"issues" meaning problems

Stephen Goranson goranson at DUKE.EDU
Tue Nov 21 16:00:44 UTC 2006


Quoting Nathan Bierma <nbierm65 at CALVIN.EDU>:

> Can anyone antedate, or shed more light on, the association of "issues" with
> "psychological problems"?
> (I'm not sure how to search ASD-L for this particular meaning; a simple word
> search will yield a flood of irrelevancies, I fear ...)

Since the OED draft entry observes "freq. with modifying word," perhaps try
searches for "intimacy issues," "attachment issues," and the like. For
example,
google books for "intimacy issues" gives a 1981 "intimacy issues within the
group" (in Forms of Brief Therapy) and maybe a 1973 use. "Attachment
issues" in
Children at Risk (1990); Attachment and Psychopathology (1997); Families in
Community Settings (1990), etc. "Have issues with" appears in Mastering
Resistance (1983); Now What Do I Do for Fun? (1985); Lesbian Psychologies
(1987); etc.

Stephen Goranson

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