anxiety hysteria
Noun: A specific type of hysteria characterized by symptoms that combine features of both conversion disorder (where psychological stress is expressed through physical symptoms) and anxiety neurosis (a condition marked by excessive, persistent worry and fear).
This term is primarily used in clinical psychology and psychiatry to describe a historical diagnostic category. It refers to a condition where a person experiences physical symptoms without a clear medical cause, which are linked to underlying anxiety and psychological conflict. * The patient's paralysis, with no neurological basis, was diagnosed as a manifestation of anxiety hysteria. * In mid-20th century psychoanalytic theory, anxiety hysteria was often discussed in relation to phobic disorders and conversion symptoms.
- The concept of anxiety hysteria is largely historical. In modern diagnostic manuals like the DSM-5, its symptoms are typically categorized under disorders such as Somatic Symptom Disorder, Illness Anxiety Disorder, or various Anxiety Disorders.
- It was a key concept in Freudian psychoanalysis, representing a neurosis where anxiety is "converted" into physical symptoms or displaced onto a specific phobic object.
- Conversion Disorder: A disorder where psychological stress is converted into physical neurological symptoms (e.g., blindness, paralysis).
- Anxiety Neurosis: An older term for what is now commonly classified as Generalized Anxiety Disorder or other anxiety disorders.
- Hysteria: An antiquated term for a condition involving emotional excess and physical symptoms, now considered a non-specific historical diagnosis.
- (Historical/contextual synonyms): Psychoneurosis (with hysterical and anxious features), conversion reaction with anxiety.
This is a compound noun formed from "anxiety" and "hysteria." It represents a specific, blended clinical concept rather than the simple sum of its parts. It is important to understand it as a single, defined term within its historical psychological context.
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a form of hysteria having features of both conversion disorder and anxiety neurosis