ALGOPSYCHALIA

algopsychalia: translation

Also known aspsychalgia, phrenalgia, mind pain, soul pain, psychic pain, andpsychogenic pain. The term algopsychalia comes from the Greek wordsalgos(pain) andpsuchè(life breath, spirit, soul, mind). It translates loosely as 'mental pain'. It refers to a bodily sensation of pain that is recognized by the individual as being mental rather than physical in origin. Algopsychalia tends to be classified as a *psychogenic hallucination or as a variant of * sensory conversion. Conceptually, it is related to * hallucinated pain. However, it should not be confused with pain syndromes such as *allodynia, *dysaesthesia, *paraesthesia, and * hyperpathia.

VandenBos, G.R., ed. (2007).APA dictionary of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.