The material used for this study consists of the records of 890 patients with psychasthenia from the private practice of Dr. Hugh T. Patrick. To make clear what I mean by psychasthenia it seems advisable briefly to note the dominant symptoms. The following is a summary of those found in 50 consecutive patients. In every case organic disease was excluded.
Weakness and ready physical fatigue, 41; disturbances of sleep (the patient not falling asleep for hours, 38; early waking, 22; fitful sleep, 8; frequent sleepless nights, 5; feeling of semiconsciousness, 3; terrifying dreams, 8; excessive predormal or indormescent starts, 8), 40; cardiac palpitation, 36; precordial oppression, 8; epigastric distress, 34; unpleasant sensations in the head (throbbing, fulness, tightness and pressure), often first called pain or ache, 33; periods of downheartedness, 34; frequent weeping, 29; hypersensitiveness, irritability and ready anger, 30; easy mental fatigue, 20; difficulty in "concentrating," 19; panicky spells,