What It Means
is a scientific medical term.
Doctors use it to describe a group of disorders
which affect the patient’s feelings or emotions.
A patient with a psychoneurosis has such
symptoms as marked nervousness, loss of
self-confidence, indigestion, trouble sleeping,
poor appetite, aches, and pains. In the more
unusual cases it may even affect temporarily
the use of an arm or leg or the ability to see.
Like almost any other disorder, a psycho-
neurosis may be mild or severe. It may last
a few weeks. It can last for years. This
depends on the circumstances. It depends
a lot on the patient, too.
That’s where your job comes in to a large
extent.
Psychoneurosis is always a reaction to
stress or to difficult situations. Any given
situation will produce some sort of reaction
in you. If the stress is too great, or the
situation too difficult, it may produce abnormal
reactions in you. If these abnormal reactions