(しんけいしょう)

しんけいしょう
noun
neurosis; anxiety disorder
1. neurosis; anxiety disorder
A category of mental health conditions characterized by anxiety, obsessive thoughts, phobias, or compulsive behaviors, without loss of contact with reality. The traditional Japanese psychiatric term, now partially replaced by more specific diagnostic labels.
神経症(しんけいしょう)診断(しんだん)された。
I was diagnosed with neurosis.
(つよ)いストレスが神経症(しんけいしょう)原因(げんいん)になることがある。
Intense stress can be a cause of neurosis.
神経症(しんけいしょう)適切(てきせつ)治療(ちりょう)改善(かいぜん)することが(おお)い。
Neurosis often improves with appropriate treatment.

A compound of 神経(しんけい) (nerve, nervous) and (しょう) (condition, disease). Historically a broad category in Japanese psychiatry that included anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias. Modern psychiatry increasingly uses more specific terms.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 神経症(しんけいしょう)症状(しょうじょう): symptoms of neurosis
  • 不安(ふあん)神経症(しんけいしょう): anxiety neurosis
  • 強迫(きょうはく)神経症(しんけいしょう): obsessive-compulsive neurosis (now more commonly 強迫性(きょうはくせい)障害(しょうがい))
  • 神経症(しんけいしょう)(てき): neurotic

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • ノイローゼ: neurosis — loanword from German (Neurose), commonly used in everyday conversation
  • 不安(ふあん)障害(しょうがい): anxiety disorder — the modern clinical replacement term
  • 精神(せいしん)障害(しょうがい): mental disorder — a broader category
  • 心身症(しんしんしょう): psychosomatic disorder — physical symptoms caused by psychological stress

USAGE:
In everyday Japanese, ノイローゼ is often used more casually (育児(いくじ)ノイローゼ, "parenting neurosis"), while 神経症(しんけいしょう) appears in clinical and formal contexts.

Related Words