PSYCHONEUROSES. - Term first used by Dubois (1904) to denote, within the broad group of neuroses, those forms in which mental representations play a predominant role.
Most authors use the terms "neurosis" and "psychoneurosis" interchangeably as synonyms; only psychoanalysts reserve the term psychoneurosis for particular forms termed "transference neuroses" (v. PSYCHOTHERAPY).
Disregarding the many varieties encountered in the various modern classifications, it may be said that psychoneurosis, which arises without an abnormal personality and without a sufficient psychogenic cause, can be designated by the generic concept of "disease," in parallel with psychosis. Thus, one may speak of hysterical, obsessive, neurasthenic (with four varieties: simple, psychic, phobic, hypochondriacal), and dysphoric psychoneurosis (with two varieties: pseudoneurasthenic melancholia in dysphoric individuals of the depressive type, and anxiety psychoneurosis in anxious dysphorics). Pure forms may combine into mixed psychoneuroses, e.g.: anxiety and alarm, hystero-neurasthenic, obsessive-anxiety, alarm and compulsion, etc.
For the symptomatology and differential diagnosis of the various forms of psychoneurosis, see the respective entries.
A form of great importance from the medico-legal standpoint is compensation psychoneurosis (or accident psychoneurosis), Rentenneurose, which is a mediated post-traumatic psychogenic syndrome whose clinical profile, with vindictive representations, may justify a nosography of symptoms. In this condition, the importance of psychic or somatic trauma is generally considered entirely secondary to the insurance situation of the injured party; the vast majority of injured persons would not present a post-traumatic syndrome if they were not insured. An important factor is the influence of the premorbid personality. Symptomatologically, neurasthenic, hysterical (psychogenic pseudodementia), hypochondriacal (with equitable-ruminative attitudes), and mixed forms are observed. At times, the differential diagnosis from a psychoneurotic condition can be very difficult. The condition generally disappears rapidly once the injured party has obtained compensation.
Regarding moral imputability, see PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITIES.