Today, the science of the soul, psychology, has long ceased to be a “servant of the bourgeoisie,” as it was once defined by the classics of Leninism. All more people are interested in psychology, and also try to learn more about its branch as mental disorders.
Many books, monographs, textbooks, scientific research and scientific works. We will try in this short article to briefly answer the questions of what it is - mental disorders, what types of mental disorders exist, the causes of such severe mental illnesses, their symptoms and possible treatment. After all, each of us lives in the world of people, rejoices and worries, but may not even notice how a severe mental illness will overtake him at a life turn of fate. You should not be afraid of it, but you need to know how to counteract it.
Definition of mental illness
First of all, it is worth deciding what a mental illness is.
In psychological science, this term is commonly used to refer to a state of the human psyche that differs from a healthy one. The state of a healthy psyche is the norm (this norm is usually denoted by the term " mental health"). And all deviations from it are deviation or pathology.
Today, such definitions as "mentally ill" or "mental illness" are officially prohibited as degrading the honor and dignity of a person. However, these diseases themselves have not gone away from life. Their danger to humans lies in the fact that they entail serious changes in such areas as thinking, emotions and behavior. Sometimes these changes become irreversible.
There are changes in the biological state of a person (this is the presence of a certain pathology of development), as well as changes in his medical condition(the quality of his life worsens up to its destruction) and social condition (a person can no longer live as a full-fledged member of society, enter into certain productive relationships with people around him). This leads to the conclusion that such conditions bring harm to a person, therefore they must be overcome both with the help of a medical method and with the help of psychological and pedagogical assistance to patients.
Classification of mental illness
To date, there are many ways to classify such diseases. We present only a few of them.
- The first classification is based on the selection next feature- external or internal cause mental illness. Hence, external (exogenous) diseases are pathologies that have arisen as a result of human exposure to alcohol, drugs, industrial poisons and waste, radiation, viruses, microbes, brain injuries and injuries affecting the activity of the central nervous system. Internal mental pathologies (endogenous) are those that are caused by a person's genetic predisposition and the circumstances of his personal life, as well as the social environment and social contacts.
- The second classification is based on the allocation of symptoms of diseases, based on the defeat of the emotional-volitional or personal sphere of a person and the factor in the course of the disease. Today this classification is considered classical; it was approved in 1997 by the World Health Organization (WHO). This classification identifies 11 types of diseases, most of which will be discussed in this article.
According to the degree of course, all mental illnesses are divided into mild ones, which cannot cause serious harm to human health, and severe ones, which pose a direct threat to life.
Let us briefly outline the main types of mental disorders, give their detailed classification, and also give them a detailed and comprehensive classical description.
The first disease: when severe doubts torment
The most common mental disorder is anancaste personality disorder. This condition is characterized by a person's tendency to excessive doubt and stubbornness, preoccupation with unnecessary details, obsessions and obsessive caution.
Anancastic personality disorder also manifests itself in the fact that the patient cannot violate any of the rules adopted by him, he behaves inflexibly, shows intractability. He is characterized by excessive perfectionism, manifested in the constant pursuit of excellence and constant dissatisfaction with the results of his work and life. It is typical for such people to come to a difficult state as a result of any life failures.
Anancaste personality disorder in psychoanalysis is considered as borderline mental illness(that is, the state of accentuation, which is on the verge of norm and deviation). The reason for its occurrence is the inability of patients to own the world of their emotions and feelings. According to psychotherapists, people who experience such emotionally uncomfortable unstable personality disorders were punished in childhood by their parents for not being able to control their behavior.
In adulthood, they retained the fear of punishment for losing control of themselves. It is not easy to get rid of this mental illness, the specialists of the Freudian school offer hypnosis, psychotherapy and the method of suggestion as methods of treatment.
Disease two: when hysteria becomes a way of life
A mental disorder that manifests itself in the fact that the patient is constantly looking for a way to attract attention to himself is called hysterical personality disorder. This mental illness is characterized by the fact that a person by any means wants to achieve recognition from others of his significance, the fact of his existence.
hysterical disorder personalities are often also called acting or theatrical. Indeed, a person suffering from such a mental disorder behaves like a real actor: he plays various roles in front of people in order to arouse sympathy or admiration. People often blame him for misbehavior, and a person with this mental illness is justified by the fact that he cannot live otherwise.
According to psychiatrists, people with hysterical personality disorder are prone to exaggerated emotionality, suggestibility, desire for excitement, seductive behavior and increased attention to their physical attractiveness (the latter is understandable, because patients think that the better they look, the more they like others). The causes of hysterical personality disorder should be sought in a person's childhood.
According to scientists of the psychoanalytic Freudian school, this type of mental disorder is formed during puberty in girls and boys, whose parents forbid them to develop their sexuality. In any case, the manifestation of hysterical personality disorder is a signal to parents who sincerely love their child that they should reconsider the principles of their upbringing. Histrionic personality disorder does not respond well to medical treatment. As a rule, when diagnosing it, psychotherapy of the Freudian school, hypnosis, as well as psychodrama and symbol-drama are used.
Disease three: when egocentrism is above all
Another type of mental illness is narcissistic personality disorder. What it is?
In this state, a person is sure that he is a unique subject, endowed with great talents and entitled to occupy the highest level in society. Narcissistic personality disorder gets its name from the ancient mythological hero Narcissus, who loved himself so much that he was turned into a flower by the gods.
Mental disorders of this kind are manifested in the fact that patients have great conceit, they are absorbed in fantasies about their high position in society, they believe in their own exclusivity, they need the admiration of others, they do not know how to sympathize with others, they behave extremely arrogantly.
Usually, others blame people with such a mental pathology for. Indeed, selfishness and narcissism are true (but not the main) signs of this disease. Narcissistic personality disorder is not easily drug treatment. As a rule, psychotherapy (art therapy, sand therapy, game therapy, symbol-drama, psychodrama, animal therapy and others), hypnotic suggestions and methods of consultative psychological conversation are used in the treatment.
Fourth disease: when it is difficult to be a two-faced Janus
Mental disorders are diverse. One of their types is bipolar disorder personality. The symptoms of this disease are frequent change mood in patients. A person laughs merrily at his problems in the morning, and weeps bitterly over them in the evening, although nothing has changed in his life. The danger of bipolar personality disorder is that a person, falling into depression may commit suicide.
An example of such a patient can be patient N., who, having come to an appointment with a psychotherapist, complained that in the morning he was always in a great mood, he wakes up, goes to work, communicates friendly with others there, but by the evening his mood begins to deteriorate sharply , and by night he does not know how to appease his spiritual anguish and pain. The patient himself called his condition night depressions (in addition, he complained of poor night sleep and nightmares). Upon closer examination, it turned out that the cause of this state of a person was a serious hidden conflict with his wife, they have not found it for a long time. common language and each time returning to his home, the patient experiences fatigue, longing and a feeling of dissatisfaction with life.
Disease five: when suspicion reaches the limit
Mental disorders have been known to mankind for a long time, although their symptoms and ways of treatment could not be determined until the end. This also applies to paranoid personality disorder. In this state, a person has excessive suspicion, he suspects anyone and anything. He is vindictive, his attitude towards others comes to hatred.
Paranoid personality disorder also manifests itself in such symptoms as belief in "conspiracy theories", suspicion of one's relatives and friends, eternal struggle with others for rights, constant discontent and painful experiences of failure.
Psychoanalysts call the cause of such mental disorders a negative projection, when a person seeks to find in those around him those qualities that he himself does not like in himself, he transfers them from himself (considering himself ideal) to other people.
Overcoming this mental disorder with drugs is ineffective, as a rule, active methods of psychological interaction are used.
Such a state of mind of the patient, as a rule, causes many complaints from others. People of this type cause hostility, they are asocial, so their mental illness entails serious consequences and, above all, social trauma.
Disease six: when emotions are in full swing
A mental state characterized by emotional instability, hyperexcitability, high anxiety and lack of connection with reality, commonly referred to as borderline personality disorder.
Borderline personality disorder is an emotionally unstable personality disorder. Borderline personality disorder has been described in a diverse scientific literature. In this state, a person cannot control his emotional-volitional sphere. At the same time, there is a debate in science about whether borderline personality disorder is considered a serious type of mental disorder or not. Some authors consider the root cause borderline disorder personality nervous exhaustion.
In any case, borderline personality disorder is a state between the norm and deviation. The danger of borderline personality disorder is the tendency of patients to suicidal behavior, so this disease is considered in psychiatry as quite serious.
Borderline personality disorder has following symptoms: a tendency to unstable relationships with idealization and subsequent depreciation, impulsiveness, accompanied by a feeling of emptiness, the manifestation of strong anger and other affects, suicidal behavior. The methods of treatment of borderline personality disorder are diverse, they include both psychotherapeutic (art therapy, game therapy, psychodrama, symbol-drama, psychodrama, sand therapy), and medicinal methods(in the treatment of depression).
Disease seventh: when a person has a teenage crisis
Mental disorders can have a variety of manifestations. There is such a disease when a person experiences a state of extreme nervous excitement during acute crisis moments of his life. This condition in psychology is called transient personality disorder.
Transient personality disorder is characterized by the short duration of its manifestation. Usually this mental disorder observed in adolescents and adolescents. A transient personality disorder manifests itself in a sharp change in behavior towards deviation (that is, deviations from normal behavior). This condition is associated with the rapid psychophysiological maturation of a teenager, when he cannot control his internal state. Also, the cause of transient personality disorder can be the stress experienced by a teenager due to the loss loved one, unsuccessful love, betrayal, conflicts at school with teachers and so on.
Let's take an example. Teenager - exemplary student, a good son, and suddenly in the 9th grade he becomes uncontrollable, begins to behave rudely and cynically, stops studying, argues with teachers, disappears on the street until night, hangs out with dubious companies. Parents and teachers, of course, begin to “educate” and “reason” such an adult child in every possible way, but their efforts stumble upon even greater misunderstanding and negative attitude from this teenager. However, adult mentors should think about whether a child has such a severe mental illness as transient personality disorder? Maybe he needs serious psychiatric help? And notations and threats only increase the course of the disease?
It should be noted that, as a rule, such a disease does not require drug treatment, in its therapy, non-directive methods of providing psychological assistance are used: psychological counseling, conversation, sand therapy and other types of art therapy. With proper treatment of transient personality disorder, manifestations deviant behavior disappear after a few months. However, this disease tends to return at times of crisis, so if necessary, the course of therapy can be repeated.
Disease eight: when the inferiority complex has reached its limit
Mental illnesses find their expression in people who suffered from an inferiority complex in childhood and who could not adulthood overcome it completely. This condition can lead to anxiety disorder. Anxiety personality disorder manifests itself in the desire for social isolation, a tendency to experience negative assessment of one's behavior by others, and avoidance of social interaction with people.
In Soviet psychiatry, anxiety personality disorder was commonly referred to as "psychasthenia". The causes of this mental disorder are a combination of social, genetic and pedagogical factors. Also, a melancholic temperament can have an impact on the development of anxiety personality disorder.
Patients who have been diagnosed with signs of an anxious personality disorder create a kind of protective cocoon around themselves, inside which they do not let anyone in. A classic example such a person can become the famous Gogol image of the “man in a case”, the eternally ill gymnasium teacher who suffered from social phobia. Therefore, it is rather difficult anxiety disorder personality to provide a person with comprehensive assistance: patients withdraw into themselves and reject all the efforts of a psychiatrist to help them.
Other types of mental disorders
Having described the main types of mental disorders, consider the main characteristics of the lesser known of them.
- If a person is afraid to take independent steps in life in the performance of any deeds, plans, this is a dependent personality disorder.
Diseases of this type characterized by the patient's feeling of helplessness in life. Dependent personality disorder is manifested in the deprivation of a sense of responsibility for one's actions. A manifestation of dependent personality disorder is the fear of independent living and the fear of being abandoned. significant person. The cause of dependent personality disorder is a family parenting style such as overprotectiveness and an individual tendency to fear. In family education, parents inspire their child with the idea that without them he will be lost, constantly repeating to him that the world is full of dangers and difficulties. Having matured, a son or daughter brought up in this way seeks support all his life and finds it either in the person of his parents, or in the person of spouses, or in the person of friends and girlfriends. Overcoming a dependent personality disorder occurs with the help of psychotherapy, however, this method will also be ineffective if the patient's anxiety has gone far. - If a person cannot control their emotions, then this is an emotionally unstable personality disorder.
Emotionally unstable personality disorder has the following manifestations: increased impulsivity, combined with a tendency to affective states. A person refuses to control his state of mind: he may cry because of a trifle or be rude to his best friend because of a penny insult. Emotionally unstable personality disorder is treated with exposure therapy and other types of psychotherapy. Psychological help is effective only when the patient himself wants to change and is aware of his illness, but if this does not happen, any help is practically useless. - When a deep traumatic brain injury was experienced, it is an organic personality disorder.
With an organic personality disorder, the patient undergoes a change in the structure of the brain (due to injury or other serious illness). An organic personality disorder is dangerous because a person who has not previously suffered from mental disorders cannot control his behavior. Therefore, the risk of organic personality disorder is high in all people who have experienced brain injury. This is one of the deepest mental illnesses associated with disruption of the central nervous system. Getting rid of an organic personality disorder is possible only in a medical way or even direct surgery. Avoidant personality disorder. This term characterizes a state of mind in which people seek to avoid failures in their behavior, therefore they withdraw into themselves. Avoidant personality disorder is characterized by a loss of self-confidence, apathy, and suicidal ideation. Withdrawal from avoidant personality disorder is associated with the use of psychotherapy. - Infantile personality disorder.
It is characterized by the desire of a person to return to the state of a wounded childhood in order to protect himself from the problems that have piled up. Such a short-term or long-term condition, as a rule, is experienced by people who were dearly loved by their parents in childhood. Their childhood was comfortable and calm. Therefore, in adult life, faced with insurmountable difficulties for themselves, they seek salvation in returning to childhood memories and copying their childhood behavior. You can overcome such an ailment with the help of Freudian or Ericksonian hypnosis. These types of hypnosis differ from each other in the power of influence on the patient's personality: if the first hypnosis involves a directive method of influence, in which the patient is completely dependent on the opinions and desires of the psychiatrist, then the second hypnosis involves a more careful attitude towards the patient, such hypnosis is indicated for those who does not suffer from serious forms of this disease.
How dangerous are mental illnesses?
Any mental illness harms a person no less than a disease of his body. Besides, in medical science It has long been known that there is a direct link between mental and physical illnesses. As a rule, it is emotional experiences that give rise to the most difficult forms. physical illness such as diabetes, cancer, tuberculosis, etc. Therefore, peace of mind and harmony with others and with oneself can cost a person additional decades of his life.
Therefore, mental illnesses are dangerous not so much for their manifestations (although they can be severe), but for their consequences. To treat such diseases is simply necessary. Without treatment, you will never achieve peace and joy, despite external comfort and well-being. Actually, these diseases belong to the field of medicine and psychology. These two directions are designed to save humanity from such serious ailments.
What to do if you find yourself showing signs of mental illness?
Reading this article, someone may find in himself the signs that were described above. However, do not be afraid of this for several reasons:
- firstly, you should not take everything upon yourself, a mental illness, as a rule, has a difficult internal and outward manifestation, therefore, simply speculation and fears are not its confirmation, sick people often experience such strong mental anguish that we never dreamed of them;
- secondly, the information you read may become a reason for visiting a psychiatrist's office, which will help you competently draw up a course of treatment for you if you are really sick;
- and thirdly, even if you are sick, you should not worry about this, the main thing is to determine the cause of your illness and be ready to make every effort to treat it.
At the end of our overview I would like to note that mental disorders are those mental illnesses that occur in people of any age and any nationality, they are very diverse. And it is often difficult to distinguish them from each other, which is why the term “mixed mental disorders” has appeared in the literature.
Under mixed disorder individuals understand such a state of mind of a person when it is impossible to accurately diagnose his disease.
This condition is considered rare in psychiatry, but it does occur. IN this case treatment is very difficult, since a person must be relieved of the consequences of his condition. However, knowing the manifestations of various mental disorders, it is easier to diagnose and then treat them.
And the last thing to remember is that all mental ailments can be cured, but such treatment requires more effort than overcoming ordinary bodily ailments. The soul is an extremely delicate and sensitive substance, so it must be handled with care.
Refers to a large number various 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, a characteristic is given.
General information
Psychiatry deals with the study of this category. Diagnosis is based on various factors. The study usually begins with a presentation of the 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, a required method treatment.
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 brain (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 feelings. 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 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 space or enclosed space. 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 on early stages 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 tempo mental activity. A person has great amount thoughts, desires, various plans, ideas 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. At easy course 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 associated with pathologies. internal organs. When describing such sensations, patients often use own definitions: "rustling under the ribs", "it seemed that the head comes off" and so on.
hypochondriacal syndrome
He is characterized by persistent concern for his own health. A person is haunted by thoughts about the presence of 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, more deep research. 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 indoors, but also to 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 sensations bad smell(rotting, some food, decay), 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 are different various form. 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 conditions are characteristic of disorders motor sphere: or, on the contrary, excitement. 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 favorable outcome 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 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 specific situation. People are not able to think logically, correctly. In some cases, incoherence of thinking is observed.
All over the world suffer from one or another mental illness. According to other data, one in five people in the world has a mental or behavioral disorder.
In total, there are about 200 clinically diagnosed diseases, which can be roughly divided into five types: mood disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, disorders eating behavior, dementia.
Depression is the most common mental illness. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of disability worldwide, after cardiovascular disease. Slightly less common are general anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anorexia, and eating inedible objects.
How to recognize the first signs of the disease
This is fine. But, as soon as emotions begin to spoil life, they become a problem that indicates a possible mental disorder.
Signs of mental illness are fairly easy to spot. When we feel so anxious that we cannot go to the store, call the phone, speak without panic attacks. When we are so sad that our appetite disappears, there is no desire to get out of bed, it is impossible to concentrate on the simplest tasks.
Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Lecturer at King's College London
Looking at yourself in the mirror for too long, obsessing over your appearance can also talk about health problems. An equally serious signal should be changes in appetite (both an increase and a decrease), sleep patterns, and indifference to an interesting pastime. All of these can indicate depression.
The voices in your head are signs of a much more serious problem. And, of course, not everyone who suffers from a mental illness hears them. Not everyone who is depressed will cry. Symptoms are always variable and may vary by age and gender. Some people may not notice changes in themselves. But, if the changes that speak of the disease are obvious to the people around, then you should contact a psychiatrist.
What causes mental illness
The causes of mental illness combine natural and social factors. However, some illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, may appear due to a genetic predisposition.
Mental illness occurs twice as often after natural Disasters and disasters. It is also affected by changes in the life and physical health of a person. However, the exact causes of the disorder are currently unknown.
How to make a diagnosis
Of course, you can do self-diagnosis and look for descriptions of problems on the Internet. This can be useful, but such results should be trusted with great caution. It is best to contact a specialist for qualified assistance.
Medical diagnosis can take a very long time, maybe years. Diagnosis is the beginning, not the end. Each case proceeds individually.
How to be treated
The concept of "mental illness" has changed over time. Today, electrotherapy is banned, like many other forms of treatment, so patients are trying to help with drugs and psychotherapy. However, therapy is not a panacea, and medicines are most often insufficiently studied due to low funding and the impossibility of conducting mass studies. It is impossible to treat such diseases according to the template.
Is a cure possible?
Yes. People can fully recover from acute illness and learn to overcome chronic conditions. The diagnosis can change, and life can get better. After all, the main goal of treatment is to give a person the opportunity to live the life he wants.
characterized by disorders of mental, intellectual activity of varying severity and emotional disorders. Psychotic disorders are understood as the most striking manifestations of mental illness, in which the mental activity of the patient does not correspond to the surrounding reality, the reflection of the real world in the mind is sharply distorted, which manifests itself in behavioral disorders, the appearance of abnormal pathological symptoms and syndromes.
Provides for psychosis and other mental disorders resulting from trauma, brain tumors, encephalitis, meningitis, syphilis of the brain, as well as senile and presenile psychoses, vascular, degenerative and others. organic diseases or brain damage.
Psychiatric disorders include post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoia, as well as mental and behavioral disorders associated with reproductive function in women ( premenstrual syndrome, disorders of the period of pregnancy, disorders of the postpartum period - "birth blues", postpartum depression, postpartum (puerperal) psychosis). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder- a disorder of mental activity due to psychosocial stress, excessive in its intensity.
Causes of mental disorders
Neuropsychiatric disorders due to the multitude of causes that cause them are extremely diverse. These are depressions, and psychomotor agitations, and manifestations alcoholic delirium, withdrawal syndrome, and different kinds delirium, and memory impairment, and hysterical attacks, and much more. Let's look at some of these reasons.
neuroses
The first step to the exhaustion of the nervous system is elementary anxiety. Agree, how often we begin to imagine incredible things, drawing various horrors, and then it turns out that all the worries are in vain. Then, as it develops critical situation anxiety can develop into more serious nervous disorders, which leads to violations of not only the mental perception of a person, but also to failures of various systems of internal organs.
Neurasthenia
Such a mental disorder as neurasthenia occurs in response to prolonged exposure to a traumatic situation and is accompanied by a person’s high fatigue, exhaustion of mental activity against the background of excessive excitability and constant grumpiness over trifles. Moreover, excitability and irritability are protective methods against the final destruction of nerves. People with a sense of duty and anxiety, as well as those who do not get enough sleep and are burdened with many worries, are especially prone to neurasthenia.
Hysterical neurosis
Hysterical neurosis arises as a result of a strong traumatic situation, and a person does not try to resist it, but, on the contrary, "runs away" into it, forcing himself to experience the full severity of this experience. Hysterical neurosis can last from several minutes, hours to several years, and more than a long period it spreads, the stronger the mental disorder can be, and only by changing the person's attitude to his illness and seizures, you can achieve the cessation of this disease.
Depression
TO neurotic disorders also include depression, which is characterized by a lack of joy, a pessimistic perception of life, sadness and unwillingness to change anything in one's life. It can be accompanied by insomnia, refusal to eat, from sexual intercourse, lack of desire to do one's own business, including one's favorite thing. Often the manifestation of depression is expressed in a person's apathy to what is happening, sadness, he seems to be in his own dimension, does not notice the people around him. For some, depression motivates them to turn to alcohol, drugs, and other unhealthy drugs. The aggravation of depression is dangerous because the patient, losing criticality and adequacy of thinking, can commit suicide, unable to withstand the burden of the severity of this disease.
Chemical substances
Also, the cause of such disorders can be the impact of various chemical substances, these substances can be some drugs, and food components, and industrial poisons. Damage to other organs and systems (eg, endocrine system, vitamin deficiencies, malnutrition) causes the development of psychoses.
Traumatic brain injury
Also, as a result of various craniocerebral injuries, passing, prolonged and chronic disorders psyche, sometimes quite heavy. Oncology of the brain and its other gross pathology are almost always accompanied by one or another mental disorder.
Toxic Substances
Toxic substances are another cause of mental disorders (alcohol, drugs, heavy metals and other chemicals). All that is listed above, all these harmful factors, under certain conditions can cause a mental disorder, under other conditions - only contribute to the onset of the disease or its exacerbation.
Heredity
Also burdened heredity increases the risk of developing mental illness, but not always. For example, some kind of mental pathology may appear if it was encountered in previous generations, but it may also appear if it never existed. The influence of the hereditary factor on development mental pathology remains far from being explored.
We live in times of constant stress. Therefore, hand on heart, today everyone can admit that he has some out of the ordinary states of the psyche. Who hasn't had a fortune inexplicable anxiety? We all experience fear in childhood, and growing up, it happens, we begin to suffer from insomnia. Or some musical hit is spinning in your head for several days in a row. In fact, as episodic manifestations, such manifestations are within the normal range and pass after some time.
It is quite another matter if similar states drag on for weeks or months and begin to affect work and personal life. Unfortunately, mentally ill people, for the most part, do not understand their conditions. Only a few are able to realize that something is wrong with them and ask for help. The rest believe that they are normal, but something is wrong with the outside world. Majority serious illnesses begins with almost imperceptible symptoms, and in order to determine the signs of a mental disorder, it is necessary, at a minimum, to imagine how they manifest themselves.
What is a mental disorder
In essence, mental illness, starting as a mental disorder, first changes the person's behavior, and then personality changes occur. At the same time, the patient's reaction goes beyond the norms of adequacy and the rules of behavior accepted in society.
Keep in mind that mental illness brings suffering, and, first of all, to the patient himself, then to his relatives and further to society. Therefore, it is completely wrong to blame or reproach a sick person for his wrong behavior. After all, you don’t scold a flu patient for a high temperature, but try to cure him as soon as possible? Yes, a mentally ill person is a trouble in the family. But the sooner symptoms are identified and treatment is started, the more likely convalescence. Therefore, one cannot be indifferent to what happens to a loved one. And for this, it is possible, at least in order to increase erudition, to study the signs of a mental disorder and simply be more attentive to your surroundings.
Do not sound the alarm if you notice any of the following symptoms in the behavior of your family or colleagues. It is worth to start to look closely and identify their regularity. Although this does not apply to all symptoms: for example, a sign of epilepsy - convulsions and loss of consciousness, immediately indicates that you need to urgently see a doctor.
Some signs of the onset of mental illness
It is possible to assume mental disorders in cases where the following occurs:
- a radical change in personality;
- loss of ability to carry out daily activities;
- the emergence of strange ideas;
- increased anxiety or deep apathy;
- a noticeable change in the regime of the day;
- the appearance in conversations of the topic of suicide;
- sharp mood swings - from euphoria to deep depression;
- alcohol or drug abuse;
- hostile, uncompromising behavior.
The main signs of a mental disorder include hallucinations, delusions and emotional states, which may have varying degrees of severity and compatibility.
Auditory and visual hallucinations
Hallucinations can be manifested by an external reaction in different ways. So if you notice that a person is talking to himself, this may be a symptom. When alone, people may well talk to themselves, but it is rather their own thoughts spoken out loud. Another thing is if a person speaks to himself in the presence of others, or rather not with himself, but as if with an invisible interlocutor, while showing any emotions.
If your loved one suddenly starts laughing without apparent reason and at the same time does not invite you to laugh with him, this is also alarm symptom especially if this happens repeatedly. Or, on the contrary, in the process of communication, he suddenly stops abruptly, as if he has heard or is listening to something.
Another symptom is constant anxiety, due to which it is not possible to focus on the topic of conversation. This can be annoying, but if this happens often, your opponent may have a mental problem. Especially uncomfortable when you see a person in front of you who hears or sees something that you do not hear or see.
delusional states
These are the most frequent clinical symptoms mental illness, which are harbingers or already a manifestation of schizophrenia or senile psychosis. This is not the kind of nonsense that can appear in a sick person when high temperature, although in this case, brain disorders are caused just by the critical state of the brain due to elevated temperature.
This refers to an erroneous or unrealistic judgment, presented as the ultimate truth. Most often, such a state takes the form:
- hostility towards others;
- statements of dubious content;
- panic fear in the form of fears for one's life or for the life of others and in the form of protective actions - locking windows and doors;
- suspicious attitude towards food, etc.
For example, very often it seems to such mentally ill people that some specific people - neighbors, relatives - are hostile towards them. Some suspect that they are being followed for the purpose of arrest, destruction, or robbery. Intellectually savvy people believe that they are being monitored by hidden surveillance systems or exposed to harmful radiation. Elderly people often begin to accuse all relatives of robbing them or write complaints about neighbors to various authorities.
There are crazy ideas that relate to personal health - for example, some find various diseases in themselves and, despite the fact that the examination refutes them, they continue to insist on their own, exhausting relatives and doctors. And there is the so-called love delirium, when a person believes that a certain person of the opposite sex is interested in him and sends secret signs of attention.
Suicide risk
Almost all mental disorders are fraught with thoughts of suicide. Be attentive to your loved ones, observe their behavior. The alarm is worth sounding if:
- there are frequent conversations about their uselessness and uselessness;
- a person stops making plans for the future;
- the delusional state is manifested in the certainty of the presence of an incurable disease;
- sudden calmness, which replaced the depression and anxiety already familiar to everyone, is an especially dangerous symptom if at the same time a person begins to put his affairs in order.
Where do mental illnesses come from?
Some people mistakenly believe that a change in the behavior of their loved one is associated with poor education or falling under a “bad influence” and try to re-educate him. It may take several precious years for the possibility of a cure, until others realize that in fact there is a mental disorder.
In fact, mental illnesses are also illnesses that require treatment. Their cause may be intoxication due to the use of alcohol or drugs. There are hereditary or congenital causes, age-related changes stress factors. But any mental illness requires attention and treatment by specialists, and should not cause complaints in the direction of a sick person.
How to deal with those who may have a mental disorder
If a person suffers from delusions or hallucinations, first of all, you should not ask him in detail and clarify the details. Arguing can also aggravate the condition, so first of all try to take it seriously, listen carefully and try to calm down. When the supposedly ill person will be in a relatively calm state, try to persuade him to pay a visit to the doctor. In case of violent behavior, call psychiatric help. It is especially necessary to treat patients with suicidal ideation carefully, and try to seek professional help as soon as possible.