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An attempt at an empirical delimitation of neurasthenic neurosis and its relation with some character traits
Author(s) -
Verhaest S.,
Pierloot R.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1980.tb00604.x
Subject(s) - character (mathematics) , relation (database) , neurosis , psychology , character traits , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , psychiatry , social psychology , computer science , mathematics , geometry , database
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.