PARANOID REACTION (GENERAL)
A psychotic reaction marked by more or less systematized delusions without personality disorganization or deterioration. The term was first applied…
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…
PATHOLOGICAL INTOXICATION
An acute psychotic episode occurring in (1) individuals whose tolerance for alcohol is low due to an unstable personality or…
PEAK-CLIPPING
Increasing the intelligibility of transmitted speech by “clipping,” or eliminating, high intensity sounds and amplifying the low intensities.Peak-clipping is accomplished…
PELLAGRINOUS PSYCHOSIS
A metabolic disorder produced by a severe deficiency of vitamin B (niacin, nicotinic acid). Deficiencies of thiamine, riboflavin, and ascorbic…
PEPTIC ULCER
A craterlike wound in the inner wall of the stomach or duodenum resulting from the corrosive effects of acid-containing digestive…
PERPLEXITY STATES
A form of mental confusion in which the patient is assailed with doubt and uncertainty about his own thoughts.Perplexity is…
PREVENTION DESIGN
Designing tools with the intent of a) reducing injury or error during operation and b) to enhance their ease of…
PRIMAL DEPRESSION
Early childhood depression supposedly brought on by distant or missing parents. The expression is today considered obsolete.
PRIMARY CARE PSYCHOLOGY
Primary Care Psychology is designed to provide psychological services within the setting of a clinic, private or public hospital or…
PRIMARY GAINS
The psychoanalytical theory that states some patients get primary gain from possessing neurotic symptoms. The very symptoms themselves relieve them…
PRIMARY ORGASMIC DYSFUNCTION
A dysfunction comparable to primary erectile dysfunction in men, primary orgasmic dysfunction describe a dysfunction in which a woman has…
PRIMARY TASK
Ergonomically speaking, when one has a multi-task assignment, the primary task is the one that takes priority. That is, it…
PRIMORDIAL PANIC
Also referred to as elementary anxiety, primordial panic is a reaction composed of fright and anger by schizophrenic children. It…
PRION DISEASE
One of a group of neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions, which are self-replicating abnormal proteins in the brain. Symptoms of…