For the experimental metal band, see Neurosis (band).

No longer used as a formal term in modern psychology, neurosis, also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, was a "catch all" term that referred to any mental imbalance that caused distress, but (unlike a psychosis or personality disorder) did not prevent rational thought or an individual's ability to function in daily life. As an illness, it represents a variety of psychiatric conditions in which emotional distress or unconscious conflict is expressed through various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (as physical symptoms, anxieties, or phobias). These tendencies are usually very common among humans, such as depression, anxiety, obsessive/compulsive tendencies, and even personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder, Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, et al. It has perhaps been most simply defined as a "poor ability to adapt to one's environment, an inability to change one's life patterns, and the inability to develop a richer, more complex, more satisfying personality." (Boeree 2002) Neurosis should not be mistaken for psychosis, which refers to more severe disorders.

The term connotes an actual disorder or disease, but under its general definition, neurosis is a normal human experience, part of the human condition. Most people are affected by neurosis in some form. Some neuroses, such as drive for success and power, are actually rewarded in western societies, but persons so possesed, when removed from the arena of competition, experience severe distress. A psychological problem develops when neuroses begin to interfere with, but not significantly impair, normal functioning, and thus cause the individual anxiety. Frequently, the coping mechanisms enlisted to help "ward off" the anxiety only exacerbate the situation, causing more distress. It has even been defined in terms of this coping strategy, as a "symbolic behavior in defense against excessive psychobiologic pain...," which, "...is self-perpetuating because symbolic satisfactions cannot fulfill real needs." (Janov 1998)

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logh tool jakob neurosis=x
flyingaboveyou (Dima Fedoruk) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:20:59 -0000
logh tool jakob neurosis=x
@mixtape_ Of all the movie characters Kathleen Kelly has always been the one I wanted to be. Minus the neurosis. I have plenty already. :D
cocktailsatfive (Cocktails @ Five) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:59:40 -0000
@mixtape_ Of all the movie characters Kathleen Kelly has always been the one I wanted to be. Minus the neurosis. I have plenty already. :D
2010 travel schedule neurosis staved off for now; 1st potential trip not til Feb., got a few more weeks to set things up.
walking26 (Steffanie Brown) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 03:22:00 -0000
2010 travel schedule neurosis staved off for now; 1st potential trip not til Feb., got a few more weeks to set things up.
Wisdom about life's priorities and a cure for neurosis. Alain de Botton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CERfoDIU2Yw&feature=related
prttysmrt (Natasha Golding) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:52:56 -0000
Wisdom about life's priorities and a cure for neurosis. Alain de Botton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CERfoDIU2Yw&feature=related
@lynn_arenita No es neurosis, es que no puedo explicar las cosas sin spoilers.
RootLoops (Victor Von Root) Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:17:09 -0000
@lynn_arenita No es neurosis, es que no puedo explicar las cosas sin spoilers.
My computer spellcheck has issues with neurosis but not psychosis. What does that say about my typing?
Yuricon (Erica Friedman) Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:26:44 -0000
My computer spellcheck has issues with neurosis but not psychosis. What does that say about my typing?

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