neurasthenia

[ noor-uhs-thee-nee-uh, nyoor- ]

noun

1. Psychiatry. (not in technical use) nervous debility and exhaustion occurring in the absence of objective causes or lesions; nervous exhaustion.

neurasthenia

/ ˌnjʊərəsˈθɛnɪk; ˌnjʊərəsˈθiːnɪə /

noun

1. an obsolete technical term for a neurosis characterized by extreme lassitude and inability to cope with any but the most trivial tasks

Derived Forms

• neurasthenic, adjective
• ˌneurasˈthenically, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of neurasthenia¹

First recorded in 1855–60; neur- + asthenia

Example Sentences

One of the book’s through-lines is the concept of “neurasthenia,” an old-fashioned term describing a collection of symptoms including headaches, listlessness and low-grade depression.

From Washington Post

Idleness in the poor became neurasthenia in the rich.

From Washington Post

As a child, Jacob was treated for neurasthenia by Jean-Martin Charcot, Freud’s mentor.

From Washington Post

The latter, which made use of ultraviolet irradiation, was considered an effective treatment for hysteria, epilepsy, neurasthenia, migraine, melancholia, mania, insomnia, and a wide variety of other psychiatric, neurological, and general medical disorders.

From Salon

During the eighteen-sixties, doctors in America diagnosed an illness called “neurasthenia,” which was characterized by tiredness, headaches, and insomnia, and was thought to be brought on by the anxieties of urbanization.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

• agitation
• anger
• disquiet
• impatience
• jitters
• sensitivity
• stage fright
• stress
• tension
• turbulence
• uneasiness
• worry