In the summer of 1916, an order was issued that, in the cases of cowardice, medical excuses should not be taken into account; however, an exception was allowed for officers suffering from neurasthenia (an ill-defined condition which includes
symptoms similar to shell shock).

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Controversy[edit]
In 1895, Sigmund Freud reviewed electrotherapy and declared it a "pretense treatment." He emphasized the example of Elizabeth von R's note that "the stronger these were the more they seemed to push her own pains into the background."
Nevertheless, neurasthenia was a common diagnosis during World War I for "shell shock",[9] but its use declined a decade later.[citation needed] Soldiers who deserted their post could be executed even if they had a medical excuse, but officers who had neurasthenia were not executed.[10]
Jim Carroll