Category: S
-

Scotophobia
The fear of darkness.
-
Scopophilia
Sexual pleasure derived from looking at another person’s body or sexual organs. The derivation of sexual pleasure from visual sources such as nudity and obscene pictures.
-
Schools of psychiatry
The various theoretical frames of reference that influence and determine psychiatrists’ formulations of mental disorders and methods of treatment. Most commonly, the schools explain how psychiatric symptoms or disorders develop, how they interfere with functioning, and how and why they can be altered by therapeutic interventions.
-
Schizotaxia
A term first used in 1962 by paul meehl to describe a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. The term has been used to describe a variety of negative symptoms and neuropsychological deficits present in 20%–50% of first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia. According to Meehl, a possibly inherited neurological impairment resulting in an inability to integrate…
-
Schizophreniform disorder
Clinical features are the same as those seen in schizophrenia, but the duration is less than that required for a diagnosis of schizophrenia (e.g., 6 months). This disorder is believed to have different correlates than schizophrenia, including a better prognosis. An acute onset disorder with symptoms identical to those of schizophrenia, but whose duration is…
-
Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
In dsm-iv-tr, a group of mental disorders that includes schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, shared psychotic disorder, psychotic disorder due to a general medical condition, substance-induced psychotic disorder, and psychotic disorder not otherwise specified.
-
Schizoaffective disorder
A psychotic disorder in which either a major depressive or a manic episode develops concurrently with the symptoms of schizophrenia. Although mood episodes are present for a substantial portion of the psychotic disturbance, there are also periods of delusions or hallucinations in the absence of prominent mood symptoms. A depressive or manic syndrome that precedes…
-
Schema
The mental structure we use to organize and simplify our knowledge of the world around us. Schemas affect what we notice, how we interpret things, and how we make decisions and act. According to Piaget, a mental pattern.
-
Savella
Brand name for the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressant drug milnacipran.
-
Satyriasis
Pathological or exaggerated sexual drive or excitement in a man; known as nymphomania in women. May be of psychological or organic etiology. A male suffering from an uncontrollable urge for sexual gratification. An obsessive sexual urge in a man. Excessive and uncontrollable sexual desire in a male. An extreme degree of promiscuous heterosexual activity in…