prepsychotic

[pree-sahy-kot-ik]

adjective

1. exhibiting behavior that indicates the approach of a psychotic reaction.

Word History and Origins

Origin of prepsychotic¹

First recorded in 1925–30; pre- + psychotic

Example Sentences

Getting young people into a preventive program while they are still in the prepsychotic stage is critical to success.

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But they never return to their prepsychotic levels of functioning. 

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As a result of such data, psychiatrists such as William T. Carpenter, Jr., of the University of Maryland, who chairs the Psychotic Disorders Work Group for DSM-5, believe that intervening at a prepsychotic stage could ameliorate and even thwart this serious mental illness in a large number of people.

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