Exhaustion, Ennui, Neurasthenia, or "Yuppie Flu"

Recent research has indicated that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, despite its multiplicity of causes and rather indeterminate diagnosis, is more than yuppie flu! Maybe that explains why Dave Chappelle (but maybe not Lindsay Lohan) and other famous people get hospitalized for exhaustion so often. I still believe in Mariah though.

One of my favorite this-side-of-25 cracks to make is something I overheard from a fellow grad student friend. It's a funny thing to graduate from college and then have to teach people barely younger than you. Were you really this lazy and impertinent at their age....three years ago?! You betcha. Anyway, this grad student friend remarked that her undergrads were not allowed to have ennui. "No one under the age of 25 is allowed to have ennui. Until you are at least 25, all you are is bored."

Ennui is one thing. But exhaustion? You know, I believe it possible though. Not Charlotte Perkins Gilman neurasthenia or Charles Brockdon Brown fainting spells, but it's easy enough to get tired, even if you're only a sit-and-read-and-write academic. There's lots of reasons. Read the articles for possible causes: psychological, microbial, genetic, biological, etc. I'm anemic (in order to donate blood I have to prepare for weeks, and doing it would drain the life force out of me faster than Rogue). I'm also apparently sensitive to seasonal allergens. Both drain the life out of me and give me powerful headaches.

Things I've found that have helped:

1. Eating regularly, keeping the blood sugar up. Mixing proteins with carbs. Eating the not much liked, but useful green stuff.

2. Taking antihistamines

3. Exercising. Three years in Bourgie Metropolis, and I never picked up cardio. Now I'm running 10-15 miles a week.

4. Sleeping.

Goodnight.