and trace the patient’s personal and
family history. Treatment may include
medication, counselling, psychotherapy,
psychoanalysis, or behaviourtherapy.
psychoanalysisA treatment based on
psychoanalytic theorythat can help peo-
ple who have neurosesand personality
disorders. A modified approach may also
be used to treat psychosis. Psychoan-
alysis aims to help the patient to
understand his or her emotional devel-
opment and to make adjustments in
particular situations. Interpretation of
the patient’s dreams is another aspect
of the treatment (see dream analysis).
psychoanalytic theoryA system of
ideas developed by Sigmund Freud that
explains personality and behaviour in
terms of unconscious wishes and con-
flicts. The main emphasis was on
sexuality. Freud believed that a child
passes through 3 stages in the first 18
months of life: oral, anal, and genital.
After this, the child develops a sexual
attraction to the parent of the opposite
sex and wants to eliminate the other
parent (Oedipus complex). Sexual feel-
ings become latent around age 5 but
reemerge at puberty. Psychological prob-
lems may develop if fixation occurs at a
primitive stage. Modern psychoanalysis
has progressed from these ideas and is
generally based on the observation that
most emotional problems are caused
by childhood experiences. Psychoanaly-
sis attempts to free the individual from
the past, helping him or her to become
a real person in the present. Psychoana-
lytic theory is decreasing in influence.
psychodramaAn aid to psychotherapy
in which the patient acts out certain
roles or incidents. Psychodrama is often
carried out with a partner or in a group;
music, dance, and mime are often used.
psychogenicA term for a symptom or
disorder that is caused by psychological
or emotional problems.
psychologyThe scientific study of men-
tal processes. Psychology deals with all
internal aspects of the mind, such as
memory, feelings, thought, and percep-
tion, as well as external manifestations,
such as speechand behaviour. Psychol-
ogy is also concerned with intelligence,
learning, and personalitydevelopment.psychometryThe measurement of psy-
chological functions using intelligence
tests, personality tests, and tests for spe-
cific aptitudes, such as memory, logic,
concentration, and speed of response.
psychoneurosisA term used inter-
changeably with neurosis.
psychopathologyThe study of abnor-
mal mental processes. There are 2 main
approaches: the descriptive, which aims
to record symptoms that make up a
diagnosis of mental illness; and the
psychoanalytic, which is concerned with
the unconscious feelings and motives
of the individual.
psychopathyAn outdated term for an
antisocial personality disorder.
psychopharmacologyThe study of
drugs that affect mental states, such as
antipsychotic drugs, antidepressant drugs,
and anti-anxiety drugs.
psychosexual disordersA range of
disorders that are related to sexual func-
tion. Psychosexual disorders include
transsexualism, psychosexual dysfunc-
tion, and sexual deviation.
psychosexual dysfunctionA disorder
in which there is interference with the
sexual response for no physical cause.
psychosisA severe mental disorder in
which the individual loses contact with
reality. Three main categories of psy-
chosis are recognized: schizophrenia,
manic–depressive illness, and organic
brain syndrome (see brain syndrome,
organic). The main feature of psychotic
illnesses is that they cause a person to
have a distorted view of life.
Symptoms include delusions, halluci-
nations, thought disorders, loss of affect,
mania, and depression. The cause is
most likely to be a disorder of brain
function. Antipsychotic drugsare usu-
ally effective in controlling symptoms.
Long-term treatment, rehabilitation, and
support are often needed.
psychosomaticA term that describes
physical disorders that seem to have
been caused, or made worse, by psycho-
logical factors. Common examples of
conditions that may be psychosomatic
are headache, breathlessness, nausea,
asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, peptic
ulcer, and types of eczema. (See also
somatization disorder.)PSYCHOANALYSIS PSYCHOSOMATICP