NEURASTENIA: What is it, Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Neurasthenia is a psychiatric disorder, which is part of the so-called neurotic disorders. The term neurasthenia was first introduced by George Millar Beard (1869) having a major boom in the past and disappearing completely in our hundred. However, although its diagnostic classification was eliminated from DSM-II, it continues to be a psychiatric disorder in ICD-10.

The term neurasthenia means "nervous weakness" in German and was selected for the presence of its main symptom: fatigue, tiredness or exhaustion, which appears without the need for the person to have produced a mental or physical exercise.

To understand how this disease occurs, in this Psychology-Online article, we will expose the neurasthenia: what is it, causes, symptoms and treatment.

Index

1. What is neurasthenia
2. Causes of neurasthenia
3. Symptoms of neurasthenia
4. Treatment of neurasthenia
5. Psychasthenia: a type of neurasthenia?

Currently, the term neurasthenia is not used. However, in Freud's time, it was one of the most widely used diagnoses. But what is neurasthenia? The concept of neurasthenia corresponds to a disorder characterized by profound

The causes of neurasthenia are multiple. There have been and are different theories and hypotheses that support one or other causes of neurasthenia. That is, the etiology of neurasthenia has fluctuated over the years. At first instance, neurasthenia was understood as a depletion of nervous forces, accompanied by the demands society, thereby causing intoxication of the body from the toxin "chenotoxin" or toxin of fatigue. Subsequently, the physical and constitutional factors of the person were gaining importance, moving away the etiology of neurasthenia as acute exhaustion of the nervous system.

Currently, the most limited approach to the causes of neurasthenia are affective factors. However, the emotional factor is not always the trigger for this disorder. Against this, we must highlight the tendency to react one way or another as a factor to keep in mind. Thus, constitutional nervousness has an important relevance in the causes of the disorder, being the affective participation presented in the form of concerns, fears and anxieties the most relevant factor in their etiology.

On the other hand, they can also be causes of neurasthenia diseasesinfectious, such as the flu or chronic poisonings, also some Metabolic diseases such as diabetes, and other organic causes such as head trauma, cancer or certain intestinal affectations.

In summary, we can observe that the causes of neurasthenia can be very diverse, presenting psychological and organic factors. It is yet to clarify which are the cause and which are the consequence.

The symptoms of neurasthenia are varied and are divided into 2 groups: psychic symptoms and organic symptoms. The most representative symptoms of neurasthenia are the following:

Psychic symptoms of neurasthenia

• Tiredness and fatigue
• Sad mood
• Pseudo-memory deficiency
• Difficulty focusing attention and concentrating
• Pessimism
• Insomnia
• Indecision

Organic symptoms of neurasthenia

• Hyperesthesias
• Paresthesia
• Vision or hearing problems
• Asthenia
• Muscular fatigue
• Shaking
• Disorders in the sexual sphere, such as hypoactive sexual desire
• Circulatory disorders: arterial hypotension, heart rhythm disturbances, hot flashes, ...
• Alterations in the digestive system: anorexia related to the sensation of gastric fullness
• Shallow breathing
• Kidney disorders: frequency, phosphaturia, ...
• Endocrine disorders: thyroid hyperfunction and global adrenal hypofunction

Faced with the different etiologies of neurasthenia and the different symptomatic presentations, it is necessary to limit its treatment to the presentation of these. Therefore, for the treatment of neurasthenia, different interventions are proposed:

1. Biological-constitutional treatment: This treatment tends to focus its approach on vitamin resources, the most frequent being the B complex and vitamin B1.
2. Symptomatic treatment: the symptomatic approach is established through the administration of medications, being different depending on the symptoms presented. The most commonly used drugs for the treatment of neurasthenia are sedatives and hypnotics.
3. Hygienic-dietetic treatment: Faced with the characteristics of this disorder, it is common for people who suffer from it to neglect the habits necessary to lead a healthy life. For this reason, in many occasions it is necessary to establish an approach in the realization of physical exercise and a correct diet.
4. Psychotherapeutic treatment: people with neurasthenia tend to have a low self-concept. Faced with this, it is important to do psychotherapeutic work to improve self-concept, self-esteem and thought patterns through, for example, the techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy.
5. Mixed or comprehensive treatment: Faced with the large number of therapeutic modalities, it is advisable to establish a treatment that uses the resources previously cited in a form of comprehensive therapy, to address the different areas in which it affects the disorder.

The definition of psychasthenia corresponds to a set of symptoms associated with anxiety, phobias, nervous tics, obsessions and compulsions. The etymology of the word psychasthenia derives from the Greek "phsyche" translated as soul and "asthenia", without strength. People who suffer from psychasthenia have symptoms that are very different from neurasthenia in general, characterized by an obsession that revolves around an idea and invades the person's thoughts constantly, even if they want to stop thinking about it. This obsession generates an emotional intensity in the person and although he may consider the idea as absurd and causes him great suffering, he cannot let go of it. Faced with the attempt to eliminate this obsessive thinking, people tend to show compulsive behaviors, also appearing a picture of high stress and anxiety.

How are neurasthenia and psychasthenia related? Some authors think that psychasthenia is a form of neurasthenia, others conceived them as totally different.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Neurasthenia: what is it, causes, symptoms and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

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