This trend towards more variability and fluctuation is perhaps more important, in terms of its impact on human health, than that of a gradual and long term trend towards higher average temperature.

Madness expressed itself in degrees of mental impairment, the common symptoms of which were chronic discomfort in one s environment (social maladjustment), uncertainty about oneself, oscillation between self loathing and megalomania, and sometimes a complete loss of identity.