Neurosis is a broad category of psychological disturbance; the word was used to differentiate the milder forms of mental disorder from the more serious forms of disorder referred to as Psychoses and from the Personality Disorders. Since 1980 these broad categories of "mild" and "serious" have been abandoned in favour of more precise lists of mental disorders and neurosis has largely been dropped in favour of the expression Anxiety Disorder.
Anxiety Disorders were previously included amongst the neuroses. So, if you used to be a bit neurotic, today you probably have an anxiety disorder.
Before it was abandoned, the term neurotic generally referred to a person with some degree of depression or anxiety, depressed feelings, lack of emotions, low self-confidence or emotional instability, which is a long way from its technical meaning. It was derived from the Greek word neuron (nerve) with the suffix "osis" (diseased or abnormal condition).
The term was first used Dr. William Cullen in 1769 to describe nervous disorders and symptoms that could not be explained physiologically, but our current understanding is based on its use a century later by Sigmund Freud. For Freud, neurosis represented a variety of psychiatric conditions in which emotional distress or unconscious conflict is expressed through physical, physiological, and mental disturbances,including physical symptoms. The defining symptom was anxiety.
The category Neurosis was eliminated altogether version III of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in 1980. This largely reflected a decline in the influence of Freudian psychoanalysis, and the progressive removal of psychoanalytical terminology from the DSM. Practitioners, especially in France and Germany where psychoanalysis retains some credibility, continue to use the term 'neurosis' but according to The American Heritage Medical Dictionary it is "no longer used in psychiatric diagnosis."
Anxiety disorders are fairly common, and generally involve a feeling of apprehension with no obvious, immediate cause; they are the “fight or flight” reaction triggered at the wrong time; instead of protecting us from dangerous situations, these unwarranted or excessive fear responses hinder our daily lives and may be severe enough to prevent individuals from conducting routine activities.
The most common type of anxiety disorder, phobia, involve specific situations which cause irrational or excessive anxiety. Agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) may make one too anxious to leave the house. Obsessive-compulsive disorder describes the combination of a persistent, unwanted though (an obsession) that can only w=be relived by relentlessly pursuit of some action (compulsion) - the anxiety that follows if the action is resisted is debilitating, but so the time and effort taken up by performing the thought/action.
Panic disorder involves discrete periods of intense acute, paralysing fear (panic attack) with or without an apparent trigger, while Generalised Anxiety involves ongoing, pervasive anxiety with no apparent explanations - it’s just there all the time.
Post-traumatic Stress disorder may be easier to accept, because it “makes sense” to us that a particularly traumatic event can have a lasting effect, but the link between the experience and the event is seldom so obvious and it can lead to severe flashbacks and a lack of responsiveness to normal events.
Other problems that would have once just been classed as neurosis are hypochondria and hysteria. These are now classified as somatoform disorders(soma=body). They involve physical symptoms in response to psychological distress.
The person with hypochondria believes that bodily disturbances, however minor, indicate serious, or fatal disease. These individuals are chronically “ill”. People suffering from conversion disorder experiences a physical symptoms with no clear biological origin. The classic cases involve paralysis of a limb or blindness.
Anxiety disorders generally do not require treatment; we all have some, and they are usually relatively benign and self-limiting. Have a spider phobia or a fear of heights or perhaps, enclosed spaces? Get anxious if you have to speak in public, or feel uncomfortable meeting new people? None of these problems are likely to take you off to a therapist. Not unless your new job involves public speaking or you have to go overseas, or your new boyfriend collects spiders!
If you do decide to do something about it, or if your anxiety is more damaging to your lifestyle or relationships (OCD can be as debilitating as a psychosis), you will be pleased to know that treatment is not only beneficial, but usually takes very little time to overcome the problem.
Useful therapies include many kinds of behaviour therapy, psychotherapy, and group psychotherapy. Various drugs may also be employed to alleviate symptoms long enough for the client to engage in therapy, although the relief drugs offer is not lasting and can lead to other problems.
Many studies have shown that therapy is beneficial, particularly when a warm, positive relationship is established between client and therapist.
