Latent mental disorders. Violation of the human psyche, symptoms, treatment, types, causes

Mental disorders are a condition characterized by mental and behavioral changes in a destructive direction.

The term has several interpretations, both in the field of jurisprudence and in psychiatry or psychology, which introduces ambiguity into its meaning.

ICD (International Classification of Diseases) does not distinguish this disorder as a mental or mental illness.

The term rather bears a general assessment of various disorders of the human psyche.

Psychiatry notes that it is not always possible to identify biological, social or medical signs of mental disorders. Only a few mental problems have arisen due to a physical disorder of the body.

Risk factors

Each mental disorder of an individual can arise both due to a change in the structure, and due to a violation of the normal functioning of the brain.

The reasons that influence this are divided into the following groups:

1. Exogenous. It is customary to refer to this category any external factor that affects a person: be it various industrial toxins, narcotic drugs, microorganisms or brain injuries, which, among other things, could be caused by a disease.
2. Endogenous. This category includes immanent factors, which included in their composition violations of the set of chromosomes, gene diseases, hereditary diseases.

It is impossible to scientifically explain many more mental disorders. Every 4th has a tendency to mental disorders and behavioral variability.

The main factors provoking the considered pathologies are usually attributed to the biological and psychological influence of the environment.

The disorder can be genetically transmitted regardless of gender. Psychological factors combined heredity, as well as the impact of the environment, which can lead to personality disorders.

Instilling a false sense of family values ​​among children increases the chances of developing mental disorders.

Psychiatric disorders are the most common among patients with diabetes mellitus, vascular diseases of the brain, infectious diseases, as well as those who have experienced a stroke.

Alcohol dependence can deprive a person of a sane state, violating the mental and physical functions of the body.

Symptoms of the disease can also appear in the case of regular use of psychoactive drugs that affect the nervous system.

Autumn exacerbations or personal troubles can lead any person to mild depression. It is for this reason that vitamins are recommended in the fall.

Classification

To make it easier to diagnose, the World Health Organization has classified mental pathologies, which are usually grouped as follows:

1. A condition caused by various kinds of organic damage to the brain. This category includes disorders caused by brain injuries, strokes, or systemic diseases. Cognitive functions are impaired, symptoms such as hallucinations, emotional variability, and delusions occur.
2. A permanent mental change caused by excessive use of alcohol or drugs. This group includes pathologies that were caused by the influence of psychoactive drugs, as well as sedatives, hypnotics, hallucinogenic substances.
3. Schizophrenia and schizotypal disorders. Symptoms manifest themselves in the form of a sharp change in character, the commission of illogical and ridiculous acts, changes in interests and the emergence of uncharacteristic hobbies, a drop in efficiency. An individual can completely lose the state of sanity and perception of the events around him. If the symptoms are mild or borderline, then the patient is diagnosed with schizotypal disorder.
4. Affective disorders are a group of disorders that manifest as mood swings. The brightest representative of the category is bipolar disorder. This group also includes manias with a variety of psychotic disorders and stable forms of these disorders are considered to be
5. Phobias and neuroses. It is customary to include various neurotic disorders in this group, including a panic attack, a paranoid state, neurosis, a chronic stress state, various phobias and somatic deviations. The classification includes specific and situational types of phobias.
6. Behavioral syndromes, including physiological problems. This group includes a variety of types of disorders related to nutrition, sleep and sexual dysfunctions..
7. Disorders of personality and behavior. This group included many states, including problems of identification by gender, sexual preferences, habits and attraction.

   Specific personality disorders include a persistent change in behavior as a reaction to a social or personal situation. Such conditions include paranoid, schizoid, dissocial personality disorder symptoms.

8. Mental retardation. This category includes congenital conditions characterized by mental retardation. These manifestations reduce intellectual functions such as speech, thinking, attention, memory and social adaptation functions.

   The disorder can be mild, moderate, moderate and severe, which is characterized by overt clinical manifestations. These conditions are based on possible fetal injuries during childbirth, developmental delays inside the womb, genetic predispositions, and attention deficit at an early age.

9. Developmental disorders of the psyche. This category included speech pathologies, delays in skills acquisition, learning, motor function, and psychological developmental problems. The condition appears in childhood and is often caused by brain damage. It proceeds evenly, without deterioration and remission.
10. Disorders related to activity and attention. This group also includes hyperkinetic pathologies. Symptoms appear in adolescents or children as attention problems. Children show hyperactivity, disobedience, sometimes aggression.

Symptoms

Mental pathologies have the following symptoms, divided into groups of signs.

1. Group 1 - hallucinations

   Hallucinations include an imaginary perception that is not caused by an external object. Such perceptions can be verbal, visual, tactile, gustatory and olfactory.

   • Verbal (auditory) hallucinations are manifested by separate words, songs, music, phrases that the patient hears. Often words can be in the nature of a threat or an order that is difficult to resist.
   • visual can be manifested by the appearance of silhouettes, objects, pictures and full-fledged films.
   • Tactile hallucination is perceived as a sensation on the body of foreign beings or objects, as well as their movement through the body and limbs.
   • Taste hallucination characterized by a sense of taste, as if the patient had bitten something.
   • Olfactory hallucination manifested by the flair of aromas, usually disgusting.

They can manifest themselves in a wide variety of cases and are a symptom of psychosis. They can occur both in schizophrenia and in case of poisoning with alcohol or other toxic substances. It is also possible manifestation in case of brain damage or in senile psychosis.

2. Group 2 - symptoms of impaired thinking

   This group of symptoms includes pathologies of thought processes, it includes: obsessive, delusional and overvalued ideas.

   • Obsessions include conditions that occur against the will of the patient. The patient evaluates standing critically and tries to cope with it. Obsessive thoughts are characterized by inconsistency with the patient's worldview. An obsession occurs in the case of a neurotic state or schizophrenia.
     • obsessive doubt is manifested by regular uncertainty in the actions and actions performed, exists contrary to reasonable logic;
     • the patient can repeatedly check whether electrical appliances are turned on, whether the doors are locked;
     • obsessive memory is manifested by a regular reminder to oneself of an unpleasant fact or event;
     • an obsessive abstract idea is manifested by scrolling in thoughts of incoherent concepts, numbers and operations with them.
   • Overvalued ideas. They manifest as logically supported beliefs based on realistic situations that are associated with personal characteristics and emotionally charged. Such ideas push the patient to narrowly focused actions, which often contributes to his maladjustment. At the same time, critical thinking is preserved, so it is possible to correct ideas.
   • Crazy ideas. By them is meant a false idea that arises against the background of mental disorders and does not correspond to reality. Such judgments are not criticized, therefore they are fully immersed in the patient's consciousness, changing the activity and reducing the patient's social adaptation.
3. Group 3 - signs of emotional disturbance
   

   Here various types of emotional disturbances are grouped, reflecting the human attitude to reality and to oneself personally.

   The human body has a close relationship with the external environment, which leads to constant exposure to stimuli from the outside.

   Such an impact can be both emotionally positive and negative or cause uncertainty. Emotions are newly arisen (hypothymic, hyperthymic and parathymic) or lost.

   1. hypothymia manifested by a decrease in mood in the form of a test of anxiety, fears, feelings of longing or confusion.
      • Yearning is a state that depresses any mental processes of a person. The whole environment is painted in gloomy tones.

        Activity decreases, there is a strong expression of doom. There is a feeling that life is meaningless.
        There is a high risk of suicide. Longing manifests itself in cases of neurosis and manic-depressive psychosis.

      • Anxiety- internal restlessness, tightness and excessive tension in the chest. Usually accompanied by a sense of impending disaster.
      • Fear This is a condition that causes fear for one's own life and well-being. The patient may, at the same time, not realize what he is really afraid of and be in a state of expectation that something bad will happen to him.

        Some will seek to escape, some become overwhelmed, freezing in place. Fear can be certain. In this case, the person is aware of the cause of fear (cars, animals, other people).

      • Confusion. In this state, there is a variability of the emotional background along with the manifestation of bewilderment.
   2. Hypothymic states do not have specificity and can occur in various conditions.
   3. Hyperthymia - excessively good mood. Such conditions appear euphoria, complacency, ecstasy, anger.
      • - causeless joy, happiness. In this state, there is often a desire to do something. It manifests itself with the use of alcohol or drugs, as well as with manic-depressive psychosis.
      • Ecstasy is characterized by the highest degree of mood enhancement. It occurs in patients with schizophrenia or epilepsy.
      • Complacency - a state of carelessness with a lack of desire for action. Most often occurs in senile dementia or atrophic processes of the brain.
      • Anger. The state is irritability of the highest level, anger with the manifestation of aggressive, destructive activity. When combined with longing, it is called dysphoria. The condition is typical for patients with epilepsy.

   All the types of emotional states described above can occur in a perfectly healthy person in everyday life: the main factor here is the number of manifestations, intensity and influence on further activity.

4. Group 4 - symptoms of memory impairment
   

The fourth group contains symptoms of memory problems. These include a decrease in memory function or their complete loss, the inability to remember, retain and reproduce individual events or information.

They are divided into paramnesia (memory deception) and amnesia (memory loss)

5. Group 5 - signs of violation of volitional activity

   Volitional disorders include such types of violations as hypobulia (expressed by a weakening of volitional activity), (lack of activity), as well as parabulia (perversion of volitional acts).

   1. Hypobulia is characterized by a decrease in the intensity and number of actions that encourage activity. It can be manifested by the suppression of individual instincts, for example, food, sexual or defensive, which leads to anorexia, decreased libido and the absence of protective actions against the threat, respectively. Usually observed in neurosis, depressive states. More persistent conditions occur in some cases of brain damage, as well as schizophrenia and dementia.
   2. The opposite symptom is hyperbulia, which is expressed by a painful increase in volitional activity. A similar unhealthy desire for activity occurs in the case of manic-depressive psychosis, dementia and some types of psychopathy.
6. Group 6 - signs of attention disorder

The sixth group of symptoms includes signs of absent-mindedness, distractibility, exhaustion and stiffness.

1. distraction. In this state, a person is not able to focus on one type of activity.
2. Exhaustibility. Such a violation of attention leads to a weakening of focus on a particular process. As a result, it becomes impossible to perform work productively.
3. Distractibility. Such a manifestation leads to a frequent and unreasonable change of activity, and as a result, to a loss of productivity.
4. stiffness. It becomes difficult for a person to switch attention from one object to another.

The described pathologies almost always occur in cases of mental illness.

Public reaction

Most people tend to avoid contact with people suffering from mental disorders, most often the reason for this is stereotypes.

At the same time, there are many options for deviations that create problems for the patient, but not for the people around him. Only some pathologies lead to antisocial behavior and violation of laws. In this case, the person is recognized as insane and sent to compulsory therapy.

Old stereotypes nurture complexes in people that do not allow visiting psychotherapists, as is customary in Western culture. No one can be immune from mental disorders, so do not ignore specialists who can help overcome a psychological problem.

With the timely provision of proper medical care, the severe and sometimes irreversible impact of mental illness on a person can be avoided.

Documentary film on the topic: “Psyche and mental disorders. Genius or disease.

Psychological disorders are various disorders of the human psyche, caused by a number of biological, social or psychological factors. Individuals subject to mental disorders cannot adapt to the existing conditions of life, independently solve their problems. It can be difficult for such people to recover from the failures that have befallen them. There are signs of inadequacy in their thinking, actions and behavior.

A mental disorder is a painful condition characterized by various destructive changes in the individual's psyche. There are many mental disorders, but they all manifest themselves in different ways. Individuals prone to psychological disorders have absurd ideas, they think inappropriately, behave, and react incorrectly to various events. Some types of mental illness cause somatic disorders.

Mental illnesses are more common in women than in men. This is due to a large number of provoking factors in the representatives of the weak half of humanity (pregnancy, childbirth, menopause).

In a state of mental disorder, an individual, unlike a healthy person, cannot cope with ordinary everyday problems and properly perform his professional tasks. Mental disorders affect the thinking, mental

Types of psychological disorders

Types and characteristics of mental disorders:

1. Organic mental disorders. They are usually caused by organic diseases of the brain. Mental disorders are possible after a concussion, head injury, stroke, various systemic diseases. An individual has destructive changes that negatively affect memory, thinking, and hallucinations, delusional thoughts, and mood swings appear.
2. Mental and behavioral dysfunctions associated with the use of alcohol and psychotropic drugs. Violations are caused by the use of psychoactive substances, which are not drugs. These include sleeping pills, sedatives, hallucinogenic drugs.
3. Schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional states. Mental illnesses that affect the psycho-emotional state of the individual. The individual commits illogical acts, he is insane, does not understand what is happening around. The individual has reduced working capacity and social adaptation.
4. affective disorders. The disease leads to a deterioration in mood. Manifestations of the disorder: bipolar affective disorder, mania, depression, cyclothymia, as well as dysthymia and others.
5. Mental disorders provoked by a stressful situation. Neurosis, panic attacks, fears, phobias, constant stress, paranoia. The individual has fears of various objects or phenomena.
6. Behavioral disorders caused by physical and physiological factors. Various mental disorders associated with eating and eating food (overeating, anorexia), as well as problems with sleep and sex.
7. Behavioral and personality disorders of adulthood. Problems with gender identity, sexual disorders (pedophilia, sadomasochism), pathological gambling addiction, bad habits.
8. Mental retardation. A congenital condition that manifests itself as a delay in the development of the personality. The individual's thinking process, memory, and adaptation in society are deteriorating. The disorder develops due to a genetic predisposition or problems during pregnancy and childbirth.
9. Disorders in psychological development. Manifested in the form of problems with speech, a slowdown in the overall development of the individual, a delay in motor functions and a reduced ability to learn. Problems appear in early childhood and are associated with brain damage.
10. Violations that are characteristic of childhood and adolescence. Naughty, hyperactive, aggressive, trouble concentrating.

In 20 percent of the earth's population, disorders associated with various kinds of phobias appear throughout their lives. True, fear sometimes arises as a reaction to a threatening situation. Another common mental disorder is depression. It occurs in 7 percent of the female half of the world's population and 3 percent of the male. At least once in a lifetime, every inhabitant of the planet suffers from depression.

Schizophrenia is a common disorder in human thinking and behavior. People affected by this disease are often depressed and try to isolate themselves from public life.

Mental disorders of adulthood are manifested in the form of alcohol dependence, sexual deviations, irrational behavior. True, many of them are dictated by the psychological trauma of childhood and adolescence.

Symptoms of mental disorders

The main manifestations of all kinds of mental disorders are violations of mental activity, psycho-emotional state, behavioral reactions, which significantly go beyond the existing orders and ethical standards. People who suffer from psychological disorders have various disorders of a physical, cognitive, emotional nature. For example, a person may feel too happy or, conversely, destitute, which is not entirely consistent with the events taking place around him.

Various mental illnesses have their own characteristics. The clinical manifestations of the same disorder can vary from person to person. Depending on the severity of the individual's condition and violations in his behavior,

The main symptoms of mental disorders:

1. Asthenic syndrome.

The individual has severe fatigue, exhaustion, decreased performance. This condition is characterized by instability of mood, increased irritability, sentimentality, tearfulness. Asthenia is accompanied by constant headaches, sleep problems. An asthenic symptom is observed with a variety of mental disorders, as well as after suffering infectious diseases or with fatigue.

2. Obsession.

People, regardless of their will, have obsessive experiences, anxieties, fears, phobias. Unjustified doubts plague the individual. He tortures himself with baseless suspicions. In contact with a frightening situation or phenomenon, a person experiences nervous tension. Obsessive fears cause the individual to act irrationally, for example, being afraid of germs to constantly wash their hands.

3. Affective syndrome.

It manifests itself in the form of persistent mood changes (depression, mania). This symptom usually occurs at the beginning of a mental illness. Subsequently, it remains predominant throughout the illness or is complicated by other mental disorders.

Depression is characterized by a feeling of depression, decreased physical activity, pain in the heart. In this state, the individual speaks slowly, thinks poorly, cannot understand the essence of what he has read or heard. The individual develops weakness, lethargy, lethargy. During a person's depression, despair, hopelessness. Sometimes an individual has suicidal thoughts.

The manic state, on the contrary, is characterized by increased optimism, cheerfulness and carelessness. A person has a huge number of plans and ideas. He is too lively, mobile, talkative. In a manic state, people experience an excess of energy, a creative upsurge, an increase in intellectual activity and efficiency. However, subsequently, hyperactivity can lead to rash, inadequate actions, which affects the state of the individual. In place of a cheerful mood comes anger and irascibility.

4. Senestopathy.

Manifested in the form of discomfort throughout the body. A person feels tingling, pain, burning, tightness, but all these symptoms are not associated with internal diseases of the organs. It seems to the individual that some force is squeezing his throat or something is rustling under the ribs.

5. Hypochondriacal syndrome.

A person constantly seems to be sick with something. The individual feels discomfort, although in fact he does not have any pathologies. Hypochondria often develops against the background of a depressive state.

6. Illusion.

When an individual has illusions, he perceives real things erroneously. Such a visual disorder may be caused by lighting features or other optical phenomena. For example, under water, all things seem larger than in reality. In a dark time, the silhouettes of objects can be mistaken for monsters.

7. Hallucination.

Mental disorders lead to the fact that the individual sees, hears and feels things that do not happen in reality. Hallucinations can be visual, olfactory, auditory, tactile. Auditory are different in content: an individual hears someone's voice or a conversation of non-existent people. The voices in your head can give orders, force you to do something, for example, kill, be silent, go somewhere. Visual hallucinations lead to the fact that the individual for a moment sees objects that do not really exist. The olfactory ones cause the smell of decay, food or cologne to be smelled. Tactile causes discomfort.

8. Delusional disorders.

Nonsense is An individual builds his conclusions on facts divorced from reality. It is hard to dissuade him of the wrongness of his ideas. A person is in captivity of his delusional fantasies and beliefs, constantly trying to prove his case.

9. Catatonic syndrome.

It manifests itself in the form of motor inhibition, stupor, or, conversely, strong excitement. During torpor, the individual is unable to move or speak. Catatonic excitation, on the contrary, is characterized by chaotic and often repetitive movements. Such a violation can occur in the normal state in case of severe stress or as a result of a severe mental disorder.

10. Clouding of consciousness.

The individual's adequate perception of reality is disturbed. A person feels detached from reality and does not understand what is happening around. The individual loses the ability to think logically, does not orient himself in the situation, in time and space. It can be difficult for a person to remember new information, partial or complete amnesia is also observed.

11. Dementia.

The individual's intellectual functions are reduced. He loses the ability to acquire various knowledge, does not understand how to act in a difficult situation, cannot find himself and adapt to the conditions of life. Dementia can occur during the progression of a mental illness or be congenital (oligophrenia).

Why do they arise?

Unfortunately, the causes of many mental disorders have not yet been elucidated. True, depending on the type of violation, there are certain factors that provoke the development of diseases. Allocate biological, psychological and social causes of mental disorders.

Mental disorders are known to be caused by changes in the structure or functions of the brain. It is generally accepted that exogenous or endogenous factors influence the occurrence of mental disorders. Exogenous drugs include poisonous drugs, alcohol, infections, psychological trauma, bruises, concussions, cerebrovascular disease. This kind of disorder is influenced by stressful situations, or social problems. Endogenous factors include chromosomal abnormalities, gene mutations, or hereditary gene diseases.

Psychological deviations, regardless of the causes of occurrence, carry many problems. A sick person is characterized by inadequate thinking, incorrect response to some life situations and often irrational behavior. Such individuals have an increased tendency to suicide, crime, the formation of alcohol or drug addiction.

Psychological disorders in children

In the process of growing up, the child undergoes a number of physiological and psychological changes. Many factors, including the attitude of parents towards them, leave their mark on the formation of the worldview of children. If adults properly raise a child, he grows up as a mentally healthy person who knows how to behave correctly in society and in any situation.

Children who were abused on a daily basis at an early age perceive this behavior of their parents as the norm. As adults, they will display similar behaviors on other people. All the negative aspects in the upbringing of young children make themselves felt in adulthood.

The famous psychiatrist D. Macdonald has identified the most dangerous signs in the child's mental state, which must be addressed as early as possible. If adults ignore these factors and do not take their children to a psychiatrist, they will have to face a number of serious problems in the future.

Signs of psychological disorders in children:

• zoosadism - cruelty to animals (killing kittens, fish);
• inability to empathize with someone else's pain;
• coldness in the manifestation of feelings;
• constant lies;
• enuresis;
• runaways from home, love of vagrancy;
• theft of other people's things;
• desire to set fires;
• bullying weak peers.

If a child demonstrates deviant behavior, then the parents made some mistake in his upbringing. Negative actions indicate symptoms of mental disorders only when they are repeated regularly. Parents need to take deviant behavior seriously and not let the situation take its course.

How to treat?

Before treating a person for a psychological disorder, a specialist must correctly diagnose and identify the cause that influenced the development of the disease. First of all, you need to consult a psychologist. The specialist talks with the client in a relaxed atmosphere, conducts tests, assigns tasks and carefully observes the reactions and behavior of the individual. After conducting psychological diagnostics, the psychologist identifies violations in the client's psyche and determines the method of corrective assistance.

If a person is faced with a number of life difficulties, as a result of which he has psychological disorders, he can seek help from a psychologist-hypnologist

Psychosis is a serious mental disorder, such a deep violation of the mental, emotional and affective components is considered quite dangerous for patients.

The disease manifests itself in a sharp change in the patient's behavior, the loss of an adequate attitude to life and others, in the absence of a desire to perceive the existing reality. At the same time, mental disorders interfere with the awareness of the presence of these same problems, a person cannot eliminate them on his own.

Due to the emotional component, hormonal explosions and susceptibility to stress, psychosis and other mental disorders are twice as common in women than in men (7% vs. 3%, respectively).

What are the reasons and who is most at risk?

The main causes of the development of psychosis in females are as follows:

pregnancy and childbirth;

One of the main reasons is increased emotional excitability or the presence of a similar disease in the woman's family, mother, sister, that is, the genetic component.

Who is at risk

The root cause of the appearance of psychosis is often alcohol abuse and subsequent intoxication of the body. In most cases, men are most susceptible to alcoholism, so the female sex suffers from alcoholic psychosis much less often and endure it faster and easier.

But there is also a reason that is characteristic only for women, which increases the risk of the disease. This is pregnancy and childbirth. The physical factors of the appearance of psychosis in this case include toxicosis, vitamin deficiency, a decrease in the tone of all body systems, various diseases or complications due to difficult gestation and childbirth.

Psychological ones include fear, worries, increased emotional sensitivity, unwillingness to become a mother. At the same time, postpartum mental disorder is more common than during pregnancy.

Behavioral Features

For a woman with mental disorders, such changes in behavior and life activity are characteristic (with the symptoms noticeable only from the outside, the sickest and unaware that she is sick):

Varieties of deviations in the mental state

Psychosis can be conditionally divided into two large groups:

Separately, postpartum psychosis can be distinguished, it appears in 1-3% of women in the first months after the birth of a child, unlike the more common postpartum depression, psychotic deviation does not go away on its own and requires treatment under the qualified supervision of specialists.

Symptoms appear individually, some may be within a day after giving birth, others a month later.

The failure of the psyche can be accompanied by various conditions that provoke disturbances in the work of the whole body of a woman.

Violation of diet, activity and rest, emotional tension, taking medications. These factors "hit" the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive and endocrine systems. The manifestation of concomitant diseases individually.

Who to turn to for help?

Self-medication in this case is contraindicated. You should also not contact familiar doctors of various specialties, psychologists, traditional healers. Treatment should be carried out only by a public or private doctor - a highly qualified psychotherapist!

The specialist will examine the patient, refer him for additional tests and, based on their results, prescribe treatment and the necessary drugs.

Treatment can take place in a hospital with the participation of medical staff, or at home. When treating at home, a mandatory safety measure will be taking care of the baby with the least intervention of the mother (in case of postpartum mental failure). The nanny or relatives should take care of these concerns until the disappearance of all symptoms of the disease in the patient.

Treatment usually consists of a complex, which includes:

The patient can not immediately realize, accept her condition to the end. Relatives and friends must be patient to help the woman return to normal life.

The consequences of the lack of therapy are extremely unfavorable. The patient loses touch with reality, her behavior becomes inadequate and dangerous not only for her own life and health, but also for those around her.

A person is suicidal, may become a victim or cause of violence.

How to prevent mental breakdown?

Preventive measures include:

regular monitoring of their health;

Prevention should be a priority, especially in those women who are prone to emotional disruption or have a hereditary predisposition to psychotic disorders.

How to determine that a person has a mental disorder: the main signs

Typical signs of a mental disorder are behavioral changes and thought disorders that go beyond existing norms and traditions. Basically, these signs are associated with the complete or partial insanity of a person and make a person incapable of performing social functions.

The main symptoms of psychopathology

Similar disorders can occur in men and women at any age, regardless of nationality.

The pathogenesis of many mental disorders is not completely clear, but scientists have come to the conclusion that a combination of social, psychological and biological factors influences their formation.

A person who feels the early symptoms of a disease is worried about how to understand that you have a mental disorder? In this case, you should take a multi-item test and get the opinion of a professional psychotherapist. Questions must be answered as honestly and frankly as possible.

During the progression of the disease, symptoms appear that are noticeable, if not to the patient himself, then to his relatives. The main signs of a mental disorder are:

If the first symptoms of the disease are persistent and interfere with normal activities, then it is recommended to undergo a diagnosis. There are borderline mental states of the individual, which are present in many mental and somatic diseases or ordinary overwork.

Asthenic syndrome is manifested by nervous exhaustion, fatigue, low performance. The female psyche is more vulnerable and therefore such disorders are more characteristic of the weaker sex. They have increased emotionality, tearfulness and mood lability.

The male psyche reacts to asthenic syndrome with outbursts of irritation, loss of self-control over trifles. With asthenia, severe headaches, lethargy and disturbed night sleep are also possible.

Obsessions

This is a condition in which an adult persistently has various fears or doubts. He cannot get rid of these thoughts, despite the awareness of the problem. A patient with mental pathology can check and recount something for hours, and if he was distracted at the time of the ritual, start counting again. This category also includes claustrophobia, agoraphobia, fear of heights, and others.

This painful condition for any person is characterized by a persistent decrease in mood, depression, and depression. The disease can be detected at an early stage, in which case the condition can be quickly normalized.

Severe cases of depression are often accompanied by suicidal thoughts and require inpatient treatment.

• feeling of guilt, sinfulness;
• feeling of hopelessness;
• sleep disorders.

The condition may be accompanied by a violation of the heart rhythm, excessive sweating, pressure surges, loss of appetite, weight loss, dyspeptic disorders. Mild forms of the disease respond well to treatment, and if severe depression occurs, the patient needs to go to the doctor.

This neuropsychiatric disorder is characterized by sleep disturbances: usually, adults with this disorder can sleep for 4-6 hours and feel alert. In the initial stage (hypomania), a person notes an increase in vitality, increased efficiency, and a creative upsurge. The patient sleeps little, but at the same time works a lot and is very optimistic.

If hypomania progresses and turns into mania, then a change in personality, the inability to concentrate, joins the indicated signs. Patients are fussy, talk a lot, while constantly changing their position and gesticulating vigorously.

Typical symptoms of mania in adults are increased appetite, increased libido, and defiant behavior. A good mood can be abruptly replaced by irritation. As a rule, with mania sanity is lost, and patients do not understand that their condition is pathological.

hallucinations

This is an acute mental disorder in which the patient feels, sees or hears things that do not really exist. Hallucinations may occur due to alcohol consumption or the progression of mental illness.

• auditory (voices);
• tactile (itching, pain, burning);
• visual (visions);
• taste;
• olfactory (smells), etc.

However, a situation is also possible when a sick person feels several of them at the same time. Imperative hallucinations are dangerous when the "voices" in the patient's head order certain actions to be performed (sometimes to kill oneself or someone else). Such conditions are an indication for pharmacotherapy and constant monitoring.

delusional disorders

These disturbances are a sign of psychosis. Delusional beliefs do not correspond to reality, but it is not possible to convince the patient of this. Erroneous ideas are extremely important for the patient and affect all his actions.

Brad has a variety of content:

• fear of persecution, damage, poisoning, material damage, etc.;
• belief in one's own greatness, divine origin, all sorts of inventions;
• ideas of self-accusation and self-negation;
• ideas of a love or erotic nature.

Often, the appearance of crazy ideas is preceded by depersonalization and derealization.

Catatonic syndromes

These are conditions in which motor disorders come to the fore: complete or partial inhibition, or vice versa, excitation. With a catatonic stupor, the patient is completely immobilized, silent, the muscles are in good shape. The patient freezes in an unusual, often ridiculous and uncomfortable position.

For catatonic excitation, the repetition of any movements with exclamations is typical. Catatonic syndromes are observed both with clouded and clear consciousness. In the first case, this indicates a possible favorable outcome of the disease, and in the second, the severity of the patient's condition.

clouding of consciousness

In an unconscious state, the perception of reality is distorted, interaction with society is disrupted.

There are several types of this condition. They are united by common symptoms:

• Disorientation in space and time, depersonalization.
• Detachment from the environment.
• Loss of the ability to logically comprehend the situation. Sometimes incoherent thoughts.
• Decreased memory.

Each of these signs sometimes occurs in mental disorders in an adult, but their combination may indicate clouding of consciousness. Usually they pass when the clarity of consciousness is restored.

With this disorder, the ability to learn and apply knowledge is reduced or lost, and adaptation to the outside world is disrupted. Distinguish congenital (oligophrenia) and acquired form of intellectual decline, which occurs in people aged or patients with progressive forms of mental disorders.

Symptoms of mental disorders

The article provides an overview of the symptoms and syndromes of mental disorders, including the features of their manifestation in children, adolescents, the elderly, men and women. Some methods and means used in traditional and alternative medicine for the treatment of such diseases are mentioned.

Causes of emotional illness

Pathological changes in the psyche can lead to:

1. Obsessive thoughts are reproduced by consciousness arbitrarily (against the will of a person), while consciousness remains clear. The patient tries to fight the obsession.
2. Obsessions are alien to thinking, there is no visible connection between obsessive thoughts and the content of thinking.
3. Obsession is closely related to emotions, often of a depressive nature, anxiety.
4. Obsessions do not affect intellectual abilities.
5. The patient is aware of the unnaturalness of obsessive thoughts, maintains a critical attitude towards them.

affective syndrome

Affective syndromes are symptom complexes of mental disorders that are closely associated with mood disorders.


There are two groups of affective syndromes:

6. With a predominance of manic (elevated) mood
7. With a predominance of depressive (low) mood.

In the clinical picture of affective syndromes, the leading role belongs to disorders of the emotional sphere - from small mood swings to quite pronounced mood disorders (affects).

By nature, all affects are divided into sthenic, which occur with a predominance of excitation (delight, joy), and asthenic, which occur with a predominance of inhibition (longing, fear, sadness, despair).

Affective syndromes are observed in many diseases: with circular psychosis and schizophrenia, they are the only manifestations of the disease, with progressive paralysis, syphilis, brain tumors, vascular psychoses - its initial manifestations.

Affective syndromes are disorders such as depression, dysphoria, euphoria, mania.


Depression is a fairly common mental disorder that requires special attention, since 50% of those who make suicide attempts have signs of this mental disorder.

Characteristic features of depression:

8. low mood;
9. pessimistic attitude to reality, negative judgments;
10. motor and volitional retardation;
11. inhibition of instinctive activity (loss of appetite or, conversely, a tendency to overeat, decreased sexual desire);
12. concentration of attention on painful experiences and difficulty in concentrating it;
13. decrease in self-esteem.

Dysphoria, or mood disorders, which are characterized by an angry-dreary, intense affect with irritability, reaching outbursts of anger and aggressiveness, are characteristic of excitable psychopaths and alcoholics.

Dysphoria is often found in epilepsy and organic diseases of the central nervous system.

Euphoria, or high spirits with a touch of carelessness, contentment, not accompanied by an acceleration of associative processes, is found in the clinic of atherosclerosis, progressive paralysis, and brain injury.

Psychopathological syndrome, which is characterized by a triad of symptoms:

14. unmotivated elevated mood,
15. acceleration of thinking and speech,
16. motor excitement.

There are signs that do not appear in all cases of manic syndrome:

17. increased instinctive activity (increased appetite, sexual desire, self-protective tendencies),
18. instability of attention and reassessment of oneself as a person, sometimes reaching delusional ideas of greatness.

A similar condition can occur with schizophrenia, intoxication, infections, injuries, brain damage and other diseases.



Senestopathy

The term "senestopathy" is defined as a suddenly appearing painful, extremely unpleasant bodily sensation.

This sensation devoid of objectivity arises in the place of localization, although there is no objective pathological process in it.

Senestopathies are frequent symptoms of mental disorders, as well as structural components of a depressive syndrome, hypochondriacal delirium, and a syndrome of mental automatism.

hypochondriacal syndrome

Hypochondria (hypochondriac disorder) is a condition characterized by constant anxiety due to the possibility of getting sick, complaints, concern about one's well-being, perception of ordinary sensations as abnormal, assumptions about the presence, in addition to the underlying disease, of any additional one.


Most often, concerns arise about the heart, gastrointestinal tract, genitals and brain. Pathological attention can lead to certain malfunctions in the body.

To the development of hypochondria have some features inherent in the personality: suspiciousness, anxiety, depression.

Illusions are distorted perceptions in which a real-life object or phenomenon is not recognized, but another image is perceived instead.

There are the following types of illusions:

19. Physical, including optical, acoustic
20. Physiological;
21. affective;
22. verbal, etc.

Metamorphopsia (organic), physical and physiological illusions can occur in people whose mental health is not in doubt. A patient with optical illusions can perceive a raincoat hanging on a hanger as a lurking killer, spots on bed linen seem to him to be bugs, a belt on the back of a chair - a snake.


With acoustic illusions, the patient in an overheard conversation distinguishes threats addressed to him, perceives the remarks of passers-by as accusations and insults addressed to him.

Most often, illusions are observed in infectious and intoxication diseases, but can occur in other painful conditions.

Fear, fatigue, anxiety, exhaustion, as well as distortion of perception due to poor lighting, noise, hearing loss and visual acuity predispose to the appearance of illusions.

Hallucination

An image that appears in consciousness without an irritant is called a hallucination. In other words, this is a mistake, an error in the perception of the senses, when a person sees, hears, feels something that does not really exist.

Conditions for hallucinations:

23. severe fatigue,
24. the use of certain psychotropic substances,
25. the presence of mental (schizophrenia) and neurological diseases.
    

There are true, functional and other types of hallucinations. True hallucinations are usually classified according to analyzers: visual, acoustic, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, somatic, motor, vestibular, complex.

delusional disorders

A delusional disorder is a condition characterized by the presence of delusions - a disorder of thinking, accompanied by the appearance of reasoning, ideas and conclusions that are far from reality.

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There are three groups of delusional states, united by a common content:




With total dementia there are profound violations of criticism, memory, judgments, unproductive thinking, the disappearance of individual character traits previously inherent in the patient, as well as a careless mood.

With partial dementia there is a moderate decrease in criticism, memory, judgments. The lowered mood with irritability, tearfulness, fatigue prevails.

Video: The rise of mental illness in Russia

Symptoms of a mental disorder

Among women. There is an increased risk of developing mental disorders in the premenstrual period, during and after pregnancy, during middle age and aging. Eating disorders, affective disorders, including postpartum, depression.

In men. Mental disorders occur more often than in women. Traumatic and alcoholic psychoses.

In children. One of the most common disorders is Attention Deficit Disorder. Symptoms are problems with long-term concentration, hyperactivity, impaired impulse control.



Teenagers. Eating disorders are common. There are school phobias, hyperactivity syndrome, anxiety disorders.

In the elderly. Mental illnesses are detected more often than in young and middle-aged people. Symptoms of dementia, depression, psychogenic neurotic disorders.

Video: Panic attacks

Treatment and prevention

In the treatment of asthenic syndrome the main efforts are directed to the elimination of the cause that led to the disease. General strengthening therapy is carried out, including the intake of vitamins and glucose, proper organization of work and rest, sleep restoration, good nutrition, dosed physical activity, medications are prescribed: nootropics, antidepressants, sedatives, anabolic steroids.

Treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders It is carried out by eliminating the causes that injure the patient, as well as by influencing the pathophysiological links in the brain.

Therapy of affective states begins with the establishment of supervision and referral of the patient to a specialist. Depressed patients who are capable of making a suicidal attempt are subject to hospitalization.



When prescribing drug therapy, the characteristics of the patient's condition are taken into account. For example, in depression, which is a phase of circular psychosis, psychotropic drugs are used, and in the presence of anxiety, combined treatment with antidepressants and antipsychotics is prescribed.

Acute mental disorder in the form of a manic state is an indication for hospitalization, necessary to protect others from the inappropriate actions of a sick person. Antipsychotics are used to treat such patients.

Since delirium is a symptom of brain damage, pharmacotherapy and biological methods of influence are used to treat it.

For the treatment of hypochondria It is recommended to use psychotherapeutic methods. In cases where psychotherapy is ineffective, measures are taken to reduce the significance of hypochondriacal fears. For most cases of hypochondria, drug therapy is excluded.

Folk remedies


The list of remedies used by traditional healers to treat depression includes:

26. pollen,
27. bananas,
28. carrot,
29. tinctures of ginseng roots and Manchurian aralia,
30. infusions of angelica and bird mountaineer,
31. decoction of peppermint leaf,
32. baths with infusion of poplar leaves.

In the arsenal of traditional medicine there are many tips and recipes to help get rid of sleep disorders and a number of other symptoms of mental disorders.

Refers to a large number of different pathological conditions. The appearance, course and outcome of a particular disorder largely depends on the influence of internal and external factors. To understand the essence of the disease - a mental disorder, it is necessary to consider the main signs of pathologies. Further in the article, the most popular syndromes will be given, their clinical picture will be described, and a characteristic will be given.

General information

Psychiatry deals with the study of this category. Diagnosis is based on various factors. The study, as a rule, begins with the presentation of a general pathological condition. Then private psychiatry is explored. Diagnoses are made after a thorough examination of the patient, identifying the causes that provoked the condition. Based on these data, the necessary method of treatment is selected.

Groups of pathologies

The importance of endogenous (internal) and exogenous (external) factors is also important. For those or other violations it is different. Based on this, in fact, the classification of mental disorders is carried out. Thus, two broad groups of pathologies are distinguished - endogenous and exogenous. The latter should include disorders provoked by psychogenic factors, exogenous-organic cerebral (vascular, traumatic, infectious) lesions, somatic pathologies. Schizophrenia, mental retardation are endogenous mental disorders. The list of these pathologies can also be continued with affective states, senesopathies, and hypochondria.

Division by etiology



Division by clinical manifestations

Depending on the nature of a particular symptom of a mental disorder, it is classified into one of the existing categories. In particular, neuroses are distinguished. Neurotic is a mental disorder that does not exclude sanity. They are closer to normal states and sensations. They are also referred to as borderline mental disorders. This means that their manifestations can be controlled without the use of radical methods. There is also a group of psychoses. These include pathologies accompanied by impaired thinking of a pronounced nature, delirium, a change in perception, a sharp lethargy or agitation, hallucinations, inappropriate behavior, and so on. In this case, the patient is not able to distinguish his experiences from reality. Next, we consider some features of mental disorders of various types.

Asthenic syndrome

This is a fairly common condition. The main symptom of a mental disorder is increased fatigue. A person feels a decrease in efficiency, internal exhaustion. Individuals with mental disorders may behave differently. With asthenia, for example, they are characterized by impressionability, instability of mood, tearfulness, sentimentality. Such people are very easily touched, they can quickly lose their temper over a trifle. Asthenia itself can act as a symptom of a mental disorder, which, in turn, accompanies conditions after severe infectious lesions, operations, and so on.

Obsessions

These include such conditions in which, against the will, some fears, thoughts, doubts appear. People with mental disorders of this type accept all these manifestations as their own. Patients cannot get rid of them, despite a rather critical attitude towards them. Doubt is the most common symptom of this type of mental disorder. So, a person can check several times whether he turned off the light, whether he closed the door. At the same time, moving away from home, he again feels these doubts. As for obsessive fears - phobias, these are quite common fears of heights, open spaces or enclosed spaces. In some cases, in order to calm down a little, relieve internal tension and anxiety, people perform certain actions - "rituals". For example, a person who is afraid of all kinds of pollution may wash their hands several times or sit in the bathroom for hours. If something distracted him in the process, then he will start the procedure again.



affective states

They are quite common. Such conditions manifest themselves in a persistent change in mood, as a rule, its decrease - depression. Often, affective states are noted at the initial stages of mental illness. Their manifestations can be observed throughout the pathology. At the same time, they quite often become more complicated, accompanying acute mental disorders.

Depression

The main symptoms of this condition are a deterioration in mood, the appearance of a feeling of depression, melancholy, depression. In some cases, a person may physically feel chest pain or heaviness. This condition is extremely distressing. It is accompanied by a decrease in mental activity. A person in this state does not immediately answer questions, gives monosyllabic, short answers. He speaks quietly and slowly. Very often, people with depression note that it is somewhat difficult for them to understand the essence of the question, the text, they complain of memory impairment. They can hardly make decisions, they switch badly from one type of activity to another. People may experience lethargy, weakness, talk about fatigue. Their movements are stiff and slow. In addition to these symptoms, depression is accompanied by feelings of guilt, sinfulness, despair, hopelessness. This is often accompanied by suicide attempts. Some relief of well-being may come in the evening. As for sleep, in depression it is superficial, with early awakening, with disturbing dreams, intermittent. The state of depression may be accompanied by tachycardia, sweating, feeling cold, hot, constipation, weight loss.



Mania

Manic states are manifested by an acceleration of the pace of mental activity. A person has a huge number of thoughts, desires, various plans, ideas of increased self-esteem. In this condition, as in depression, sleep disturbances are noted. People with manic mental disorders sleep very little, however, a short period of time is enough for them to feel rested and alert. With a mild course of mania, a person feels a rise in creative power, an increase in intellectual productivity, an increase in tone and efficiency. He can sleep very little and work a lot. If the condition progresses, becomes more severe, then these symptoms are accompanied by poor concentration, distractibility and, as a result, a decrease in productivity.

Synestopathies

These states are characterized by very different and unusual sensations in the body. In particular, it can be burning, tingling, tightening, twisting, and so on. All these manifestations are in no way connected with the pathologies of the internal organs. When describing such sensations, patients often use their own definitions: "rustling under the ribs," "it seemed that the head was coming off," and so on.

hypochondriacal syndrome

He is characterized by persistent concern for his own health. A person is haunted by thoughts of having a very serious, progressive, and probably incurable disease. At the same time, patients present somatic complaints, presenting ordinary or normal sensations as manifestations of pathology. Despite the dissuasion of doctors, negative test results, people regularly visit specialists, insist on additional, deeper studies. Often, hypochondriacal states appear against the background of depression.



Illusions

When they appear, a person begins to perceive objects in an erroneous - altered form. Illusions can accompany a person with a normal mental state. For example, a change in an object can be observed if it is lowered into water. As for the pathological condition, illusions can appear under the influence of fear or anxiety. For example, in the forest at night, a person may perceive trees as monsters.

hallucinations

They act as a persistent symptom of many mental disorders. Hallucinations can be auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, visual, muscular, and so on. Often there is a combination of them. For example, a person can not only see strangers in the room, but also hear their conversation. The verbal hallucinations are called "voices" by patients. They may have different content. For example, it can be just a call of a person by name or whole sentences, dialogues or monologues. In some cases, "voices" are imperative. They are called. A person can hear orders to kill, be silent, injure himself. Such conditions are dangerous not only directly for the patient, but also for those around him. Visual hallucinations can be objective or elementary (in the form of sparks, for example). In some cases, the patient can see entire scenes. Olfactory hallucinations are a sensation of an unpleasant smell (rotting, some food, smoldering), less often pleasant or unfamiliar.

Rave

Such a disorder, according to many experts, refers to the main signs of psychosis. It's hard enough to define what bullshit is. The conclusions of doctors in assessing the patient's condition are quite contradictory. There are a number of signs of a delusional state. First of all, it always appears on a painful basis. Delusions cannot be dissuaded or corrected from the outside, despite a fairly clear contradiction with reality. A person is absolutely convinced of the veracity of his thoughts. Delusions are based on erroneous judgments, incorrect conclusions, false convictions. These thoughts are of great importance for the patient, and therefore, to one degree or another, determine his behavior and actions. Crazy ideas may be related to:



Delusional disorders differ in various forms. So, interpretive nonsense stands out. The person in this case uses one-sided interpretations of daily facts and events as evidence. This disorder is considered quite persistent. In this case, the patient's reflection of the causal relationship between events and phenomena is disturbed. This form of delusion always has a rationale. The patient can endlessly prove something, discuss, argue. The content of interpretive delusions can reflect all the experiences and feelings of a person. Another form of this disorder can be a figurative or sensual conviction. Such nonsense appears on the basis of anxiety or fear, hallucinations. In this case, there are no logical premises, evidence; In a "delusional" way, a person perceives everything around him.

Derealization and depersonalization

These phenomena often precede the development of sensory delusions. Derealization is a feeling of change in the world. Everything that is around a person is perceived by him as "unreal", "rigged", "artificial". Depersonalization is manifested in the feeling of change in one's personality. Patients characterize themselves as "lost face", "lost the fullness of sensations", "stupid".

Catatonic syndromes

These states are characteristic of disorders of the motor sphere: or, on the contrary, of agitation. In the latter case, repetition, lack of purposefulness, and randomness of some movements are noted. At the same time, they may be accompanied by the shouting of individual words or remarks, or by silence. The patient may freeze in an uncomfortable, unusual position, such as lifting a leg, extending an arm, or raising their head above a pillow. Catatonic syndromes are also observed against the background of clear consciousness. This indicates a greater severity of disorders. If they are accompanied by clouding of consciousness, then we can talk about a favorable outcome of the pathology.



Dementia

Also called dementia. Dementia manifests itself in a deep impoverishment of all mental activity, a persistent decrease in intellectual functions. Against the background of dementia, the ability to acquire new knowledge worsens, and in many cases, the ability to acquire new knowledge is completely lost. In this case, a person's adaptability to life is disturbed.

clouding of consciousness

Such disorders can be observed not only in mental disorders, but also in patients with severe somatic pathologies. Stupefaction is characterized by difficulty in perceiving the environment, breaking ties with the outside world. Patients are detached, unable to realize what is happening. As a result, their contact with other people is disrupted. In addition, patients are poorly oriented in time, in their own personality, in a particular situation. People are not able to think logically, correctly. In some cases, incoherence of thinking is observed.

Asthenia is a whole complex of disorders that characterize the initial stage of a mental disorder. The patient begins to quickly get tired, exhausted. The performance is declining. There is general lethargy, weakness, mood becomes unstable. Frequent headaches, sleep disturbance and a constant feeling of fatigue - that require detailed consideration. It is worth noting that asthenia is not always the main symptom of a mental disorder and rather refers to a non-specific symptom, since it can also occur with somatic diseases.


Suicidal thoughts or actions are a reason for emergency hospitalization of a patient in a psychiatric clinic.

A state of obsession. The patient begins to visit special thoughts that cannot be got rid of. Feelings of fear, depression, insecurity and doubt are intensified. The state of obsession may be accompanied by certain rhythmic actions, movements and rituals. Some patients wash their hands thoroughly and for a long time, others repeatedly check whether the door is closed, whether the light, iron, etc. are turned off.

An affective syndrome is the most common first sign of a mental disorder, which is accompanied by a persistent change in mood. Most often, the patient has a depressed mood with a depressive episode, much less often - mania, accompanied by an elevated mood. With effective treatment of a mental disorder, depression or mania is the last to disappear. Against the background of an affective disorder, a decrease is observed. The patient has difficulty making decisions. In addition, depression is accompanied by a number of somatic: indigestion, feeling hot or cold, nausea, heartburn, belching.

If the affective syndrome is accompanied by mania, the patient has an elevated mood. The pace of mental activity is accelerated many times over, a minimum of time is spent on sleep. Excess energy can be replaced by a sharp apathy and drowsiness.


Dementia is the last stage of a mental disorder, which is accompanied by a persistent decrease in intellectual functions and dementia.

Hypochondria, tactile and visual hallucinations, delusions, substance abuse and all accompany a mental disorder. Close relatives of the patient do not always immediately understand what is happening, so they seek psychiatric help when the disorder becomes pronounced.

Timely treatment of mental disorders is a guarantee of success

Modern medicine has in its arsenal quite effective means for the treatment of mental disorders. The sooner treatment is started, the higher the chance of success.