Descriptionary

paraphrenia a late-life schizophrenia with paranoid ideation.

parasomnia any odd behavior or disorder that occurs during sleep.

passive-aggressive personality a chronically dis­contented, petulant, fault-finding personality that reveals inner hostility by such passive actions as "for­getting" promises or by vacillating between passive dependency on others and stubborn independence.

pathological gambling an addictive behavior in which the sufferer gambles incessantly, causing finan­cial and personal problems.

pedophilia sex act between an adult and child.

persistent sexual arousal syndrome a mysterious disorder in which women experience constant symp­toms of genital stimulation and the sensation of immi­nent orgasms, originally thought to be psychological in origin but now associated with restless leg syn­drome and overactive bladder.

personality disorder a personality dysfunction characterized by any one of various maladaptive behaviors, causing difficulty in the sufferer and some­times in those around him.

phantosmia odor hallucinations.

phobia an irrational fear of a person, place, or thing. Phobias include the following:

animals zoophobia

animal skin or fur, doraphobia touching

blood hemophobia

blushing erythrophobia

bridges

gephyrophobia

burial alive

taphephobia

cancer

cancerphobia

cats

ailurophobia

children

pedophobia

cold

psychrophobia

confinement in

claustrophobia

enclosed space

crowds

demophobia

dark

nyctophobia

dead bodies

necrophobia

death

thanatophobia,

necrophobia

defecation

rhypophobia

depths

bathophobia

dirt

mysophobia

dogs

cynophobia

eating

phagophobia

failure

kakorrhaphiophobia

fire

pyrophobia

flood

antlophobia

foreigners or strangers

xenophobia

ghosts

phantasmophobia

heights

acrophobia

infinity

apeirophobia

insects

acarophobia,

entomophobia

knives

aichmophobia

lice

pediculophobia

marriage

gamophobia

medicine

pharmacophobia

men

androphobia

mice

musophobia

missiles

ballistophobia

money

chrematophobia

night

nyctophobia

noise

phonophobia,

acousticophobia

number 13

triskaidekaphobia

ocean

thalassophobia

old age

gerontophobia

open spaces

agoraphobia

pain

algophobia

poison

toxicophobia

precipices

cremnophobia

responsibility

hypengyophobia

ridicule

catagelophobia

robbers

harpaxophobia

sex

coitophobia, genoph

aichmophobia

peccatiphobia

hypnophobia

ophidiophobia

chionophobia

autophobia

lalophobia

arachnophobia

astrophobia

xenophobia

heliophobia

astraphobia, brontophobia

haptephobia

cypridophobia

gynophobia

ergophobia

physiognomy the science of determining someone's personality simply by looking at his or her face. High testosterone, for example, reveals itself by widening the face, squaring the jaw, and jutting out brow ridges. Such facial structures have been correlated with a higher pro­pensity for aggression and other masculine behaviors.

placebo a sham pill or treatment, which, presented as real medicine, often has measurable curative effects.

positive psychology a psychological movement developed in the late 1990s in which psychologists encourage unhappy clients to focus on the positive, especially one's strengths, and to cultivate a sense of gratitude and optimism instead of relying on making drastic changes in their lives in order to find content­ment.

positive reinforcement a method of changing one's unhealthy behavior through a reward system.

posthypnotic suggestion a suggestion given to a hypnotized person that is performed after coming out of the trance.

postpartum depression depression sometimes suf­fered by new mothers directly after the birth of a child, possibly due to hormone fluctuations.

post-traumatic stress disorder extreme symptoms of stress manifesting themselves weeks, months, or years after experiencing a traumatic event.

sharp objects

sin, committing

sleep

snakes

snow

solitude

speaking

spiders

stars

strangers

sunlight

thunderstorms

touched, being

venereal disease

women

work

power of suggestion the influence of a statement made with confidence and authority by a respected or charismatic person that may change someone's perception of reality or even persuade the person to do something he or she otherwise would not do, as a hypnotist with an audience participant.

prefrontal lobotomy partial surgical removal of the frontal brain lobes from the thalamus, a procedure used to treat psychiatric conditions in the 1930s and 1940s.

pressured speech rapid, nonstop, loud speech, often carried on even when people are not listening.

primal scream therapy therapeutic method that encourages patients to vent repressed emotions and frustrations from past hurts through loud screaming and violent demonstrations.

prodromal referring to any kind of presymptom that indicates an impending seizure, disease outbreak, mental breakdown, etc.