psychasthenia

For these states Janet of Paris suggested the word psychasthenia.

Psychasthenia, Natural and Acquired.—There are two forms of the mental incapacity that underlies many of the curious symptom-complexes that have been studied under the term psychasthenia.

Occurrence of Psychasthenia.—It must not be thought that these curiously interesting conditions occur only among people of low intellectual caliber, or in those of narrow intellectual interests, mere specialists who may have acquired a reputation for doing one thing well.

This is particularly true for sufferers from such forms of psychasthenia as bring down on them dreads and premonitions of evil in fears for the development of disease and in general a sense of instability with regard to the future, lest dreadful things should happen to them.

There are forms of nervous weakness—neurasthenia—some of which are really cases of mental exhaustion or incapacity—the modern psychasthenia—which often lead even experienced physicians to think of and sometimes to diagnose paresis.