abulia

[uh-byoo-lee-uh, uh-boo-]

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a symptom of mental disorder involving impairment or loss of volition.

abulia

/ əˈbuːlɪə, -ˈbjuː- /

noun

1. psychiatry a pathological inability to take decisions

Other Word Forms

• abulic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of abulia¹

1840–50; < New Latin, probably not < Greek aboulíā thoughtlessness, but freshly formed from a- ⁶, Greek boulḗ will, -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of abulia¹

C19: New Latin, from Greek aboulia lack of resolution, from _a- ¹ + boulē will

Example Sentences

Some authorities have ascribed abulia to inertia or "low mental tension", some to an overdose of fear and caution, some to the paralyzing effect of suppressed desires still living in the "unconscious".

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When a subject is thrown into a trance, I may expect the hypnotic phenomena known to me: lethargy, abulia, anæsthesia, analgesia, catalepsy, and every kind of 198susceptibility to suggestion.

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In its normal and complete form will culminates in an act; but with wavering characters and sufferers from abulia deliberation never ends, or the resolution remains inert, incapable of realization, of asserting itself in practice.

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So they show a condition of perfect 'abulia,' or inability to will or act.

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We felt much inclined at first to denominate him a case of abulia, but his stubbornness in recalcitrancy led us to change our opinion.

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