PRECONSCIOUS
psychoanalytic term for thoughts which are not presently in awareness, but which can be recalled more or less readily.The preconscious…
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
In recent years there has been a growing realization that the period between conception and birth is a crucial one…
PRIMARY GAIN
The basic psychological benefit derived from neurotic symptoms.According to many theorists, and particularly Freud, neurotic symptoms serve the primary purpose…
PSYCHIATRIC AIDE
A trained individual who attends to the nonmedical needs of psychiatric patientsThe attendant, or psychiatric aide, is generally in more…
PSYCHOMOTOR EXCITEMENT
A general state of physical and psychological overactivity.The excited patient is constantly on the move but totally unproductive because he…
PSYCHONEUROSIS
A functional personality disorder characterized by disturbing emotional symptoms such as morbid fears, obsessive thoughts, or depressive states, but without…
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGIC DISORDERS (GENERAL)
Disturbances in the function or structure of a bodily organ resulting from prolonged emotional stress. The symptoms are physical (somatic)…
PUERPERAL PSYCHOSIS
Psychotic reactions occurring in the period following childbirth, which is technically known as the puerperium. This period extends from the…
PERSONALITY PATTERN DISTURBANCE
A group of personality disorders comprising personality types that are deeply ingrained resistant to change, and predisposed to develop into…
PERSONALITY TRAIT THEORY
An approach to personality description originated by Raymond B. Cattell, based on an analysis of characteristics into surface traits and…
PHANTOM REACTION
A psychological disturbance occurring in individuals who have lost a limb or other body part. The reaction consists of various…
PHYSIOGNOMIC PERCEPTION
A term applied by Heinz Werner to the tendency to view the world in the light of emotional and motor…
PHYSIOGNOMY
The attempt to “read” personality from outward appearance, especially from the facial features Physiognomy is at least as old as…
PICK’S DISEASE
A rare degenerative disease of the brain, first described in 1892 by the Czech psychiatrist Arnold Pick (1867-1926).The disease occurs…
PARANOID STATES
A psychotic disorder characterized by transient, poorly systematized delusions.Paranoid states appear to be intermediate between “true” paranoia and paranoid schizophrenia.…
PARATHYROID GLANDS
Two pairs of small endocrine glands adjacent to the thyroid gland in the neck, which regulate calcium metabolism and maintain…
PARKINSON’S DISEASE
A chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system, usually occurring between the ages of fifty and seventy. Atrophy takes…
PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY
A personality trait disturbance characterized by immaturity and failure to develop an adequate balance between dependence and independence, and between…