Psychosis is mental illness of a severe kind which can make people lose contact with reality.
[medicine]
He may have some kind of neurosis or psychosis later in life.
...senile psychoses.
psychosis in British English
(saɪˈkəʊsɪs)
nounWord forms: plural-choses (-ˈkəʊsiːz)
any form of severe mental disorder in which the individual's contact with reality becomes highly distorted
Compare neurosis
Word origin
C19: New Latin, from psycho- + -osis
psychosis in American English
(saɪˈkoʊsɪs)
nounWord forms: pluralpsyˈchoˌses (saɪˈkoʊˌsiz)
a major mental disorder in which the personality is very seriously disorganized and contact with reality is usually impaired: psychoses are of two sorts, a) functional (characterized by lack of apparent organic cause, and principally of the schizophrenic, paranoid, or bipolar type), and b) organic (characterized by a pathological organic condition such as brain damage or disease, metabolic disorders, etc.)
SIMILAR WORDS: inˈsanity
Word origin
ModL: see psycho- & -osis
Word lists with
psychosis
Psychology terms
In other languages
psychosis
British English: psychosis NOUN
Psychosis is mental illness of a severe kind which can make people lose contact with reality.
He may have some kind of neurosis or psychosis later in life.
American English: psychosis
Brazilian Portuguese: psicose
Chinese: 精神错乱
European Spanish: psicosis
French: psychose
German: Psychose
Italian: psicosi
Japanese: 精神病
Korean: 정신병
European Portuguese: psicose
Latin American Spanish: psicosis
All related terms of 'psychosis'
organic psychosis
a severe mental illness produced by damage to the brain , as a result of poisoning , alcoholism , disease, etc
affective psychosis
a severe psychological disorder characterized by extreme moods of either depression or mania
Korsakoff's psychosis
a mental illness characterized by severe confusion and inability to retain recent memories , usually caused by alcoholism
postpartum psychosis
a mental illness sometimes occurring in women after childbirth , characterized by deep depression , delusions , and hallucinations
puerperal psychosis
a mental illness sometimes occurring in women after childbirth , characterized by deep depression , delusions , and hallucinations