Neurosis

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Neurosis was a class of functional psychiatric disorders involving distress, with neither monothematic delusions or hallucinations. While it was a DSM diagnosis it was also known as psycho-neurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic. The term essentially describes an ongoing cognitive or affective civil war. While being removed from the DSM in 1980, it still remains in use in psychoanalytical circles. The disorders once classified as neuroses are now considered anxiety disorders. These changes to the DSM have been controversial.

History

The term neurosis was coined by the Scottish doctor William Cullen, in 1769 to refer to "disorders of sense and motion" caused by a "general affection of the nervous system". For him, it described various nervous disorders and symptoms that could not be explained by the physical condition of the mind or body. It derives from the Greek word "νεῦρον" (neuro) with the suffix -osis, meaning an abnormal condition. The term was however most influentially defined by Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud over a century later through its employment in psychoanalysis. It has continued to be used in contemporary theoretical writing in psychology and philosophy, but not clinically.

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