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obsession

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obsession

Psychiatry a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

obsession

[əb′sesh·ən]
(psychology)
Persistence of or anxious preoccupation with an idea or emotion recognized as unreasonable by the individual.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive
Studies seem to show that the prognosis of obsessional illness is worse than for other neurotic illness.
The amalgamation of Freud's (1896) description of an 'an obsessional idea which appears absurd', existing alongside a 'normal intellectual outcome' (p.
The effects of contamination and washing on obsessional patients.
Highly religious individuals are a naturalistic group for studying the effects of guilt on the frequency and control of UITs and obsessional symptoms.
The texts escalated from being work-orientated to being personal and, I believe, rather obsessional.
Today's computer has magnified the problem, becoming the all-purpose "Swiss Army knife" of the obsessional character.
The behavioral theory of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suggests that obsessions produce anxiety--and/or other forms of distress, such as disgust--and compulsions reduce obsessional anxiety.
Joining him on the team are Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), the daughter of a high-powered diplomat who recently joined the team and must prove her worth to Hotchner and Special Agent Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), an expert on obsessional crimes; Special Agent Dr.
"In the next four years we need to have a real obsessional focus on performance," he said.
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