It should be made clear that what we are dealing with in the nervous
housewife is not a special form of nervous disorder. It conforms to the
general types found in single women and also in men. It differs in the
intensity of symptoms, in the way they group themselves, and in the
causes.

Physicians use the term psychoneuroses to include a group of nervous
disorders of so-called functional nature. That is to say, there is no
alteration that can be found in the brain, the spinal cord, or any part
of the nervous system. In this, these conditions differ from such
diseases as locomotor ataxia, tumor of the brain, cerebral hemorrhage,
etc., because there are marked changes in the structure in the latter
troubles. One might compare the psychoneuroses to a watch which needed
oiling or cleaning, or merely a winding up,--as against one in which a
vital part was broken.

The most important of the psychoneuroses, in so far as the housewife is
concerned, is the condition called neurasthenia, although two other
diseases, psychasthenia and hysteria, are of importance.

It is interesting that neurasthenia is considered by many physicians as
a disease of modern times. Indeed, it was first described in 1869 by the
eminent neurologist Beard, who thought it was entirely caused by the
stress and strain of American life. That not only America, but every
part of the whole civilized world has its neurasthenia is now an
accepted fact. Knowing what we do of its causes we infer that it is
probably as old as mankind; but there exists no reasonable doubt that
modern life, with its hurry, its tensions, its widespread and ever
present excitement, has increased the proportion of people involved.