Pathosis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A condition characterized by suffering, disease, or emotional distress that affects the body or mind
2. A medical condition that signifies both physical illness and psychological distress impacting overall health and well-being
3. A state of illness or disorder that involves both physiological dysfunction and psychological suffering influencing health

Etymology: "Pathosis" is built from "path-", the combining form of Greek "pathos" meaning suffering, feeling or experience, and the suffix "-osis", which in medical terms denotes a diseased or abnormal condition. Put together, the pieces describe a condition of disorder brought about by suffering, which is exactly the sense the word carries: a state in which bodily malfunction and emotional distress feed into one another. The suffix is the more familiar part of the story. "-osis" comes from Greek nouns of action and state, and English medicine adopted it widely to name conditions, so that words such as "neurosis" and "fibrosis" follow the same pattern. Attaching it to "path-" gives the word a clinical ring while keeping the original Greek notion of suffering at its core. Here the emphasis falls on the mind and body acting on each other, a relationship that the older Greek word itself already gestured toward.

Synonyms: disease, disorder