Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Androgen insensitivity syndrome

    A condition that affects the development of reproductive and genital organs; it typically includes feminization or undermasculinization of the external genitalia at birth, abnormal secondary sexual development in puberty, and infertility. Feminization of the male sex organs because of cellular insensitivity to androgen in the prenatal environment.  

  • Ancillary care

    Health services other than professional services or hospital room and board. These services may include pharmacy and laboratory services.    

  • Anankastic personality

    Synonym for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.    

  • Analytic psychology

    The name given by the Swiss psychonalyst Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) to his theoretical system, which minimizes the influences of sexual factors in emotional disorders and stresses mystical and religious influences and a belief in the collective unconscious. The name given by the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung to his theoretical system, which minimizes the…

  • Analysis

    A common synonym for psychoanalysis. The process of resolving a problem into its component parts. An examination of a substance to find out what it is made of. Any means of understanding complex mental processes or experiences. There are several systems of analysis used by different schools of psychology; for example, psychoanalysis; transactional analysis, in…

  • Analysand

    A patient in psychoanalytic treatment. A person being psychoanalyzed.  

  • Anal phase

    The phase of psychosexual development in which pleasure arises primarily from the anal zone, specifically from the retention and expulsion of feces. In psychoanalytic theory, the second stage in a person’s development. The phase occurs in early childhood (1-3 years) and involves conflicts of autonomy with shame and doubt. In psychoanalytic theory, the term “anal…

  • Analgesic

    Analgesic

    Drugs that treat pain and hence produce analgesia. An agent that reduces or eliminates pain. A substance that relieves or reduces pain. An agent that alleviates pain without causing loss of consciousness. Two general categories exist: opioid and nonopioid. A pain-killing herb. Pain-relieving drugs, including simple analgesics for mild pain (aspirin, paracetamol); anti-inflammatories for arthritis…

  • Anal character

    A personality type that manifests excessive orderliness, miserliness, and obstinacy. Called obsessive-compulsive character or personality in other typologies. In psychoanalysis, a pattern of behavior in an adult that is believed to originate in the anal phase of infancy, between 1 and 3 years. A personality type that manifests excessive orderliness, miserliness, and obstinacy. In psycho-analysis, a…

  • Anafranil

      A tricyclic antidepressant medication that is approved to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. The brand name for clomipramine.