| 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) |
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| 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) |
| Hartnup disorder | <biochemistry> Amino acid transport defect that leads to excessive loss of monoamino monocarboxylic acids (cystine, lysine, ornithine, arginine) in the urine and poor absorption in the gut. See: iminoglycinuria. (18 Nov 1997) |
| heat stress disorder | A group of conditions due to overexposure to or overexertion in excess environmental temperature. It includes heat cramps, which are non-emergent and treated by salt replacement; heat exhaustion, which is more serious, treated with fluid and salt replacement; and heatstroke, a condition most commonly affecting extremes of age, especially the elderly, accompanied by convulsions, delusions, or coma and treated with cooling the body and replacement of fluids and salts. (12 Dec 1998) |
| schizoid personality disorder | An individual who is isolated, cold and indifferent. (27 Sep 1997) |
| schizophreniform disorder | A disorder whose essential features are identical with those of schizophrenia, with the exception that the duration including prodromal, active, and residual phases is less than six months. (05 Mar 2000) |
| schizotypal personality disorder | An individual who is eccentric with ideas, reference, magical thinking and suspicious. (27 Sep 1997) |
| psychogenic pain disorder | A disorder in which the principal complaint is pain that is out of proportion to objective findings and that is related to psychological factors. (05 Mar 2000) |
| 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) |