Glossary

Category: A

  • Analysand

    A patient in psychoanalytic treatment. A person being psychoanalyzed.  

  • Anal phase

    The phase of psychosexual development in which pleasure arises primarily from the anal zone, specifically from the retention and expulsion of feces. In psychoanalytic theory, the second stage in a person’s development. The phase occurs in early childhood (1-3 years) and involves conflicts of autonomy with shame and doubt. In psychoanalytic theory, the term “anal…

  • Analgesic

    Analgesic

    Drugs that treat pain and hence produce analgesia. An agent that reduces or eliminates pain. A substance that relieves or reduces pain. An agent that alleviates pain without causing loss of consciousness. Two general categories exist: opioid and nonopioid. A pain-killing herb. Pain-relieving drugs, including simple analgesics for mild pain (aspirin, paracetamol); anti-inflammatories for arthritis…

  • Anal character

    A personality type that manifests excessive orderliness, miserliness, and obstinacy. Called obsessive-compulsive character or personality in other typologies. In psychoanalysis, a pattern of behavior in an adult that is believed to originate in the anal phase of infancy, between 1 and 3 years. A personality type that manifests excessive orderliness, miserliness, and obstinacy. In psycho-analysis, a…

  • Anafranil

      A tricyclic antidepressant medication that is approved to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. The brand name for clomipramine.  

  • Anaclitic object

    A person on whom an individual is totally dependent for survival, a relationship exemplified in the infant’s attachment to the mother. Anaclitic depression involves the loss of this primary object.  

  • Anaclitic

    Literally, leaning on. In psychoanalytic terminology, anaclitic attachment refers to the complete dependence of one person on another for his or her well-being (as in the infant’s dependence on the mother). Such attachment is normal in childhood but pathological in later years. Literally, leaning on. In psychoanalytic terminology, dependence of the infant on the mother…

  • Anabolic steroids

    Synthetic derivatives of testosterone used medically to promote protein anabolism. They can be used to aid in bodybuilding. They sometimes produce an initial sense of well-being replaced after repeated use by lack of energy, irritability, and unhappiness. Continued use may lead to serious complications such as severe depression, outbursts of violence, and liver disease. Synthetic…

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis dementia syndrome

    A type of dementia seen in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurological disease of unknown cause.  

  • Amyloid precursor protein (APP)

    A protein expressed in many tissues and concentrated in the synapses of neurons. Although its primary function is not known, app is most commonly studied as the precursor molecule whose degradation generates the beta-amyloid that appears to be the main constituent of amyloid plaques in the brains of patients with alzheimer’s disease. A (collective) set…