Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety
Published on: January 20, 2012
Abstract:
Pierre Janet's Lés Obsessions et la Psychasthénie, Vol. 1 (1903) still stands as the most authoritative work on obsessional and related disorders yet written, but it remains unavailable to an English readership. This article presents an English synopsis of the French original. Janet considers the central problem to be a special mental state which he terms psychasthenia, entailing low psychological tension and an impotence of adaptation to reality. Especially affected are the reality functions of attention, volition, and present-related emotion. Their failure leads through diversion of mental energy to the forced agitations, i.e., mental manias, ruminations, tics, phobias, and anxiety. Obsessions are a late and variable development, when present they symbolize the underlying mental state of incompleteness. The full significance of Janet's contribution may have yet to be established by developments in the neurosciences.
Related Concept Videos
Psychosis and Antipsychotic Drugs: Overview
Psychosis: Goals of Pharmacotherapy
Anxiety: Overview
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
Panic Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Personality Disorders: Dependent and Obsessive-Compulsive
Dependent Personality Disorder
Dependent personality disorder is characterized by an excessive reliance on others to manage various aspects of life. Individuals with this disorder often struggle with...

