I attended a talk once by Judith McNutt; she described a disturbed client and then added that he was truly disturbed, ‘he wasn’t just neurotic, like most of us.’ I love listening to her talks, by the way.
That of course got me to thinking about the word neurotic. People use it jokingly, to describe themselves from time to time. And I have too.
So the other day I decided to look it up the word ‘neurotic’ before I go about using it randomly to describe myself, while it was on my mind. It causes strange looks from people at times.
FROM: Dictionary dot com
on “neurotic”
1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of neurosis.
~~~
and on “neurosis”
2. a relatively mild personality disorder typified by excessive anxiety or indecision and a degree of social or interpersonal maladjustment.
FROM Wikipedia
The American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has eliminated the category of “Neurosis”, reflecting a decision by the editors to provide descriptions of behavior as opposed to hidden psychological mechanisms as diagnostic criteria.,[3] and, according to The American Heritage Medical Dictionary, it is “no longer used in psychiatric diagnosis”.[4] These changes to the DSM have been controversial.[5]
So yes, I’m occasionally mildly neurotic. Continue on, please.