Neurosis, << nu ROH sihs, >> is a general term for a relatively mild type of mental illness. Symptoms of neurosis–which include anxiety, depression, and unreasonable fears–are usually distressing but not totally disabling. Psychiatrists once used the term as a formal category of mental disorders. Conditions formerly categorized as neuroses are now known by more specific terms. The revolutionary psychological theories of Austrian physician Sigmund Freud included the concept of neurosis as a disorder caused by conflict between conscious and unconscious impulses.
