Neurasthenia and related problems

Summary Neurasthenia is a diagnostic entity included in ICD-9 which is used in daily clinical practice in China and the Soviet Union, as well as some other Asian countries, so far as I know. Although it was eliminated from the psychiatric nosology in DSM-III of the United States and in several European countries, this disease has not disappeared. In my view, elimination of the category only indicates change of diagnostic concept without definite direction. Whether this change will be accepted by psychiatrists all over the world is still a question. The continued use of this diagnostic term in China is justifiable, I believe. The final resolution of these differences in views and practice remains for future development in psychiatric science.