somatization

n. the expression of psychological disturbance in physical (bodily) symptoms. The first use of the word has controversially been attributed to Viennese psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel (1868–1940) to describe what is now called conversion. Some investigators use the word in reference not only to the physical symptoms that occur in almost every type of anxiety disorder but also to the expression of symptoms in such psychosomatic disorders as psychogenic asthma and peptic ulcers.

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Psychology term of the day

November 22nd 2024

agreement

n. in linguistics, the correct relation between the different grammatical elements of a sentence, so that, for example, the number of the verb corresponds to that of its subject, and the number and gender of a pronoun correspond to those of its noun.