psykiska

Psykiska is a Swedish adjective related to the mind or mental phenomena. It is used to describe processes, states, and aspects that pertain to psychology, cognition, emotion, and perception. In everyday language it can refer to normal mental life as well as to mental health and disorders. Common phrases include psykiska problem (psychological problems), psykiska sjukdomar (mental illnesses), and psykiska tillstånd (psychological states).

Etymology and usage notes: The term is derived from the word for the psyche or soul, rooted in the Greek psykhē and carried into modern Swedish through the broader family of words about mind and behavior. The suffix -ska forms the Swedish adjective, yielding psykiska, psykiskt, or psykisk depending on grammar. The word is closely related to the field of psychology and to related terms such as psykologisk (psychological) and psykolog (psychologist), though psykiska can also appear in non-scientific contexts to refer to phenomena attributed to the mind.

Parapsychology and popular usage: In non-scientific contexts or fiction, psykiska krafter (psychic powers) or psykiska förmågor denotes alleged abilities like telepathy or clairvoyance. Such uses lie outside mainstream scientific consensus and are typically discussed under parapsychology or in cultural representations rather than clinical psychology. The everyday, clinically oriented sense of psykiska remains focused on mental processes, mental health, and conditions affecting the psyche.

In summary, psykiska functions as a broad Swedish term for anything pertaining to the mind or psychological life, with specialized use in clinical and scholarly contexts and broader, cultural use in discussions of paranormal or fictional phenomena.