Newyorkitis

Mental illness has a long history of being the punchline of jokes, sometimes in an offensive manner and other times in a more tolerable fashion. Newyorkitis appears to be one of the few illnesses that appeared to have been nearly universally dismissed as jokes before later providing proof that people took it quite seriously.

Newyorkitis was a neurological disorder that affected residents of New York in the early 1900s. Despite how ironic it may sound, people continued to propose remedies for it. In 1908, you could visit the YMCA. They were employing "straight psychology applied directly to the aberrant conditions of metropolitan business and social life," as one of the doctors participating put it.

Dr. John H. Girdner was so intrigued by what he thought to be a condition exclusive to people in New York, of all places, that he authored a whole book on the subject. He claimed that many city dwellers led fabricated lives and that the loudness, materialistic pursuits, tall skyscrapers, and other aspects of the New York experience were inflaming people's minds, bodies, and souls.

The ailment, which supposedly resulted in nearsightedness (from all the towering buildings), itchy ears (from the noise), muscle degeneration, greed, and self-centeredness, was treated by doctors by sending patients to New Jersey for hydrotherapy baths.