| personality disorder | General term for a group of behavioural disorder's characterised by usually lifelong, ingrained, maladaptive patterns of deviant behaviour, lifestyle, and social adjustment that are different in quality from psychotic and neurotic symptoms; former designations for individuals with these personality disorder's were psychopath and sociopath. See: antisocial personality disorder. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| pervasive developmental disorder | A class of mental disorders of infancy, childhood, or adolescence characterised by distortions in the development of the multiple basic psychological functions involved in the development of social skills and language. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pervasive development disorder | <neurology, psychiatry> A large group of developmental disabilities which are neurological disorders, usually of unknown cause. Characteristics include reduced abilities to understand language and communicate normally, reduced ability to socially interact with others in a normal manner, and limited variety in activities and interests. Individuals will also often respond in unusual ways to sensations, engage in repetitive activities, and resist changes to the environment or to daily routines. Types of pervasive development disorder include autism, Retts Syndrome, Hellers Syndrome, and Aspergers Syndrome. Acronym: PDD (12 Jan 1998) |
| chromosome disorder | An abnormal condition due to an abnormality of the chromosomes. For example, Down syndrome (the genetic abnormality featuring three chromosome 21s, instead of two, also refered to as trisomy 21) is a chromosome disorder. (12 Dec 1998) |
| rumination disorder | A mental disorder occurring in infancy characterised by repeated regurgitation of food; usually accompanied by weight loss or failure to gain weight. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cocaine-related disorder | <psychiatry> Disorders related or resulting from use of cocaine. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cognition disorder | <psychology> Disturbances in the mental process related to thinking, reasoning, and judgment. (12 Dec 1998) |
| compulsive personality disorder | <psychology> A personality disorder which is characterised by the avoidance of feelings, emotion and intimacy within a framework of strict adherence to rules and order. (05 Jan 1998) |
| conduct disorder | A repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated. These behaviours include aggressive conduct that causes or threatens physical harm to other people or animals, nonagressive conduct that causes property loss or damage, deceitfulness or theft, and serious violations of rules. The onset is before age 18. (12 Dec 1998) |
| multiple personality disorder | A dissociative disorder in which the individual adopts two or more distinct personalities. Each personality is a fully integrated and complex unit with memories, behaviour patterns and social friendships. Transition from one personality to another is sudden. (12 Dec 1998) |
| conversion disorder | A disorder whose predominant feature is a loss or alteration in physical functioning that suggests a physical disorder but that is actually a direct expression of a psychological conflict or need. (12 Dec 1998) |
| polygenic disorder | <genetics> Genetic disorders resulting from the combined action of alleles of more thanone gene (for example, heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers). Although such disorders are inherited, they depend on the simultaneous presence of several alleles, thus the hereditary patterns are usually more complex than those of single-gene disorders. (14 Oct 1997) |
| posttraumatic stress disorder | Development of characteristic symptoms following a psychologically traumatic event that is generally outside the range of usual human experience; symptoms include numbed responsiveness to environmental stimuli, a variety of autonomic and cognitive dysfunctions, and dysphoria. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cyclothymic disorder | An affective disorder characterised by periods of depression and hypomania. These may be separated by periods of normal mood. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cyclothymic personality disorder | A personality disorder in which a person experiences regularly alternating periods of elation and depression, (see bipolar illness) usually not related to external circumstances or situation. (27 Sep 1997) |