psychopathia
- noun
- /ˌsaɪkəˈpæθiə/
- Archaic
- Psychopathia was once used to categorize various mental disorders in early psychopathia.
- psychopathia sexualis
Examples
-
In 1896, Krafft-Ebing published Psychopathia Sexualis.
Academic text (2003) -
"I've dipped into some of his published things, and believe me, they're dull, dull, dull." "Well, the stuff I've been reading is steamy enough to add a new chapter to Psychopathia Sexualis."
Fiction book (1992) -
In 1949, Cauldwell first described the term psychopathia transsexualis.
Academic text (1997) -
Ulrich's ideas influenced Richard von Krafft-Ebing: witness the extended title of his benchmark book, Psychopathia Sexualis with Special Reference to the Antipathic Sexual Instinct: A Medico-Forensic Study, which first appeared in 1886.
Academic text (2003) -
Understanding psychopathia helps us recognize the historical context of mental health terminology.
-
Many articles from the late 19th century mention psychopathia as a relevant concept in mental illness.
Synonyms
A health problem that affects how a person thinks, feels, or behaves and may need medical help
A condition that causes problems with thinking, feeling, or behaving
A condition that changes a person's thoughts, feelings, or behavior and causes problems in life
A problem with a person's mental health that changes how they think, feel or behave
A condition where a person's thinking or feelings work very differently from usual and cause problems
Surface Forms
Morphology
psychopathia = psychopath (semi-transparent) = psych + path + ia
The form is clearly built with Greek medical elements (psych- meaning 'mind' + a disease/condition suffix '-ia'), but the classical form is a technical or historical variant that may be unfamiliar to many learners.
Etymology
Psychopathia comes from Greek parts psych- meaning 'mind' and -pathia meaning 'suffering' or 'disease', the same psych- you see in psychology and the path- in pathology. So it was an old medical name for a 'mind disease', which is why it refers to a mental disorder or abnormal mental condition.