mimesis
9.9
An illness that shows the same symptoms as another illness, making diagnosis hard
- noun
- /mɪˈmiːsɪs/
- Specialized
:
mimesis
- The patient’s condition was a classic case of mimesis, making it challenging to diagnose the underlying illness.
Examples
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In rare cases, mimesis can mimic more severe diseases, complicating medical assessments.
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Doctors often struggle with mimesis when symptoms overlap with those of other well-known disorders.
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Capgras may be a problem of mimesis that highlights the mimetic problems of storytelling.
Academic text (2009) -
Another technique used in structural family therapy was mimesis, which involves mirroring a family's mood, communication patterns, and so forth.
Academic text (2002)
Surface Forms
Etymology
Mimesis comes from a Greek word mimos meaning 'imitator', the same idea behind the English word mimic. In medicine, mimesis is when one disease 'imitates' another, so it hides its true identity and makes diagnosis hard.
