brain fag

I just found the definition to a phrase I never knew existed - until tonight, that is.

The phrase?

Brain fag.

Now I know what you're thinking.  [And, ok, I did originally enjoy that phrase because of my immaturity.]

But hear me out, kids.

This comes straight from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision [also known as the DSM-IV-TR] cultural section.  Legit, right?

Ok, are you ready for the definition?

A term used initially in West Africa to refer to a condition experienced by high school or university students in response to the challenges of schooling.  Symptoms include difficulties in concentrating, remembering, and thinking.  Students often state that their brains are "fatigued."  Additional somatic symptoms are usually centered around the head and neck and include pain, pressure or tightness, blurring of vision, heat, or burning.  "Brain tiredness" or fatigue from "too much thinking" is an idiom of distress in many cultures, and resulting syndromes can resemble certain Anxiety, Depressive, and Somatoform Disorders.

Sound familiar?

Um, chya.

Haven't all college students experienced at least 90% of those things?

And now we have a phrase for it: brain fag.

Don't you feel better now that your brain fatigue is legit?

I know I do.

[And now it's back to studying.  But it's ok, because I like this section.]