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Pseudocyesis
Pseudocyesis Included in DSM-IV as one of the somatoform disorders. It is characterized by a false belief of being pregnant and by the occurrence of signs of being pregnant, such as abdominal enlargement, breast engorgement, and labor pains.
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Abdominal
Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the chest and the pelvis. The abdomen is separated anatomically from the chest by the diaphragm, the powerful muscle spanning the body cavity below the lungs. The abdomen includes a host of organs including the stomach, small intestine, colon, rectum, liver, spleen, pancreas, kidneys, appendix, gallbladder, and bladder. The word "abdomen" has a curious story behind it. It comes from the Latin "abdodere", to hide. The idea was that whatever was eaten was hidden in the abdomen.
Breast
The breast refers to the front of the chest or, more specifically, to the mammary gland. The mammary gland is a milk producing gland. It is composed largely of fat. Within the mammary gland is a complex network of branching ducts. These ducts exit from sac-like structures called lobules, which can produce milk in females. The ducts exit the breast at the nipple.
Engorgement
Swollen and tender breasts, usually beginning between two days and a weekafter childbirth, when a mother's milk comes in. Symptoms usually disappear in a few days when nursing is well established, but breasts can re-engorge during weaning, a sudden nursing strike, or a bout of mastitis, or if the baby's sick.
Labor
The process of childbirth, in which the rhythmic contractions of the uterine muscles open the cervix and allow a baby to be born.
SIMILAR TERMS--------------------------------------
Pseudo-12
Pseudo-12 is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): pseudoephedrine polistirex.
Pseudodementia
A syndrome in which dementia is mimicked or caricatured by a functional psychiatric illness. Symptoms and response of mental status examination questions are similar to those found in verified cases of dementia. In pseudodementia, the chief diagnosis to be considered in the differential is depression in an older person vs. cognitive deterioration on the basis of organic brain disease.
Pseudoephedrine hcl
Pseudoephedrine hcl is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.
Pseudoephedrine hcl and chlorpheniramine maleate
Pseudoephedrine hcl and chlorpheniramine maleate is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): chlorpheniramine maleate; pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.
Pseudoephedrine hcl and triprolidine hcl
Pseudoephedrine hcl and triprolidine hcl is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): pseudoephedrine hydrochloride; triprolidine hydrochloride.
Pseudoephedrine hcl-chlorpheniramine maleate
Pseudoephedrine hcl-chlorpheniramine maleate is a prescription or over-the-counter drug which is (or once was) approved in the United States and possibly in other countries. Active ingredient(s): chlorpheniramine maleate; pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.
Pseudogout
Acute joint inflammation caused by crystals of calcium pyrophosphate.
Pseudohermaphrodite
Synonym for hermaphrodite when the gonads are either both testes or both ovaries.
Pseudohermaphroditism
Hermaphroditism. The prefix was once used to denote the fact that the gonads were not hermaphroditically mixed (ovarian plus testicular tissue) as in true hermaphroditism, but were either testicular (male pseudohermaphroditism) or ovarian (female pseudohermaphroditism). In modern usage, the preferred terms are male, female, and true hermaphroditism. Agonadal hermaphroditism is a fourth form.
Pseudomembranous colitis
Severe irritation of the colon caused by Clostridium difficile bacteria. Occurs after taking oral antibiotics, which kill bacteria that normally live in the colon.
Pseudostrabismus
A child's eyes appear to be out-of-alignment, and usually one eye appears to turn in. In infants this appearance is especially noticeable when there is excessive skin on either side of the nose that covers the inner corner of each eye. As the child looks to one side, part of the eye disappears under this skin and looks crossed. This condition is common in Asian - Americans.
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Primary process
In psychoanalytic theory, the generally unorganized mental activity characteristic of the unconscious. This activity is marked by the free discharge of energy and excitation without regard to the demands of environment, reality, or logic.
Prodrome
An early or premonitory sign or symptom of a disorder.
Projection
A defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, in which what is emotionally unacceptable in the self is unconsciously rejected and attributed (projected) to others.
Projective identification
A term introduced by Melanie Klein to refer to the unconscious process of projection of one or more parts of the self or of the internal object into another person (such as the mother). What is projected may be an intolerable, painful, or dangerous part of the self or object (the bad object). It may also be a valued aspect of the self or object (the good object) that is projected into the other person for safekeeping. The other person is changed by the projection and is dealt with as though he or she is in fact characterized by the aspects of the self that have been projected.
Projective tests
Psychological diagnostic tests in which the test material is unstructured so that any response will reflect a projection of some aspect of the subject's underlying personality and psychopathology.
Pseudocyesis
Pseudodementia
A syndrome in which dementia is mimicked or caricatured by a functional psychiatric illness. Symptoms and response of mental status examination questions are similar to those found in verified cases of dementia. In pseudodementia, the chief diagnosis to be considered in the differential is depression in an older person vs. cognitive deterioration on the basis of organic brain disease.
Psychomotor retardation
Visible generalized slowing of movements and speech.
Psychosexual development
A series of stages from infancy to adulthood, relatively fixed in time, determined by the interaction between a person's biological drives and the environment. With resolution of this interaction, a balanced, reality-oriented development takes place; with disturbance, fixation and conflict ensue. This disturbance may remain latent or give rise to characterological or behavioral disorders.
Psychotropic medication
Medication that affects thought processes or feeling states.
Pavlovian conditioning
Elicitation of a response by a stimulus that normally does not elicit that response. The response is one that is mediated primarily by the autonomic nervous system (such as salivation or a change in heart rate). A previously neutral stimulus is repeatedly presented just before an unconditioned stimulus that normally elicits that response. When the response subsequently occurs in the presence of the previously neutral stimulus, it is called a conditioned response, and the previously neutral stimulus, a conditioned stimulus.
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