| seasonal affective disorder | A syndrome characterised by depressions that recur annually at the same time each year, usually during the winter months. Other symptoms include anxiety, irritability, decreased energy, increased appetite (carbohydrate cravings), increased duration of sleep, and weight gain. Sad (seasonal affective disorder) can be treated by daily exposure to bright artificial lights (phototherapy), during the season of recurrence. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| histrionic personality disorder | An individual who is dramatic, engaging, self-centreed and attention seeking. (27 Sep 1997) |
| psychosomatic disorder | A disorder characterised by physical symptoms of psychic origin, usually involving a single organ system innervated by the autonomic nervous system; physiological and organic changes stem from a sustained disturbance. (05 Mar 2000) |
| separation anxiety disorder | A mental disorder occurring in childhood characterised by excessive anxiety when the child is separated from someone to whom the child is attached, usually a parent. (05 Mar 2000) |
| shared paranoid disorder | A condition in which two closely related persons, usually in the same family, share the same delusions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| shared psychotic disorder | Identical or similar mental disorders, such as a paranoid fixation, usually affecting two members of the same family living together. Synonym: shared psychotic disorder. Origin: Fr. Two (05 Mar 2000) |
| single gene disorder | Hereditary disorder caused by a mutant allele of a single gene (for example, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, retinoblastoma, sickle cell disease). Compare: polygenic disorders. (09 Oct 1997) |
| somatisation disorder | A psychological disorder where there are multiple physical complaints that suggest physical disorders without any physical impairment to account for them. Gastrointestinal symptoms and pain syndromes are the most common features. (27 Sep 1997) |
| somatization disorder | A mental disorder characterised by presentation of a complicated medical history and of physical symptoms referring to a variety of organ systems, but without a detectable or known organic basis. See: conversion, hysteria. (05 Mar 2000) |
| somatoform disorder | A group of disorders in which physical symptoms suggesting physical disorders for which there are no demonstrable organic findings or known physiologic mechanisms, and for which there is positive evidence, or a strong presumption that the symptoms are linked to psychological factors; e.g., hysteria, conversion disorder, hypochondriasis, and pain disorder. (05 Mar 2000) |
| narcissistic personality disorder | An individual with an inflated sense of self-importance. (27 Sep 1997) |
| stereotypic movement disorder | Motor behaviour that is repetive, often seemingly driven, and nonfunctional. This behaviour markedly interfers with normal activities or results in severe bodily self-injury. The behaviour is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition. (dsm-IV, 1994) (12 Dec 1998) |
| neurodegenerative disorder | A type of neurological disease marked by the loss of nerve cells. See: Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease. (22 May 1997) |
| neurological disorder | Disturbance in structure or function of the central nervous system resulting from developmental abnormality, disease, injury or toxin. (22 May 1997) |
| neuropsychologic disorder | A disturbance of mental function due to brain trauma, associated with one of more of the following: neurocognitive, psychotic, neurotic, behavioural, or psychophysiologic manifestations, or mental impairment. See: mental illness. (05 Mar 2000) |