dictionary help| compulsion | medical dictionary |
Uncontrollable thoughts or impulses to perform an act, often repetitively, as an unconscious mechanism to avoid unacceptable ideas and desires which, by themselves, arouse anxiety; the anxiety becomes fully manifest if performance of the compulsive act is prevented; may be associated with obsessive thoughts.
Origin: L. Com-pello pp. -pulsus, to drive together, compel
(05 Mar 2000)
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