Psycholexicology: Psychiatric discourse and nosological entities

Abstract

This paper presents the field of psycholexicology as an area of study concerned with etimology, meaning, and social legitimacy of the terms employed in psychiatric discourse, conceived of as the disciplinary foundation of clinical and research psychiatry. The influence of semantic constraints on structure and usage of psychopathological diagnosis is emphasized. Work in progress related to translation and cultural biases in terminology is briefly described. © 1997 S. Karger AG, Basel.