noun
neurasthenia
noor-us-THEE-nee-uh/ˌnʊrəsˈθiːniə/
A dated medical diagnosis of persistent nervous exhaustion.
The nineteenth-century clinician considers neurasthenia while listening to the exhausted patient.
Etymology
The name combines “nerve” with “weakness.” It framed the fatigue and anxiety associated with this now-outdated diagnosis as a condition of nervous exhaustion.
In context
By the early 1900s, you had two ideas running in parallel. Neurasthenia, nerve exhaustion, and fibrositis, muscle pain. The patient's reality was the same. Then, it all went away.
More examples
- Her nineteenth-century medical record lists neurasthenia as the diagnosis.
- Doctors once prescribed prolonged rest for neurasthenia.
- The historian studies how neurasthenia shaped early ideas about stress.
Forms
neurasthenia
neurasthenic adjective — Relating to the dated diagnosis of neurasthenia.
Similar words
- exhaustion
- Describes extreme tiredness without naming this dated medical diagnosis.
- fatigue
- Names a symptom rather than this historical medical diagnosis.