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psychosomatic disorder

psychosomatic disorder

1 6.6
Physical symptoms caused by stress or strong emotions without a clear medical cause
  • noun
  • /ˌsaɪkoʊsəˈmætɪk dɪsˈɔrdər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : trastorno psicosomático
  • After careful evaluation, the doctor concluded that the symptoms were due to a psychosomatic disorder rather than a physical illness.

Examples

  • Many patients with a psychosomatic disorder report physical pain that has no apparent medical cause.

  • To be honest, I think what we have here is a clear case of some psychosomatic disorder.

  • Shouldn't we rule out all possible causes before we resort to the easy option of a psychosomatic disorder?

  • Depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic disorders are the most frequently identified mental health consequences among acculturating individuals (Sam, 2000).

    Academic text (2003)
  • And scientific, and for that matter human, knowledge is never complete, but such a lack isn't automatic proof that diseases are psychosomatic disorders in and of themselves or that infectious elements don't have a role.

    Blog text (13)
  • She was diagnosed with a psychosomatic disorder after her anxiety caused chronic stomach issues.

Synonyms

somatization
vspsychosomatic disorder
  • Specialized
9.1

Physical symptoms, like pain, that come from stress or strong emotions without a medical reason

is the clinical condition where psychological factors cause or add to physical symptoms
functional disorder
vspsychosomatic disorder
  • Specialized
6.4

A condition that causes real symptoms without a clear physical cause

emphasizes psychological factors as cause or contributor to symptoms

How Psychological

mental disorder
  • Specialized
20 3.3
psychosomatic disorder
  • Specialized
1 6.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

psychosomatic + disorder

The phrase is directly compositional: 'psychosomatic' denotes symptoms caused by psychological factors and 'disorder' denotes a medical/diagnostic condition, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer 'a disorder caused or influenced by psychological factors.' Although somewhat technical, the meaning follows straightforward compounding and is cross-linguistically recognizable, making it accessible to learners who know the parts.

Etymology

Psychosomatic disorder comes from two parts: psycho meaning 'mind' and somatic meaning 'body'. The image of the mind affecting the body explains why it means physical symptoms that are caused or made worse by mental stress.