neurosis

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neurosis (newr-oh-sis) n. (pl. neuroses) any long-term mental or behavioural disorder in which contact with reality is retained and the condition is recognized by the sufferer as abnormal. A neurosis essentially features anxiety or behaviour that, according to Freudian theory, is exaggeratedly designed to avoid anxiety. Such defence mechanisms against anxiety take various forms and may appear as phobias, obsessions, compulsions, or sexual dysfunctions. Behaviour therapy and antidepressants (SSRIs) are effective in some cases. In accordance with the DSM-IV classification, the disorders formerly included under the neuroses have been renamed anxiety disorders. See also anxiety, conversion disorder, dissociative disorder, obsession.
—neurotic adj.

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