Brain Fag Syndrome – Neglected, But Revisited, Associated with Suicidal Ideation, and Moderated by Assertiveness

Background: Brain Fag Syndrome is a disorder known since 19 century to affect the cognition of people. The few studies of Brain Fag Syndrome in literature described it as a culture bound syndrome; it was neglected without much research, yet it has been devastating the lives of people. Aim: The present study revisited Brain Fag Syndrome, and investigated its associations with suicidal ideation and assertiveness. Method: Two thousand, seven hundred and forty-five participants drawn from West Africa, were involved in this study. The authors employed the Brain Fag Syndrome Scale, Assertive Behavior Inventory, and Positive and Negative Suicidal Ideation – Negative Ideation Sub-Scale for data collection. The participants’ ages were 15 – 71 years. The authors used cross-sectional design, and PROCESS Macro for data analysis. Result: The authors found that Brain Fag Syndrome positively associates with suicidal ideation, assertiveness negatively associates with suicidal ideation, and assertiveness moderates the relationship between Brain Fag Syndrome and Suicidal ideation. Conclusion: Brain Fag Syndrome is a serious psychopathology that demands attention of the international community, as it engenders suicide. Self-expression, the hallmark of assertiveness has a way of mitigating the course of Brain Fag Syndrome so that it does not necessarily end in suicide.