Definition

Noun: A specific, localized loss of physical sensation (anesthesia) that affects the entire hand and stops abruptly at the wrist, resembling the area covered by a glove. This pattern does not correspond to known anatomical nerve pathways and is therefore considered a symptom with a psychological or psychiatric origin.

Usage

This term is used almost exclusively in clinical, psychiatric, and neurological contexts to describe a symptom indicative of a conversion disorder or other psychogenic condition. It is a technical descriptor, not a condition in itself.

Examples

• The patient presented with glove anesthesia, reporting no feeling in her right hand up to the wrist.
• Glove anesthesia is a classic example of a symptom that cannot be explained by physical nerve damage.
• The diagnosis considered a conversion disorder after glove anesthesia was confirmed.

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in contrast to "stocking anesthesia," which describes a similar psychogenic loss of sensation in the foot and ankle.
• It serves as a key diagnostic clue, as its non-anatomical distribution points away from organic neurological causes and toward psychological factors.

Variants and Related Words

• Conversion Disorder: A mental condition in which psychological stress manifests as physical symptoms, such as glove anesthesia.
• Psychogenic: Originating in the mind or from mental or emotional conflict.
• Dissociative Disorder: A category of mental disorders involving a disconnection between thoughts, identity, and sensory perception, under which some cases of unexplained anesthesia may fall.
• Stocking Anesthesia: The analogous loss of sensation in the foot and ankle.

Synonyms

• Hysterical anesthesia (an older, less precise term)
• Non-anatomical sensory loss
• Psychogenic sensory loss

Related Idioms and Phrases

There are no common idioms or phrasal verbs associated with this highly specific medical term.

Noun

1. a mental disorder involving loss of sensitivity in the hand and wrist
   • since no combination of nerves serve this area a glove anesthesia is clearly psychogenic in origin