acathexia

9.9

Being unable to hold in urine or feces

noun
/ˌækəˈθɛksiə/

Specialized

: acatexia

The doctor diagnosed the patient with acathexia after he reported frequent incontinence.

Examples

Treatments for acathexia depend on the underlying cause of the loss of control.
Due to his acathexia, he often had to change his clothes after unexpected accidents.
Animals suffering from severe acathexia may require constant care.
He has acathexia.
Don't ignore acathexia!
The nurse explained that the elderly patient was experiencing acathexia and needed assistance with hygiene.
Managing acathexia requires regular monitoring and support from healthcare professionals.

Synonyms

incontinence

vsacathexia

Specialized

9 7.6

Not able to control when you pass urine or have a bowel movement

is broader, also applying to loss of other bodily secretions

urinary incontinence

vsacathexia

Specialized

1 4.3

Not being able to control urine so it comes out without meaning to

is broader, covering feces and other bodily secretions too

incontinency

vsacathexia

Archaic

1 9.6

Not being able to control when you pee or poo

is the modern standard form of the same medical inability

Antonyms

continence

NSFW

1 9.9

A person chooses not to have sex to show self-control

How Continent

continence

Specialized

1 9.0

acathexia

Specialized

9.9

Surface Forms

acathexia singular

acathexias plural

Morphology

acathexia = acathexis (opaque) = a + cathexis + ia

The immediate base 'acathexis' and the root 'cathexis' are rare technical terms (psychoanalytic), and the medical sense 'inability to retain bodily secretions' is a domain-specific shift that an average learner would not derive from the components.

Etymology

The word acathexia comes from the first part a- meaning 'not' and the Greek root cathexis meaning 'holding'. So it literally means 'not holding', which is why doctors use it for a loss of control over urine or feces.