conversion hysteria

Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.conversion hysteria - a mental disorder characterized by the conversion of mental conflict into somatic forms (into paralysis or anesthesia having no apparent cause)
folie, mental disorder, mental disturbance, psychological disorder, disturbance - (psychiatry) a psychological disorder of thought or emotion; a more neutral term than mental illness
glove anesthesia - a mental disorder involving loss of sensitivity in the hand and wrist; "since no combination of nerves serve this area a glove anesthesia is clearly psychogenic in origin"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Mentioned in
References in periodicals archive
But Freud invented the terms 'conversion' and 'conversion hysteria' back in 1894 in his paper 'The defence neuropsychoses' and his abstract for that paper respectively (GW1: 63, 481; SE3: 49, 249).
(2) The DSM I (1952) uses the term "conversion hysteria" (33).
Sperling (1973) theorised that the ego and superego structure of a patient with a conversion hysteria will not allow forbidden aggressive and sexual impulses to be gratified in reality, so when the repression of these impulses is about to fail, the impulses and actions are acted out physically as conversion symptoms.
Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.