by Bob Trowbridge

Created on: August 27, 2010

A psychosis would seem to have clearly defined boundaries whereas the diagnosis of neurosis can tend to be quite subjective. A psychotic break tends to be clearly defined by the sudden onset of bizarre behavior, hallucinations, delusions, ideas of reference, and other blatant symptoms. A neurosis might be quite mild and increase in severity over time.

I stated above that a psychosis “would seem to have clearly defined boundaries.” That is because the individuals doing the diagnosing are human beings who can easily make mistakes.

In one study, a bunch of normal individuals, some of them graduate students, went into a hospital and described a single symptom that might suggest a psychosis. Every one of them was labeled schizophrenic and hospitalized. While in the hospital they acted completely normal and yet none of the professionals there recognized that they were in fact normal and not schizophrenic. It is said that we often see what we look for.

Neurosis

Diagnosing a neurosis is quite difficult because of its subjectivity. The symptoms vary from one person to another, although some common neuroses are defined. Also, neurotic behavior is on a continuum from barely noticeable to life-altering. Any mentally healthy individual might exhibit some signs of neuroses at various times in their life or have mild neurotic symptoms chronically.

One example of this continuum is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This was popularly displayed in the TV program “Monk.” Symptoms of OCD can include excessive cleanliness (excessive hand-washing, hyper vigilance against germs, etc.) and obsessive repetitive actions such as counting lines in the sidewalk or needing to do things in a specific order.

If most of us examine our own behavior, we may find that we have some mild symptoms of this behavior. I know one man who has to have all of his food on separate plates or must separate them on his plate so they don’t touch each other.

I will feel the need to straighten a crooked picture in someone else’s house. Sometimes I will arrange all of my bills so they are all facing the same way in my wallet.

A neurosis is an excessive focus on some aspect of one’s life. A mild neurosis can be quite harmless. A neurosis becomes a problem when it interferes with the normal functioning of daily life. Phobias are a good example of a neurosis that can be in the normal range, being afraid of snakes or spiders but not excessively so. Or a phobia can prevent

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