Imagine: you are abandoned alone in a small Chinese town where you do not understand either the language or the inscriptions; many customs seem strange to you, and actions that others do easily (for example, eating with chopsticks) seem difficult. In addition to your misadventures, the people around you, who are all the same to you, treat you as if you have known them well for a long time.
This is approximately how a person who suffers feels: serious disorder memory...
Alas, neither what exactly causes Alzheimer’s disease (namely, it is what neurologists first mention when they talk about dementia (from the Latin Dementia - “”)), nor how to prevent it, not a single scientific or medical luminary has yet said able, although there are scientific foundations for the study of this terrible disease. So far, representatives of the world's leading Alzheimer's organization, the British Alzheimer's Research Foundation, are at the stage when, after studying one or another suspected cause, doctors come to the conclusion that it is in no way directly related to the onset of the disease. But with each new probability cut off, the approach to the secrets of the mechanism of this disease that destroys the brain (albeit from the contrary) becomes closer.
The more active and versatile mental activity preschooler, the more likely that he will live his whole life with a clear mind and strong memory
Fortunately, this is an extreme stage, quite rare even in critical age group over 65 years old. Alzheimer's disease affects no more than 10% of older people.
At the same time, complaints about the inability to concentrate, about the fact that the most familiar words fly out of the head and very important meetings are forgotten, have become much “younger”. Even 25-30-year-old active, successful, goal-oriented people complain of an inability to concentrate, forgetfulness, and absent-mindedness. What is the problem? And is there a solution for it?
Girl's memory
The ability to forget is a condition equally necessary for normal functioning brain, as well as memory skills. By forgetting, the brain “cleanses itself” of information that has become unnecessary, freeing up space for more relevant data. But when the necessary information regularly disappears from our heads and “to nowhere,” we understand that a failure has occurred. For what reason?
Memory is such a subtle and complex matter that the most various factors. Some of them are of purely physiological, organic origin, others are of a psychological and even social nature.
In the first case, it may not only be about damage to certain areas of the brain or blood vessels; sometimes memory loss is a consequence of diabetes, vitamin deficiency and even untreated sexually transmitted diseases. Only a thorough examination can reveal the cause. Solution in in this case- selection of therapy, including medication.
“A 48-year-old university teacher noticed that it became harder to remember the right phone number, the names of people whom he rarely met. His extensive professional experience allowed him to continue to cope brilliantly with his duties, but he still went to see a neurologist. A thorough neuropsychological examination revealed signs of incipient brain disease associated with high blood pressure. Correct selection drugs solved the problem,” says neurologist, Dr. medical sciences Pavel Rudolfovich Kamchatnov.
The fear that forgetfulness is a harbinger of a terrible illness, old age, the collapse of plans and hopes, can cause psychological trauma much more serious than actual violations
But also psychological factor should not be discounted: an ever-increasing volume of information, an increasing number of demands, and an increase in responsibilities can force the brain to “go on fuse.”
“This is a fairly typical case for modern practice: 35-year-old woman, manager, mother of a schoolboy son. Serious workload, the need to finish work at night and on weekends. After some time, she discovered that she began to remember new information worse. I tried to help myself by writing reminder notes, but I couldn’t always remember where I put them. The fear of an impending serious illness brought her to the doctor. After questioning and examination, signs of brain disease were excluded and the cause of the problems was identified - excessive workload. An orderly, dosed regimen allowed us to restore “impaired” memory and improve mood.”
To maintain a clear head, the general emotional background is of great importance. “The fear that forgetfulness, perhaps imaginary and not really existing, is a harbinger of a terrible illness, old age, the collapse of plans and hopes, can cause psychological trauma much more serious than the existing violations,” says Dr. Kamchatnov. - It happens that even a thorough psychological examination of many patients with depression and neurotic disorders does not allow us to identify objective memory impairments, although the patients themselves actively complain about its decline, often considering it the main source of their problems.” Accordingly, the more positive emotions we experience, the calmer we behave, the better for the body as a whole and for memory in particular.
Double standard
How does memory work? In fact, we have not one, but two memories: short-term and deep.
“Short-term memory is the ability to retain sensitive or sensory information: auditory, visual, olfactory, etc. The duration of this type of memory is several tens of seconds, maximum minutes. The mechanisms of the active memorization process are not included, the incoming information is not “encoded” into words, is not subjected to logical processing, and, as a result, when attention is distracted, it is quickly forgotten,” explains Pavel Rudolfovich Kamchatnov. On a chemical level short term memory corresponds to the production of certain proteins that affect neurons: the protein breaks down and the memory associated with it is erased.
The British Alzheimer's Research Foundation believes that B vitamins can prevent the disease, but this requires very large doses.
Long-term or deep memory is capable of storing information indefinitely and has an almost unlimited capacity. A completely different process is involved here. Stable connections are formed between neurons of brain cells - synapses. Each such “thread” literally imprints an event, experience or action in the brain and is preserved until these cells die and the connection between them is broken. It is the weaving of indestructible neural networks that explains why many skills never disappear without a trace. It is impossible to forget how to swim or ride a bike; impossible to completely forget foreign language, which I knew well in childhood - when you get into the appropriate environment (aquatic or linguistic - it doesn’t matter), the skill is gradually restored as necessary for normal existence and even survival.
The same mechanism explains the fact that even those carefully erased from active memory (information about suffering, humiliation, losses - part of the body’s defense mechanism) “pop up” and remind of themselves. We are not able to remember its details, but it does not forget us, sending its complex signals to the brain, causing the formation of neurosis. The work of a psychotherapist can help here.
Surprisingly, there is no special localized center in the brain responsible for memorization. This function is distributed among several zones at once, primarily the hippocampus (deep sections temporal lobe). “It is precisely because of the “dispersion” of memory centers throughout the brain that there are often cases when damage to a fairly significant area of the cerebral cortex has practically no effect on memory, and vice versa - a tiny defect causes enormous damage to memory,” explains Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor-neurologist Igor Vladimirovich Damulin.
Express check
How to find out what is causing the frequent (and unsuccessful) searches for keys, forgotten promises, and missed meetings? Is there a need to contact a specialist or can a two-week vacation and competent time management improve the situation?
When oppressed, depressed state, which often causes memory impairment, this process develops quickly and intensively (over several months). In case of primary dementia, it manifests itself a year after the onset of the disease and at first does not cause serious concern either for the patient or for those around him. The patient is also characterized by a gradual and uniform decline in performing tasks of the same complexity, while with depression, tasks of the same order can be performed brilliantly or poorly, depending on general condition. There are other criteria as well.
On the site www. memorylab. ru, developed by the Memory Laboratory at the Clinic of Nervous Diseases named after. AND I. Kozhevnikov (MMA named after I.M. Sechenov), the following symptoms are given:
- You never remember what you put where and because of this you keep losing things you need.
- You can't remember the names and faces of people you meet
- You quickly forget what you just read or watched on TV.
- You are no longer interested in what you were interested in just recently, you have stopped reading, watching movies (except for TV series), meeting people
- You forget the names of objects, it is often difficult to find the right word in a conversation, you often misspoke
- You often find it difficult to concentrate
- You have difficulty counting money in a store
- You find it difficult to find your way on your own in an unfamiliar part of the city
- Your co-workers and family are noticing your memory problems
If at least three of the items on this list are causing you and your loved ones noticeable discomfort over the course of several weeks, it may be worth seeing a doctor.
What is the name of a disease when a person invents a disease for himself?
Perhaps the most striking example of a pseudo-disease is self-hypnosis, when a person suffers from one disease, but is afraid that the diagnosis has been made incorrectly and thinks about something completely different. This is called a placebo, persuasion is treated with very good explanation person. The funniest example is a husband's pregnancy when his wife is pregnant. From his worries, the husband begins to discover non-existent illnesses and symptoms characteristic of pregnant women, everything goes away immediately after his wife gives birth.
Perhaps you mean hypochondria. This is what it is mental condition when a person is constantly concerned about his health, is afraid of getting sick, or invents non-existent diseases for himself, and each time he will look for some new symptoms.
There is a state of the human psyche called hypochondria. Hypochondriacs constantly listen to their feelings, read about various symptoms and of course they find them at home. Although in reality they don’t get sick with anything like that.
Yes, this happens, and as such there is no name for this disease. this is due to the aging process, and most likely it is simply encephalopathy, along with self-hypnosis. that's all. my friend, a part-time doctor, talked about such patients who often come several times a year, claim some fictitious diseases and undergo the same examinations several times.
My father has been suffering from this disease for two years now. He thinks he has it fatal disease, he feels sorry for himself and tells everyone so that they too feel sorry for him. I think it’s either schizophrenia or masochism or old age (depression).
Hypochondriacs, that's all I've heard about such people. But now it’s fashionable to blame everything on stress. Actually this is bad habit and if you shake a person properly and find him something to do, then everything will pass. Because all this is far-fetched.
In medicine there is such a term - the placebo effect, when an improvement in well-being occurs due to the patient’s self-hypnosis. Those. You are cured by a dummy pill.
In the case of inventing illnesses for yourself, the same placebo effect works, but exactly the opposite.
Naturally this effect doesn't appear out of the blue. By latest research exciting event, stress leads to an increase in C-reactive protein in the blood plasma, the higher it is, the higher the likelihood of getting really serious illness. The main source of this protein is the liver.
It has been discovered that if a person is distracted after stress. If you start talking about any pleasant things, the level of C-reactive protein decreases quickly.
It turns out that it is loneliness that leads people to such phenomena as inventing illnesses for themselves.
Get yourself a dog with whom you need to walk three times a day and have some bad thoughts ( c-reactive protein) will not appear.
I also encountered this phenomenon twice (my mother accidentally fell ill in Anapa), and a woman (relatively young, about forty) was lying in the ward with her. I was sick for five years and exhausted the doctors. I became interested and found literature on this subject. The meaning of this phenomenon is as follows: this disorder is psychosomatic in nature, and can accompany a number of mental illnesses (including not only advanced depression).
Munchausen syndrome. And this is a mental disorder. Now, the number of people experiencing this syndrome is growing. Because the farther we go, the farther we are from a quiet life...
A person with such a syndrome invents a disease for himself, sometimes several at once, and demands that he be treated for these diseases. I have had the opportunity to encounter such people. They believe that they have a disease of their own making. And symptoms are often bought and invented. The goal: to be pitied and fussed over by both doctors and relatives. A friend of mine invented anorexia for herself, although she did not have this disease, but she demanded treatment from doctors, including a diet that would help her get better. A person suffering from this syndrome is difficult to communicate with and it is difficult to convince him of anything. He says that he has anemia, complains of symptoms: dizziness, cold hands, paleness... He takes a blood test. Hemoglobin 133, that's even a little more than normal. They show him a piece of paper, and he says that the laboratory assistant made a mistake and demands a new direction. They don't give it to him. He goes to a paid clinic so that at least they discover this feigning illness in him, and even fasts before this: he eats sparingly...
A misconception about exactly how a particular disease manifests itself can cause a person to refuse help when he really needs it. In this article, you will learn about ten mental illnesses and disorders that we sometimes misunderstand.
1. Bipolar affective disorder (BD)
What it is not: Many people mistakenly associate bipolar affective disorder (BID) with mood swings. It is often attributed to pregnant women who first scream at their unsuspecting husbands, and then hug and kiss them as if nothing had happened.
What it really is: People suffering from bipolar affective disorder periodically experience bouts of mania, which are characterized by excessive excitability, a surge of strength and energy, increased activity and energy.
To those around them, the manic state in which people with bipolar disorder find themselves does not seem so bad from the outside. In reality, it poses a real problem for those affected by it. In addition to the symptoms listed above, a person with bipolar disorder may also experience hallucinations and delusions. Moreover, when the period of enthusiasm and euphoria passes, he begins to experience depression (sadness, apathy, hopelessness, loss of interest in normal activities, etc. appear), which after some time is again replaced by mania.
2. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
What it is not: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common diagnosis among children. When a child cannot concentrate on studying, doing basic housework and other things, adults begin to sound the alarm and immediately run to the doctor for advice. They believe that if their child is not interested in in a certain form activity, is constantly distracted by something or shows excessive agitation and energy, which means he has developed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In reality, all this is a sign normal development child.
What it really is: Those who suffer from ADHD find it difficult to focus on one activity, even if they enjoy it. They are unable to finish what they start because they are constantly distracted by the slightest irritants. They lack concentration, which makes it extremely difficult for them to organize their activities.
ADHD is also characterized by symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Children suffering from this disorder are unable to sit still for long periods of time, talk too much, and are reckless and impatient. There are no prohibitions for them. Changes in diet and daily routine, appropriate therapy and taking certain medications will help you get rid of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. medicines.
3. Dissociative identity disorder (DID)
What it is not: We behave differently in every situation. The quiet, polite administrative assistant working at the club on the weekends can turn into the wildest animal you've ever met in your life. However, this does not mean at all that he suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID; split personality disorder). The same applies to teenagers who communicate normally with friends, but are constantly rude and rude to their parents.
What it really is: With dissociative identity disorder, a person “switches” from one personality to another, and he often finds it difficult to remember what he did while his other “I” was active.
Areas of difference between these individuals may include behavior, speech, thoughts, and even gender identity. People with DID often experience depression; they experience suicidal tendencies, anxiety, confusion, memory problems, hallucinations and disorientation.
4. Narcotic or alcohol addiction
What it is not: Drug addicts and alcoholics are usually thought of as people who lack willpower and self-control, but this is not the only problem. If you couldn't resist eating a couple of extra chocolate cakes during lunch, does this mean that you are addicted to them? Consuming sweets in excessive quantities, watching TV from morning to night, and repeatedly listening to songs by the same artist have much more in common with willpower and self-discipline than drug or alcohol addiction.
What it really is: Drug addiction and alcoholism are serious mental illness, in which a person experiences an irresistible craving for a particular substance. He is unable to stop, so he continues to use it even though it interferes with his normal life and leads to social or interpersonal problems.
As mentioned above, drug addicts and alcoholics are sick people, so they need treatment and help from outside.
5. Tourette's syndrome
What it is not: Tourette syndrome is often attributed to those children who sit in the back of class and shout “purple dinosaur” when the teacher asks them to name the capital of New York State. Your friend who doesn't filter his thoughts before they come out of his mouth may actually be holding back and finding the right words, but he just doesn't want to. If you insult someone or swear, while realizing that it is stupid, then Tourette syndrome has nothing to do with it. In this way you are trying to justify your bad manners and bad behavior.
What it really is: Tourette syndrome (TS) is a disorder characterized by multiple motor tics (at least one of which is verbal). These include rolling your eyes, licking your lips, tugging at your clothes, twirling a strand of hair around your finger, and so on.
Verbal tics include coughing, grunting, humming without words, stuttering, and coprolalia (impulsive, uncontrollable utterance of vulgar or obscene words).
6. Narcissistic personality disorder
What it is not: Each of us in life has met such a person who was proud of his appearance or mental abilities and thought he was a gift to humanity. However, just because you love yourself and have high self-esteem does not mean you have narcissistic personality disorder.
What it really is: A person with narcissistic personality disorder often acts as if he is the center of the universe, but inside he constantly worries about whether he is good enough in the eyes of others. Such people constantly seek outside approval, but their standards are usually either too high or unreasonably low - but in both cases they consider themselves important people. They do not care about those around them, but they always strive to occupy the main place in the life of every person. People with narcissistic personality disorder need admiration. They love to exploit others.
7. Dissocial personality disorder
What it is not: Probably each of us had a friend who liked to be alone, but what's wrong with that? From time to time people feel the need to escape from outside world and be left alone with yourself. This is not a mental disorder, but a completely natural need.
What it really is: A person with dissocial personality disorder enjoys hurting other people. He is characterized by manipulativeness, callousness, hostility, impulsiveness, recklessness, indifference and contempt. He never feels remorse and is able to mislead others thanks to his charm and charisma.
8. Anorexia and bulimia
What they are not: Models are often called anorexic just because they are thin, but this has nothing to do with mental illness. There is nothing wrong with following a certain diet and exercising. If you eat foods that upset your stomach or eat too many cookies, it doesn't mean you have bulimia.
What it really is: Anorexia nervosa And bulimia nervosa are serious mental disorders, in which a person sees himself differently from the people around him. He thinks that he is too fat or thin, although in reality this is far from the case.
Those with anorexia are afraid to gain a pair extra pounds, so they exhaust themselves with various diets. People with bulimia tend to overeat and try to control their weight by vomiting or using laxatives.
What it is not: Many people are accustomed to calling those who, in their opinion, behave stupidly or express their thoughts unclearly, are mentally retarded. But is this really so?
What it really is: Mental retardation is a delay or incomplete development of the psyche that negatively affects adaptive functioning in conceptual, social and practical areas. Individuals with this disorder learn more slowly and are sometimes unable to master certain skills. They may have problems mastering language, basic mathematics, logical thinking, speech, personal hygiene, task organization, and so on.
10. Obsessive-compulsive disorder
What it is not: Many people mistakenly associate obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with neatness, cleanliness, organization and perfectionism. None of this will be considered a sign of mental illness until it begins to unduly affect daily life person.
What it really is: People suffering from OCD constantly try to get rid of intrusive thoughts (related to death, illness, infection, safety, loss of loved ones, etc.) through the same actions called compulsions. Obsessive-compulsive disorder refers to anxiety neuroses. No worries intrusive thoughts and behavior are common human quirks.
Material prepared by Rosemarina - based on website material
Pathological deceit is what psychologists call the condition of a person who often lies. A pathological liar differs from an ordinary liar in that he is confident in the veracity of what he says, and at the same time gets used to the role.
What is pathological deceit?
In the medical and psychological literature, the term “pathological deceit” was described at the beginning of the twentieth century. Ingoda similar mental disorder called “mythomania” (the term was coined by the French psychologist Ernest Dupre) or “Munchausen syndrome”.For ordinary person A lie is a statement made intentionally that is not true. But, no matter how strange it may sound, a pathological liar lies for no reason, just like that. A lie is usually easy to expose, but this does not bother the liar, because he is firmly confident in the veracity of the information said.
Pathological deceit should be considered as part of the basic psychological disorder personality rather than a separate disease. It should be noted that this disorder one of the most controversial subjects in modern world psychology.
Reasons for deviation.
Most scientists agree that this type of personality arises as a result of a psychiatric illness or extremely low self-esteem. Often a pathological liar tries to make some kind of impression on others, but gets too used to the role.Often, such a syndrome occurs in people who received psychological trauma in childhood. Here are just a few possible reasons the formation of mythomania during growing up: problems communicating with the opposite sex, lack of attention from parents, constant criticism from other people, unrequited love, etc.
Quite often, such a disorder occurs already at a conscious age as a result of traumatic brain injury.
Is pathological lying a congenital disease?
Another very controversial one, but no less interesting hypothesis put forward by American scientists - pathological liars are not made, they are born. As a result of research, it has been proven that the brain of a person with Munchausen syndrome is very different from the brain of an ordinary person.In the cerebral cortex of pathological liars, the volume of gray matter (neurons) is reduced by 14% and the volume is increased by an average of 22%. white matter (nerve fibers). These results also provide evidence that the state of the frontal brain plays a role in this and many others. psychological characteristics personality.
In the medical and psychological literature, the term “falsehood” was described at the beginning of the twentieth century. Ingoda, such a mental deviation is called “mythomania” (the term was coined by the French psychologist Ernest Dupre) or “Munchausen syndrome.”For the average person, a lie is a deliberately stated statement that is not true. But, no matter how strange it may sound, a pathological liar lies for no reason, just like that. A lie is usually easy to expose, but this does not bother the liar, because he is firmly confident in the veracity of the information said.
Pathological deceit should be considered as part of a basic psychological personality disorder, rather than as a separate disease. It should be noted that this disorder is one of the most controversial subjects in the modern world.
Reasons for deviation.
Most scientists agree that this occurs as a result of a psychiatric illness or extremely low self-esteem. Often a pathological liar tries to make some kind of impression on others, but gets too used to the role.Often, such a syndrome occurs in people who received psychological trauma in childhood. Here are just a few possible reasons for the formation of mythomania during growing up: problems communicating with the opposite sex, lack of attention from parents, constant criticism from other people, unrequited love, etc.
Quite often, such a disorder occurs already at a conscious age as a result of traumatic brain injury.
Is pathological lying a congenital disease?
Another very controversial, but no less interesting hypothesis was put forward by American scientists - they don’t become pathological liars, they are born like them. As a result of research, it has been proven that the brain of a person with Munchausen syndrome is very different from the brain of an ordinary person.In the cerebral cortex of pathological liars, the volume of gray matter (neurons) is reduced by 14% and the volume of white matter (nerve fibers) is increased by an average of 22%. These results also provide evidence that the state of the frontal brain plays a role in this and many other psychological personality characteristics.
People who, by virtue of their profession, deal with truthful and false statements, psychologists, investigators, lawyers and even experienced teachers, over time, recognize deception automatically, without analyzing. If you want to master the same skills so as not to become a victim of fraud or simply because you are tired of trusting those who constantly deceive you, you will have to train. First of all, you should learn to recognize liars by the direction of their gaze.
Detecting lies based on gaze direction is based on the theory of Richard Bandler and John Grinder, first outlined by them in the book “From Frogs to Princes: Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).” According to it, people reflexively look in different directions when they remember and when they invent. You need to distinguish between kinesthetic, auditory and visual memories or imagined images. When you ask a question regarding a visual image, for example, “What color is the wallpaper in your room?” Human involuntarily brings up the “picture” in his memory and looks to the right and up. If you ask “What is the facial expression of a crimson dog?”, the interlocutor will have to imagine a “portrait” of such an unusual animal, and he will unconsciously direct his gaze up and to the left. Therefore, if you unexpectedly ask a liar, offering to sell you a non-existent house in the village, what colors his gates are painted in, while coming up with an answer, he will willy-nilly look up and to the left. The partner who told you the “fable” about the night meeting will direct his eyes there if you stun him with the question “What tie was your neighbor at the negotiating table wearing?” Evoking auditory memories, people look to the right. So your interlocutor’s gaze will slide in this direction for a fraction of a moment if you ask him to remember some phrase from the film. When Human makes up something he supposedly heard, he looks to the left. Ask the baby what his mother told him when she allowed him to take another piece of candy from the cupboard and he, “remembering” the non-existent conversation, will look there. If it concerns any sensations or smells, for example, people look down. “Do you remember the smell of the sea breeze?” - you ask, and your interlocutor, at least for a moment, will lower his gaze to the left. A liar who is asked what kind of eau de toilette his friend smelled of, with whom he stayed all night playing chess, will look to the right. Of course, if Human left-handed, he will look in the mirror. Remembering visual images up and to the left, auditory - to the right, kinesthetic - down and to the right. Keep in mind that liars can also train, rehearse their stories for a long time, and therefore they can only be confused by unexpected questions.