History Main / BrainFever

For a close cousin of this trope still popular especially in CosmicHorror stories, see GoMadFromTheRevelation.

* In ''Film/{{Therese}}'', the title character becomes ill for two weeks after her oldest and favorite sister leaves to become a nun.

A ForgottenTrope. In fiction, Brain Fever is a sudden, acute febrile illness brought on by mental shock or stress. It is often severe and may cause raving delirium or insanity; in some cases it ends in death. Meningitis, encephalitis, and literal inflammations of the brain, as well as heat-related illness (heat exhaustion or, in more severe cases, heat shock), have also been referred to as "brain fever," and fictional cases of Brain Fever may exhibit the same symptoms.

** Japanese drama version of ''Manga/HanaYoriDango'': This happens twice between Tsukushi and Tsukasa, once in an elevator and once in a blizzard.

Often, particularly in young women, brain fever was treated by [[TraumaticHaircut having all their hair cut off]]. This may seem, even by standards of pre-germ theory medicine, to have no point except to add pathos to the patient's suffering, but cutting off long hair was seen as allowing air to more easily circulate about the scalp, lowering the temperature of the brain.

* ''Literature/FoundationSeries'''s '''Literature/FoundationsFear'': Brain fever is the name of a childhood illness. Because Hari never got sick from it, he is [[BeneficialDisease immune to R. Daneel's telepathic powers]]. Daneel could not predict that [[spoiler:Hari would have the tiktoks murder Lamurk's minions]].

* In ''Eragon'', the first book in the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', the title character and his mentor, Brom enter the city of Teirm under the aliases of Evan and Neal. Brom plays the role of the slighty senile uncle and Eragon comments to a guard that he had a bit too much sun and now has a touch of the brain fever. After they are safely inside the city, Brom comments "A touch of brain fever?" and Eragon replies that he couldn't let him have all the fun.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', when Luke's mother falls ill after his sudden disappearance. Tear feels terrible, since she was the cause of Luke's vanishing, but Luke tells her that his mother has always been sickly - the stress of his disappearance might have made her worse, but it certainly wasn't the only cause of her illness.

* You'll find "brain fever" mentioned in most 19th century medical textbooks, so it wasn't "invented by novelists" as Christie's character says above. Conan Doyle used it frequently, and he was a doctor in RealLife. Any use before 1930 or so is more likely to be a case left behind by [[{{ScienceMarchesOn}} Science Marching On]] rather than outright ignorance on the part of the author.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Foundation}} Foundations Triumph]]'' by David Brin, Brain fever is used by name and common among certain groups. [[spoiler: It was genetically engineered by Daneel Olivaw to keep the Galactic Empire stable and people from asking certain awkward questions.]]

* Later Christie novels reflect the fact that ScienceMarchesOn. For instance, in ''Literature/TheBigFour'' Hastings suggests that an insensible man is suffering from brain fever, to which a doctor character responds, "Invention of novelists!"

** Weirdly, she also suffers from this the first time Heathcliff disappears ([[CatchYourDeathOfCold though sitting out in the rain for hours]] could have had something to do with it--at least given the [[ScienceMarchesOn medical understanding of the day]]), but, when being nursed at Thrushcross GrangeDantès in command of his vessel.
-->''After a long talk with the harbor-master, Captain Leclere left Naples greatly disturbed in mind. In twenty-four hours he was attacked by a fever, and died three days afterwards.''

* While the term "brain fever" isn't used, the opera ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' treats the heroine's madness in much the same way, as she dies offstage within hours of losing her mind. Some productions avert this, though, and have her stab herself at the end of the Mad Scene to make her death more explicable.

** Weirdly, she also suffers from this the first time Heathcliff disappears ([[CatchYourDeathOfCold though sitting out in the rain for hours]] could have had something to do with it--at least given the [[ScienceMarchesOn medical understanding of the day]]), but, when being nursed at Thornfield, manages to ''infect'' Mr. and Mrs. Linton with it. Somehow.
* When ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' opens, Captain Leclere has died of brain fever, leaving Edmond Dantès in command of his vessel.

** Cathy (the first one) is very ill with brain fever, caused by a confrontation between herself, Edgar, and Heathcliff, during the first two months of her pregnancy. She never entirely regains her health, and [[DeathByChildbirth dies]] two hours after the baby is born.

* In ''LaDameAuxCamellias'', Armand is already ill from grief after Marguerite's death, and develops a full-blown brain fever after seeing her body exhumed. In his case, the doctor declares it a fortunate occurrence: the physical illness will drive out the strong emotion, and prevent Armand from going mad with grief.

* After Oscar's final confrontation with his father in ''Film/ClosetMonster'', Oscar wakes up at his mother's house,having been sweating and unconscious for an unspecified length of time.

* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', [[spoiler:Hinamizawa Syndrome is a version of this combined with HatePlague]].

* Delirium or hallucinations may be considered a sort of brain fever. Dehydration, lack of sleep, and overexertion can cause such effects.
** It could be a case of getting cause and effect the wrong way round--high temperatures caused by an infection not directly related to the brain can cause delirium or mental disturbance, especially in children.

* Believe it or not, this is ''not'' a ForgottenTrope in Southeast Asia, where many a KoreanDrama or TaiwaneseSeries has the hero/heroine collapsing due to stress, overwork, or convenience, and ends up being cared for by their significant other, often with comfort food and a cold compress across the eyes.

* Although Creator/HPLovecraft was more known to have characters GoMadFromTheRevelation, this trope also cropped up occasionally in his work, such as the young artist's suffering in TheCallOfCthulhu (although this, like many of Lovecraft's usages of Brain Fever, is ambiguous in that it ''might'' be the result of trauma, or possible a physical effect of the Great Old One's mental influence.)

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* Later Christie novels reflect the fact that ScienceMarchesOn. For instance, in ''TheBigFour'' Hastings suggests that an insensible man is suffering from brain fever, to which a doctor character responds, "Invention of novelists!"

* The character Phillip Ammon suffers from Brain Fever after Elnora disappears from the swamp in ''AGirlOfTheLimberlost''.

* ''{{Literature/Dracula}}'' had Jonathan Harker suffer from brain fever when Mina finally found him after he somehow escaped the vampire's clutches.

-->"After a long talk with the harbor-master, Captain Leclere left Naples greatly disturbed in mind. In twenty-four hours he was attacked by a fever, and died three days afterwards."

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* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender,'' Zuko spirals into an illness immediately after he frees Appa at the pinnacle last few episodes of the 2nd season, the explanation being that his inner turmoil had caused his body to react in a sickly fashion.
** WordOfGod states that the truly amazing longevity of Bumi, Guru Pathik and Avatar Kyoshi can be attributed to "balanced chi". If balanced chi can create health and long life, then perhaps unbalanced chi can create illness.
** It is a fact that depression and anxiety can cause one's immune system to weaken significantly, thus making one ''very'' susceptible to a wide range of health problems. When Iroh said that Zuko's illness was an emotional illness, he very well may have been correct. (If Zuko hadn't been so stressed-out and angry all the time, his infection most likely would not have manifested itself so severely.)

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A popular plot device in the nineteenth century, but also appearing in earlier works, Brain Fever isn't used much anymore because, well, [[ScienceMarchesOn diseases don't work that way]]. Today, we have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ([[Creator/GeorgeCarlin formerly called]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne Shell Shock]], [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo Battle Fatigue]] or "[[UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar Operational Exhaustion]]"[[note]]sounds like something that'd happen to your car![[/note]]]]) instead. It was commonly believed in more-prudish Victorian times that too much sun exposure could cause overheating and subsequent brain fever, and that the preventative measure for this was (when going out into the hot sun) to wear plenty of thick wool and felt clothes to protect yourself from the sun's baleful rays. Needless to say, these heavy clothes only contributed to heat-related illnesses.

A popular plot device in the nineteenth century, but also appearing in earlier works, Brain Fever isn't used much anymore because, well, [[ScienceMarchesOn diseases don't work that way]]. Today, we have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ([[Creator/GeorgeCarlin formerly called]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne Shell Shock]], [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo Battle Fatigue]] or "[[UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar Operational Exhaustion]]"[[note/sounds like something that'd happen to your car!]]) instead. It was commonly believed in more-prudish Victorian times that too much sun exposure could cause overheating and subsequent brain fever, and that the preventative measure for this was (when going out into the hot sun) to wear plenty of thick wool and felt clothes to protect yourself from the sun's baleful rays. Needless to say, these heavy clothes only contributed to heat-related illnesses.

A popular plot device in the nineteenth century, but also appearing in earlier works, Brain Fever isn't used much anymore because, well, [[ScienceMarchesOn diseases don't work that way]]. Today, we have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (formerly called Shell Shock or Battle Fatigue) instead. It was commonly believed in more-prudish Victorian times that too much sun exposure could cause overheating and subsequent brain fever, and that the preventative measure for this was (when going out into the hot sun) to wear plenty of thick wool and felt clothes to protect yourself from the sun's baleful rays. Needless to say, these heavy clothes only contributed to heat-related illnesses.

* After Oscar's final confrontation with his father in ''Film/Closet Monster'', Oscar wakes up at his mother's house,having been sweating and unconscious for an unspecified length of time.

* After Oscar's final confrontation with his father in "Film/Closet Monster", Oscar wakes up at his mother's house,having been sweating and unconscious for an unspecified length of time.

* Played completely straight in ''Film/BrandUponTheBrain''. Mind you, Guy Maddin plays straight a lot of tropes that nobody else uses now--or [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs ever]].