Organic Disorder

Disorder caused by a known pathological condition.

In general, any disorder that is caused by a known pathological condition of an organic structure may be categorized as an organic disorder, or more specifically, as an organic mental disorder, or a psychological disorder. An example is delirium, a disorder that is caused by a known physical dysfunction of the brain. Most psychologists and psychiatrists now believe that virtually all serious, or psychotic, mental disorders will eventually be proven to have an organic cause. Consequently, many psychologists and psychiatrists prefer not to use the term organic mental disorder because the term implies that those disorders which have not yet been shown to have an organic cause do not have an organic cause, and that functional disorders (a term that has often been contrasted with the term organic disorders) have no organic causal component.