An attempt at an empirical delimitation of neurasthenic neurosis and its relation with some character traits.
This research examines empirically: 1) The existence and delimitation of a clinical neurasthenic neurotic syndrome as defined by van Dantzig & Waage (1962), consisting of feelings of impotence, fatigue, exhaustion and accompanying functional complaints, by means of a hierarchical cluster analysis of the rating answers to a questionnaire. 2) The relation between neurasthenic neurosis and character traits relating to different neurotic personality types and a psychopathic personality type. The results do not confirm the existence of this theoretically defined neurasthenic neurosis, but we find a cluster of somatic complaints which can easily be identified with what most authors consider as a neurasthenic syndrome. This empirically found neurasthenic syndrome has a significant positive relation with an anal-obsessive character trait "over-tidiness and over-cleanliness" and not with a neurotic-inhibited obsessoid character in general, other specific neurotic character traits, or a psychopathic character. On differentiating between patients presenting the syndrome for more or less than 6 months, it is seen that in the category of more than 6 months there is a tendency to an increase of a neurotic-inhibited obsessoid character in general, an anal-obsessive character trait "over-tidiness and over-cleanliness" and a so-called psychasthenic character relating to an intense ego-ideal and narcissistic tendencies.
D006801:Humans; D009440:Neurasthenia / Q000145:classification*; D013577:Syndrome