This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by TAYLOR, R. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by TAYLOR, R. E.
The British Journal of Psychiatry (2001) 179: 550-557
© 2001 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Death of neurasthenia and its psychological reincarnation

A study of neurasthenia at the National Hospital for the Relief and Cure of the Paralysed and Epileptic, Queen Square, London, 1870-1932

RUTH E. TAYLOR, MRCPsych

Department of Psychiatry, St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Basic Medical Sciences Building, Queen Mary and Westfield College, Mile End Road, London El 4NS, UK

Declaration of interest R.E.T. was funded by a Wellcome Clinical Epidemiology Fellowship.

Background The diagnosis of neurasthenia appeared in 1869 and rapidly became fashionable and highly prevalent. It disappeared almost completely, producing ongoing debates about what happened to the disease, which have not so far been informed by empirical data.

Aims To use empirical historical hospital data from one specific hospital to explore several controversies about neurasthenia, including what happened to the disorder.

Method The annual reports of Queen Square Hospital were examined from 1870 to 1947. The prevalence of neurasthenia diagnoses as a proportion of total discharges was recorded. The possible diagnostic categories into which neurasthenia could have been reclassified were identified. Textbooks and writing by neurologists working at the hospital during this period were examined.

Results Neurasthenia accounted for 6-11% of total discharges from the late 1890s to 1930, when it virtually disappeared. Men accounted for 33-50% of cases.

Conclusions Neurasthenia affected both the upper and working classes and both men and women. Neurologists, not psychiatrists, continued to see the disorder well into the 20th century. Neurasthenia did not disappear, but was reclassified into psychological diagnoses.