psych-, psycho-, -psyche, -psychic, -psychical, -psychically +
(Greek: mind, spirit, consciousness; mental processes; the human soul; breath of life)
A prefix that is normally used with elements of Greek origin, psych- affects the meanings of hundreds of words.
Etymologically, this element includes such meanings as, breath, to breathe, life, soul, spirit, mind, consciousness; and literally, "that which breathes".
psychochemistry
The application of biochemistry to psychiatry and especially to the understanding of the neurochemical patterns that may be a fundamental part of at least some psychiatric disorders.
psychochrome
1. Any subjective physical or mental sensation that is regularly associated with a particular color.
2. Color impressions resulting from sensory stimulations of a part of the body other than by the eyes.
psychochromesthesia
1. Color sensation produced by the stimulus of a sense organ other than that of vision.
Also pseudochromesthesia, a condition in which sounds, especially of the vowels, seem to induce a sensation of a distinct visual color.
2. A form of synesthesia in which a certain stimulus to one of the special organs of sense produces the mental image of a color.
psychochronometry
The study of mental processes in relation to their timing and duration.
psychocoma
A condition in which a person is in a state of mental stupor.
psychocortical
A reference to the cerebral cortex as the seat of sensory, motor, and psychic functions.
psychoculture
1. The psychological characteristics of individuals.
2. The relation between the mentality of individuals and the cultures in which they live.
psychodiagnosis
1. Any method used to discover the factors which underlie behavior, especially malajusted or abnormal behavior.
2. The use of psychological tests to assist in diagnosing diseases, especially mental illness.
3. The evaluation of the personality of an individual by a systematic appraisal made of spontaneously expressed and specially elicited reactions, most often undertaken for the purpose of assessing any serious unbalance in the personality or to predict possible future reactions to severe stress or threat to the organization of the personality.
psychodiagnostics
1. The use of psychological testing as an aid in diagnosing mental disorders.
2. The observation and interpretation of externally observable actions of an individual, such as voice inflection, gestures, and body posture for the purpose of drawing inferences about the personality of that person.
3. A term used especially by Swiss and German writers for Rorschach Test.
psychodometry
A measurement of the speed of mental action.
psychodrama
1. A form of psychotherapy in which a patient acts or performs extempore with or in front of fellow patients and therapists in a way that dramatizes the patient&$146;s problems or difficulties; an extempore psychotherapeutic play of this kind.
2. Patients act out assigned roles and, in so doing, are able to gain insight into their own mental dissturbances.
psychodynamics
1. The scientific study of mental action or force.
2. The description of the development and workings of the mind, with emphasis on how the mind's hypothesized energies are distributed in the course of its adaptational maneuvers.
psychodysleptic
Inducing a dreamlike or delusional mental state; hallucinatory.
psychoendocrinology
The study of the relationship of the endocrine system to psychiatric disorders, in particular the system's potential as a site of manifestation of biochemical abnormalities that have been implicated as predisposing factors to mental illness, as in thyrotoxiocosis (hyperthyroidism condition) or the Cushing syndrome (syndrome resulting from hypersecretion of the adrenal cortex that results in glucocorticoids).
psychogalvanic
Referring to changes in the electrical resistance of the skin that result from either sensory or ideational stimulation (ideation is the process of forming ideas or mental images and examining their relationships).
Inter-related cross references, directly or indirectly, involving the "mind, mental" word units:
anima-;
anxi-;
deliri-;
hallucina-;
menti-;
moro-;
noo-;
nous;
phreno-;
thymo-2.
Word units related to breath and breathe:
hal-;
pneo-;
pneumato-;
pneumo-;
spiro.
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