Spruce (genus Picea), particularly its essential oils and extracts, has a history of use in traditional herbal medicine, especially in Europe and North America. The use of spruce for "nervous exhaustion"—a term historically describing symptoms like fatigue, mental burnout, and stress—can be traced to folk and ethnobotanical records. Traditional preparations included spruce needle teas, baths, or balms, which were believed to have a calming and restorative effect on the nervous system. Herbalists and natural healers sometimes recommended spruce for general debility, convalescence, and states of weakness attributed to "nervous exhaustion." However, the scientific evidence supporting these uses is minimal. Some components in spruce, such as bornyl acetate and other volatile oils, may have mild relaxant or anti-anxiety effects when inhaled or used in aromatherapy, but rigorous clinical studies validating these effects for nervous exhaustion are lacking. Most modern references to spruce for nervous exhaustion are based on historical precedent rather than empirical research. Thus, while spruce has a traditional reputation for this use, the evidence is weak and primarily anecdotal, warranting a low rating for scientific support.