illness. That is to say, AND may have acquired some features of neurasthenia, but it is now a new, though amorphous and heterogeneous, entity. This case offers great insight into the ways in which science, technology, and society interact and reincarnate a medical concept.

Author

• Jia-shin Chen, Institute of Science, Technology and Society, National Yang-Ming University