Acute and chronic psychoses

Psychosis, pl. Psychoses 1. A mental and behavioral disorder causing gross distortion or disorganization of a person's mental capacity, affective response, and capacity to recognize reality, communicate, and relate to others to the degree of interfering with the person's capacity to cope with the ordinary demands of everyday life. The psychoses are divided into two major classifications according to their origins: 1) those associated with organic brain syndromes (e.g., Korsakoff's syndrome); 2) those less strictly organic and having some functional component(s) (e.g., the schizophrenias, bipolar disorder). 2. Generic term for any of the so-called insanities, the most common forms being the schizophrenias. 3. A severe emotional and behavioral disorder.