ON THE VERGE OF “VITAL EXHAUSTION?”

“ ‘Nervous breakdown’ is one of those sturdy old terms, like ‘melancholia’ and ‘nervous illness,’ that haven’t really been surpassed, although they sound antiquated,” the historian Edward Shorter, co-author with Max Fink of the book “Endocrine Psychiatry: Solving the Riddle of Melancholia,” said in an e-mail message.

I’m feeling a touch of the vapors, myself. Perhaps a couple of vodka and tonics will set me on my feet again . . . .