obsession

obsession
n.
a recurrent thought, feeling, or action that is unpleasant and provokes anxiety but cannot be got rid of. Although an obsession dominates the person, he (or she) realizes its senselessness and struggles to resist it: this resistance causes anxiety. The obsession may be a vivid image, a thought, a fear (for example, of contamination), or an impulse (for example, to wash the hands repetitively). It is a feature of obsessive–compulsive disorder (see also neurosis) and sometimes of depression and of organic states, such as encephalitis. It can be treated with behaviour therapy and antidepressant medication.
See also: anankastic
Derivatives:
obsessional adj.

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  • Obsession — Obsession …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • obsession — [ ɔpsesjɔ̃ ] n. f. • 1590; « siège » XVe; lat. obsessio 1 ♦ Vx État d une personne qu un démon obsède. On distinguait obsession et possession. ♢ (1690) Vx Action d importuner, d obséder; son résultat. « Il insistait, le lardait d une obsession de …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Obsession — Ob*ses sion, n. [L. obsessio: cf. F. obsession.] 1. The act of besieging. [archaic] Johnson. [1913 Webster] 2. The state of being besieged; used specifically of a person beset by a spirit from without. [archaic] Tylor. [1913 Webster] Whether by… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • obsession — Obsession. s. f. v. L action de celuy qui obsede. Il ne le quitte point, il ne s est jamais veu une pareille obsession …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Obsession — (lat.), Besessenheit, Besessensein; vgl. Besessene …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • obsession — I noun absorption, application, attraction, compulsion, craze, crotchet, dominating action, engrossment, exclusive attention, fanaticism, fancy, fascination, fetish, fixation, fixed idea, immersion, infatuation, irresistible impulse, mania,… …   Law dictionary

  • obsession — (n.) 1510s, action of besieging, from L. obsessionem (nom. obsessio) siege, noun of action from pp. stem of obsidere to besiege (see OBSESS (Cf. obsess)). Later, hostile action of an evil spirit (like possession but without the spirit actually… …   Etymology dictionary

  • obsession — [n] fixation; consumption with belief, desire attraction, ax to grind*, bug in ear*, case*, complex, compulsion, concrete idea, craze*, crush, delusion, enthusiasm, fancy, fascination, fetish, hang up*, idée fixe, infatuation, mania, monkey*,… …   New thesaurus

  • obsession — ► NOUN 1) the state of being obsessed. 2) an idea or thought that intrudes on someone s mind. DERIVATIVES obsessional adjective …   English terms dictionary

  • obsession — [əb sesh′ən] n. [L obsessio] 1. the act of an evil spirit in possessing or ruling a person 2. a) the fact or state of being obsessed with an idea, desire, emotion, etc. b) such a persistent idea, desire, emotion, etc., esp. one that cannot be… …   English World dictionary

  • Obsession — Contents 1 Literature 2 Film 3 Television 4 Music …   Wikipedia

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