ORGANICISM (Organic Viewpoint)
The theory that all disorders, both physical and mental, have an organic basis.Those who adhere to this point of view in psychiatry hold that...
ORGANISMIC THEORY
A holistic theory of personality developed primarily by Kurt Goldstein (1879-1965).Organismic theory views the individual as a totality and emphasizes the integration of personality....
ORGAN NEUROSIS
The psychoanalytic term for a neurosis in which bodily disturbances are prominent symptoms.The term recognizes the fact that unconscious mental processes can produce such...
ORGONE THERAPY (Vegetother- apy)
The therapeutic approach of Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), based on the dissipation of sexual tensions through the attainment of full orgasm.Reich was originally a member...
OSS ASSESSMENT TESTS
A series of personality tests, primarily of the situational type, devised for the selection of candidates for strategic missions during World War II.When the...
OVERPROTECTION (“Momlsm”)
Every young child needs a great deal of care, attention, and “mothering,” and every older child needs help and guidance in meeting the situations...
ODDITY METHOD
A procedure for testing the ability to use concepts. A subject is presented with three or more items to see if he can pick...
OEDIPUS COMPLEX (Oedipus Situation)
In psychoanalytic theory, the erotic attachment of the son for the mother, accompanied by attitudes of rivalry and hostility toward the father. The corresponding...
OLIGOPHRENIA (literally, “small mentality”)
A term for mental retardation or mental deficiency, more commonly used in Europe than the United States. Until recently the term appeared in the...
ONANISM
Sexual intercourse with withdrawal just before ejaculation; coitus interruptus.The term derives from the Bible (Genesis 38:9): “And Onan knew that the seed should not...
