Neurosis

I

Introduction

Neurosis, or psychoneurosis, term that describes a variety of psychological disorders, originally thought to have their origins in neuronal disturbances, but now regarded as having psychic or emotional origins. Neuroses are characterized by anxiety, personal unhappiness, and maladaptive behaviour. However, they are not usually severe enough to prevent totally a sufferer from continuing to function in society as opposed to psychosis, which usually requires hospitalization. See Mental Disorders.

These terms are no longer clinical definitions. Each neurosis is now classified according to its symptoms. The classifications in the Revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published in 1987, do not include neurosis, although the conditions previously regarded as neuroses are described. These include:

II

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

A condition of feeling uneasy or apprehensive much of the time and being likely to overreact to the types of mild stresses that would not be expected to affect a well-balanced person.

III

Panic Disorder

This is characterized by panic attacks, which also occur in generalized anxiety disorder—episodes of acute or overwhelming apprehension or fear accompanied by physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, perspiration, shortness of breath, muscle tremors, nausea, and fainting. People who suffer from panic attacks may feel as though they are going to die.

IV

Phobias

Response with intense fear to a stimulus (for example, a certain object) or a situation that is generally not regarded as particularly dangerous is classed as a phobic response. For this to be diagnosed as such, it must be sufficiently serious to interfere with everyday life. The intensity of reaction to the stimulus can range from strong unease to panic. Often the fear is realized as being irrational, but the sufferer is unable to control it.

A simple phobia is a phobia about one particular thing, for example spiders. People may have several simple phobias. Social phobias are phobias about social situations, such as fear of stuttering before having to speak to a stranger, even if this in fact does not happen. Agoraphobia (Greek agora, “marketplace”), a fear of open spaces, is probably the most disabling phobia and, in its most severe form, a sufferer may be unable to go outside.