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Mental Health Support

drm604

(16,230 posts)

1. Psychiatrists are sometime called headshrinkers.

Reply to mdmc (Original post)

Sat Feb 25, 2012, 11:05 PM

Feb 2012

"Shrink" is simply a shortening of that.

"Headshrinker" of course comes from head hunters who shrank heads.

I don't know how "headshrinker" came to be a slang term for psychiatrists, but obviously it relates to the fact that they work with peoples' minds, which physically reside in their heads.

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Anyone know why psychiatrists are called shrinks? [View all] mdmc Feb 2012 OP

Psychiatrists are sometime called headshrinkers. drm604 Feb 2012 #1

From what I found on the google: Neoma Feb 2012 #2

OED aikoaiko Feb 2012 #3

I'll take a shot at it libodem Feb 2012 #4