Dictionary of psychiatric terms: Names of symptoms and signs. Human mental disorder, symptoms, treatment, types, causes

Human health can be considered both moral and physical. The psychological state plays a vital role in the normal functioning of a person.

Unfortunately, today almost 30% of the population has some kind of mental disorder. In most of these cases, the violations are almost invisible. At the same time, behavior and vitality in society remain within normal limits. Other categories have obvious problems that bring discomfort to the patient and the people around him.

What is a mental disorder?

In order to clearly know how to help a person with moral deviations, you need to understand what a mental disorder is.

A group of diseases that affect the general state of the nervous system and human behavior are mental disorders. These diseases can occur due to disturbances in metabolic processes in the human brain. A mental disorder can have the following consequences:

a person begins to think unreasonably;
unable to make the right decisions independently;
reacts too emotionally to what is happening;
does inappropriate things;
there is an impossibility of full communication.

In acute types of the disorder, patients find it difficult to tolerate reality and cannot coexist in society.

Types of mental disorders

To know what mental disorders there are, you need to clearly understand the cause of their occurrence. Due to a disturbance in the structure or functioning of the brain, a mental disorder may appear. There can be two categories of influencing factors:

Exogenous. This refers to external circumstances acting on the body: drugs, poisons, alcohol, harmful radiation, viruses, mental trauma, head injuries and pathologies.
Endogenous. This includes genetic abnormalities and diseases that are inherited.

It is not very encouraging that the causes of quite a large number of mental disorders are still unknown.

The group of people more prone to mental disorders includes:

patients with diabetes;
people with cerebral vascular dysfunction;
patients with infections, etc.

In medicine, there is a classification that clearly displays the types of mental disorders. With its help, it is possible to quickly determine a possible diagnosis and begin immediate treatment.

Video about the types and signs of mental disorders

Types of disorders that occur most frequently:

Anxious state. Patients with this disease react to the current situation, object or person with strongly expressed emotions (fear, horror, anxiety). At the same time, a person himself cannot control his behavior, which does not correspond to an adequate reaction.
Mood disorders. Patients are constantly depressed, or suddenly fall into an absolutely happy state; these periods can replace each other. This includes depression, mania, etc.
Disorders of representation and thinking. Hallucinations and delusions occur, such as schizophrenia.
Eating disorders. With this type of mental disorder, violent reactions occur in matters of food and body weight. Examples: anorexia, bulimia, overeating.
Impaired control of the will. Patients with such diseases are unable to resist anyone’s beliefs; they succumb to any action. Example: kleptomania, pyromania.
Personality disorder. Such people are always distinguished by their extreme behavior, and do not always take root in society. For example, antisocial behavior, paranoia.

Other disorders are very diverse, they have their own specificity and manifestation.

Mental personality disorders (psychopathy)

The category of mental personality disorders includes a separate group of mental illnesses. Patients experience a long, gradual distortion of thinking and behavior that is considered unhealthy by society. The behavior of such people usually leads to disagreements in the family, at work, and in other contacts. They are often prone to conflict.

The causes of this type of disease can be: drugs, alcohol, toxic substances, head injuries.

The manifestation can be either mild, moderate or severe. The patient is unable to realize that he is unwell and that he needs help. The patient thinks, perceives, feels and treats others differently than everyone else.

Treatment of such a disorder is long-term, but effective, having many different techniques. It is important that a highly qualified specialist takes part in the treatment.

Borderline mental disorders are a separate category of diseases that may have common and distinctive features with mental disorders. These may arise and occur as a result of certain social factors. This group does not include neurotic and nervous symptoms.

Borderline disorders can be treated like other diseases of this kind. Correct diagnosis and treatment system remain important aspects.

Symptoms and signs of mental disorders

Each mental disorder is accompanied by certain disorders of thinking and behavior that do not correspond to those generally accepted in society. To a greater extent, the signs of a mental disorder are associated with a state when the patient is depressed and the body is unable to perform certain functions.

At the first stages, the symptoms of mental disorders may be insignificant and unnoticeable, but if left untreated they can become pronounced. Friends, close people, or the patient himself notice the following changes:

Physiological (pain, insomnia).
Moral (the appearance of sudden sadness, anxiety, fear, joy).
Cognitive (inability to think clearly, unhealthy beliefs, memory impairment).
Behavior (aggressiveness, failure to do basic things).
Hallucinations (visual, auditory, etc.).

If these symptoms are detected and are abnormal (appear for no reason), then in this case it is necessary to seek help from specialists.

Mental disorders in women

Since women are different from men, they have their own mental characteristics too. Signs of mental disorder in women are most often associated with a certain group of diseases, for example:

Depressive state. Women suffer from depression twice as often as men.
Anxiety and phobias. They occur as often as in men, but have more severe consequences. They are especially dangerous during pregnancy.
Post-traumatic stress disorder. Often occurs after injury.
Suicide attempts. Although there are more deaths from suicide among the stronger sex, women are much more likely to attempt it.
Eating disorders. Women are very susceptible to anorexia, bulimia and gluttony.

Symptoms of a mental disorder in women and men (of the same disease) can differ significantly. This is due to the following factors:

biological – hormonal characteristics of the body;
socio-cultural – the position of a woman in society is lower than a man, multiple responsibilities, attention to appearance, danger from those who can cause harm (thieves, rapists).

Mental disorders in men

In the stronger sex, mental disorders are more common. The main mental diseases in men are schizophrenia, neuroses, manic-depressive syndromes, and phobias of various types. Young people are often more susceptible to disorders.

Video about what mental disorders are

Signs of a mental disorder in men depend on the disease itself and can manifest itself as follows:

Frequent mood swings. The state can change from cheerful to sad and completely indifferent without any reason.
Fatal jealousy. Without a reason that goes beyond reasonable limits.
Blaming others for your failures and problems.
Tendency to get offended over trifles.
Self-containment.
Sloppiness.

In some cases, the opposite effects of moral deviation may be observed.

There are a huge number of causes, types and symptoms of mental disorders. Some origin factors still remain unknown. Moral deviations can manifest themselves differently in men and women. Treatment of mental illness depends on a number of factors, which must be determined by a highly qualified specialist.

Do you know people with mental disorders? What do you think about these diseases? Share your opinion on

Today, the science of the soul—psychology—has long ceased to be the “handmaiden of the bourgeoisie,” as the classics of Leninism once defined it. More and more people are interested in psychology, and are also trying to learn more about such a branch as mental disorders.

Many books, monographs, textbooks, scientific studies and scientific papers have been written on this topic. In this short article we will try to briefly answer the questions of what mental disorders are, 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, at a life turn of fate, he will be overtaken by a serious mental illness. You shouldn’t 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 mental illness is.
In psychological science, this term is usually used to describe a state of a person’s 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. 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 developmental pathology), as well as changes in his medical condition (the quality of his life deteriorates until it is destroyed) and social condition (a person can no longer live as a full-fledged member of society, enter into certain productive relationships with the people around you). From here comes the conclusion that such conditions bring harm to a person, therefore they must be overcome both with the help of medication and with the help of psychological and pedagogical assistance to patients.

Classification of mental illnesses

Today there are many ways to classify such diseases. Let's list just a few of them.

The first classification is based on identifying the following symptom - the external or internal cause of mental illness. Hence, external (exogenous) diseases are pathologies that arise as a result of human exposure to alcohol, drugs, industrial poisons and waste, radiation, viruses, microbes, brain trauma and injuries affecting the activity of the central nervous system. Internal mental pathologies (endogenous) are considered to be 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 identifying the symptoms of diseases, based on the damage to the emotional-volitional or personal sphere of a person and the factor in the course of the disease. Today this classification is considered classic; 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 progression, all mental illnesses are divided into mild, which cannot cause serious harm to a person’s health, and severe, which pose a direct threat to his life.

Let us briefly outline the main types of mental disorders, give them a detailed classification, and also give them a detailed and comprehensive classical description.

The first disease: when tormented by severe doubts

The most common mental disorder is anancastic personality disorder. This condition is characterized by a person’s tendency to excessive doubts and stubbornness, preoccupation with unnecessary details, obsessions and obsessive caution.

Anancastic personality disorder also manifests itself in the fact that the patient cannot break any of the rules he has accepted, he behaves inflexibly, and shows intractability. He is characterized by excessive perfectionism, manifested in a constant striving for perfection and constant dissatisfaction with the results of his work and life. It is common for such people to come to a serious state as a result of any failures in life.

Anancastic personality disorder in psychoanalysis is considered as a borderline mental illness (that is, a state of accentuation that is on the verge of normality and deviation). The reason for its occurrence is the inability of patients to master the world of their emotions and feelings. According to psychotherapists, people experiencing such emotionally uncomfortable unstable personality disorders were punished by their parents in childhood 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; specialists of the Freudian school offer hypnosis, psychotherapy and the method of suggestion as treatment methods.

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 histrionic personality disorder. This mental illness is characterized by the fact that a person by any means wants to achieve recognition from others of his importance, the fact of his existence.

Hysterical personality disorder is often called acting or theatrical disorder. 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 evoke sympathy or admiration. Often those around him blame him for unworthy behavior, and a person with this mental illness makes an excuse by saying that he cannot live otherwise.

According to psychiatrists, people with hysterical personality disorder are prone to exaggerated emotionality, suggestibility, a 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 others like them). The causes of histrionic 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 must reconsider the principles of their upbringing. Histrionic personality disorder is difficult to treat with medication. 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 else

Another type of mental illness is narcissistic personality disorder. What it is?
In this state, a person is confident that he is a unique subject, endowed with enormous 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 enormous conceit, they are absorbed in fantasies about their high position in society, believe in their own exclusivity, need admiration from others, do not know how to sympathize with others, and behave extremely arrogantly.

Usually people around him accuse people with such mental pathology. Indeed, selfishness and narcissism are sure (but not the main) signs of this disease. Narcissistic personality disorder is difficult to treat with medication. As a rule, psychotherapy (art therapy, sand therapy, play therapy, symbol-drama, psychodrama, animal therapy and others), hypnotic suggestions and methods of advisory psychological conversation are used in treatment.

Disease four: when it is difficult to be a two-faced Janus

Mental disorders are diverse. One of their types is bipolar personality disorder. Symptoms of this disease include frequent mood swings in patients. A person laughs cheerfully at his problems in the morning, and in the evening he cries bitterly over them, although nothing has changed in his life. The danger of bipolar personality disorder is that a person, falling into a depressed state, can commit suicide.

An example of such a patient would be patient N., who, having come to see a psychotherapist, complained that in the morning he is always in a great mood, he wakes up, goes to work, communicates friendly with others there, but in the evening his mood begins to deteriorate sharply , and by nightfall he doesn’t know how to relieve his mental anguish and pain. The patient himself called his condition nocturnal depression (in addition, he complained of poor night sleep and nightmares). Upon closer examination, it turned out that the reason for this person’s condition was a serious hidden conflict with his wife; they had not found a common language for a long time, and every time returning to his home, the patient experiences fatigue, melancholy and a feeling of dissatisfaction with life.

The fifth disease: when suspicion reaches its limit

Mental disorders have long been known to mankind, although their symptoms and treatment options could not be fully determined. This also applies to paranoid personality disorder. In this state, a person is excessively suspicious; he suspects anyone and anything. He is vindictive, his attitude towards others reaches the point of hatred.

Paranoid personality disorder also manifests itself in symptoms such as belief in “conspiracy theories,” suspicion of one’s family and friends, constant struggle with others for rights, constant dissatisfaction and painful experiences of failure.

Psychoanalysts call the cause of such mental disorders negative projection, when a person strives to find in others those qualities that he is not satisfied with in himself, he transfers them from himself (considering himself ideal) to other people.

Overcoming this mental disorder with medications is ineffective; as a rule, active methods of psychological interaction are used.

Such a mental state of the patient, as a rule, causes many complaints from others. People of this type cause hostility, they are antisocial, so their mental illness entails serious consequences and, above all, social trauma.

Disease six: when emotions run high

A mental condition characterized by emotional instability, increased excitability, high anxiety and lack of connection with reality is commonly called borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder is an emotionally unstable personality disorder. Borderline personality disorder has been described in a wide range of scientific literature. In such a state, a person cannot control his emotional-volitional sphere. At the same time, there is debate in science about whether borderline personality disorder should be considered a serious type of mental disorder or not. Some authors consider nervous exhaustion to be the root cause of borderline personality disorder.

In any case, borderline personality disorder is a state between normality 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 the following symptoms: a tendency to unstable relationships with idealization and subsequent devaluation, impulsiveness accompanied by a feeling of emptiness, the manifestation of strong anger and other affects, and suicidal behavior. Treatment methods for borderline personality disorder are varied, they include both psychotherapeutic (art therapy, play therapy, psychodrama, symbol-drama, psychodrama, sand therapy) and medicinal methods (in the treatment of depressive conditions).

Disease seven: when a person has a teenage crisis

Mental disorders can have a wide variety of manifestations. There is a disease when a person experiences a state of extreme nervous excitement at acute crisis moments in his life. In psychology, this condition is usually called transient personality disorder.

Transient personality disorder is characterized by a short duration of its manifestation. Typically, this mental disorder is observed in adolescents and young adults. Transient personality disorder manifests itself in a sharp change in behavior towards deviation (that is, deviation 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 stress suffered by a teenager due to the loss of a loved one, unsuccessful love, betrayal, conflicts at school with teachers, etc.

Let's give an example. A teenager is an 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, naturally, begin to “educate” and “reason” such a mature child in every possible way, but their efforts run into even greater misunderstanding and negative attitude on the part of this teenager. However, adult mentors should think about whether a child might have such a serious mental illness as transient personality disorder? Maybe he needs serious psychiatric help? Do notations and threats only intensify the progression of the disease?

It should be noted that, as a rule, such a disease does not require drug treatment; its treatment uses non-directive methods of providing psychological assistance: psychological counseling, conversation, sand therapy and other types of art therapy. With proper treatment of transient personality disorder, manifestations of deviant behavior disappear after a few months. However, this disease tends to return in moments of crisis, so if necessary, the course of therapy can be re-prescribed.

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 were unable to completely overcome it in adulthood. In this state, an anxious personality disorder may develop. Anxious personality disorder manifests itself in a desire for social withdrawal, a tendency to worry about a negative assessment of one’s behavior from others, and avoidance of social interaction with people.

In Soviet psychiatry, anxious personality disorder was commonly referred to as “psychasthenia.” The causes of this mental disorder are a combination of social, genetic and educational factors. Melancholic temperament can also influence the development of an anxious personality disorder.

Patients diagnosed with signs of an anxious personality disorder create a kind of protective cocoon around themselves, into which they do not allow anyone. A classic example of such a person can be Gogol’s famous image of the “man in a case,” an eternally ill gymnasium teacher who suffered from social phobia. Therefore, it is quite difficult to provide comprehensive help to a person with an anxious personality disorder: patients withdraw into themselves and reject all the efforts of the psychiatrist to help them.

Other types of mental disorders

Having described the main types of mental disorders, we will consider the main characteristics of the lesser known ones.

If a person is afraid to take independent steps in life to accomplish any business or plans, this is a dependent personality disorder.
Diseases of this type are characterized by the patient’s feeling of helplessness in life. Dependent personality disorder manifests itself in the deprivation of a sense of responsibility for one's actions. A manifestation of dependent personality disorder is the fear of living independently and the fear of being abandoned by a significant person. The cause of dependent personality disorder is a style of family education such as overprotection and an individual tendency to fear. In family education, parents instill in their child the idea that he will be lost without them; they constantly repeat to him that the world is full of dangers and difficulties. Having matured, a son or daughter raised in this way spends his whole life looking for support and finds it either in the person of parents, or in the person of spouses, or in the person of friends and girlfriends. Overcoming dependent personality disorder occurs with the help of psychotherapy, however, this method will also be ineffective if the patient’s anxious state has gone far.
If a person cannot control his 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 mental state: he can cry over a trifle or be rude to his best friend because of a cheap 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; if this does not happen, any help is virtually useless.
When a deep traumatic brain injury has been experienced, this is an organic personality disorder.
In organic personality disorder, the patient's brain structure changes (due to injury or other serious illness). 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 only possible with medication or even direct surgical intervention. Avoidant personality disorder. This term characterizes a state of mind in which people strive to avoid failures in their behavior, and therefore withdraw into themselves. Avoidant personality disorder is characterized by a person's loss of faith in their own abilities, apathy, and suicidal intentions. Treatment for avoidant personality disorder involves the use of psychotherapy.
Infantile personality disorder.
It is characterized by a person’s desire to return to the state of wounded childhood in order to protect himself from the problems that have piled up. This short-term or long-term condition is usually experienced by people who were dearly loved by their parents in childhood. Their childhood was comfortable and calm. Therefore, in adult life, when faced with insurmountable difficulties, they seek salvation in returning to childhood memories and copying their childhood behavior. You can overcome such an illness 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 assumes 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 the illness of his body. In addition, medical science has long known that there is a direct connection between mental and physical illnesses. As a rule, it is mental experiences that give rise to the most severe forms of physical diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, tuberculosis, etc. Therefore, peace of mind and harmony with the people around you and with yourself 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. It is simply necessary to treat such diseases. 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 illnesses.

What to do if you discover signs of mental illness?

By reading this article, someone may discover in themselves the signs that were described above. However, you should not be afraid of this for several reasons:

firstly, you shouldn’t take everything upon yourself, mental illness, as a rule, has severe internal and external manifestations, so mere speculation and fears do not confirm it, sick people often experience such severe mental anguish that we never dreamed of it;
secondly, the information you read may become a reason to visit a psychiatrist’s office, who will help you competently draw up a course of treatment if you are really sick;
and thirdly, even if you are sick, you should not worry about it, the main thing is to determine the cause of your illness and be ready to make every effort to treat it.

In conclusion of our brief review, 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 they are often difficult to distinguish from each other, which is why the term “mixed mental disorders” has arisen in the literature.

Mixed personality disorder refers to a person’s state of mind when it is impossible to accurately diagnose his illness.

This condition is considered rare in psychiatry, but it does occur. In this case, treatment is very difficult, since the person needs to be saved from the consequences of his condition. However, knowing the manifestations of various mental disorders, it is easier to diagnose them and then treat them.

The last thing to remember is that all mental illnesses can be cured, but such treatment requires more effort than overcoming ordinary physical illnesses. The soul is an extremely delicate and sensitive substance, so it must be handled with care.

The human nervous system is like a network of wires, through which commands come from the brain and communicate with every part of the body. The brain is a kind of center of such a system. Commands from the brain come out through nerve fibers, which is why laughter arises, appetite is stimulated, sexual desire arises, etc. Nerves serve the brain like messengers. Through special areas of the nervous system, the brain receives information about everything that happens to the body.

Self-psychologists have coined the term “self-object” to refer to those people who fuel our sense of identity and self-worth through their affirmation, admiration, and approval. This term reflects the fact that individuals playing this role function both as objects outside the self and...

A feeling of unity with the Universe can be achieved by losing or overcoming your ego. The ego is the boundary that creates individual consciousness. Within this boundary is a self-sustaining energy system, the main feature of which is a state of excitation. In Figures 2.3 A-B the organism...

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

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

A state of obsession. The patient begins to have special thoughts that cannot be gotten rid of. Feelings of fear, depression, uncertainty and doubt increase. 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, the lights are turned off, the iron is turned off, etc.

Affective syndrome is the most common first sign of a mental disorder, which is accompanied by persistent changes in mood. Most often, the patient has a depressed mood with a depressive episode, much less often - mania, accompanied by an elevated mood. When a mental disorder is effectively treated, depression or mania is the last thing to go away. Against the background of affective disorder, a decrease is observed. The patient has difficulty making decisions. In addition, depression is accompanied by a number of somatic symptoms: 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 accelerates many times over, and you spend a minimum of time on sleep. Excess energy can be replaced by severe apathy and drowsiness.

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

Hypochondria, tactile and visual hallucinations, delusions, substance abuse - all this accompanies mental illness. Close relatives of the patient do not always immediately understand

Mental disorders

By 2020, diseases that are associated with mental disorders will appear in the top five diseases that lead to disability. This data is provided by the World Health Organization. According to recent studies, alarming symptoms worry every third resident of Russia.

Mental disorders occur for a number of reasons. These are external factors, heredity and genetic predisposition, although all the reasons are still not known to science.

Anything that disables the nervous system ultimately becomes the basis for the development of mental illnesses. Mental disorders occur for no apparent reason, and after stress, overwork, contact with toxic substances, consumption of alcohol and psychoactive substances.

Often, hereditary mental illnesses manifest themselves in childhood. Main symptoms:

developmental delay
excessive emotionality
severe reactions to harsh remarks and adverse events
inappropriate behavior

Other mental health problems become noticeable during adolescence. For example, signs of schizophrenia. Deviations that are associated with genetic predisposition also make themselves known early.

Mental illnesses are treatable. In our magazine, experienced psychiatrists and psychotherapists write about all the phenomena of psychiatry: about the clinical picture, diagnosis and methods that can return you to normal life. Who else to trust in such a serious matter if not competent and experienced doctors?

Doctors use clinical and laboratory methods to diagnose diseases. At the first stage, psychiatrists talk with the person and observe his behavior. There are laboratory and instrumental diagnostic methods - Neurotest and Neurophysiological test system.

Special medications can combat the disease. Experts prescribe antidepressants, tranquilizers, nootropics, and antipsychotics. Individual, group, family and gestalt therapy are also considered effective methods of rehabilitation.

Types of mental disorders

There are different approaches to dividing mental illness into types. Main types of mental disorders:

Mood disorders - depression, bipolar disorder
Neuroses - anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, neurasthenia
Schizophrenia and related diseases, various psychoses
Addictions - eating disorders, dependence on psychotropic substances

What mental illnesses there are are described in detail in the ICD, tenth revision. They are divided into 11 blocks.

The first group of classification includes mental complications after diseases and brain injuries and serious illnesses such as stroke. They are called organic mental disorders. This group includes symptomatic mental health problems (due to infections, cancer). Codes F00 - F09.

The next group (F10 - F19) describes diseases that are caused by substance abuse and addiction. We are talking about alcohol, drugs and other psychoactive substances. This group includes dependence and withdrawal syndromes.

Class with codes F20 - F29 characterizes schizophrenia, schizopytic and delusional disorders. They are characterized by distorted perception, which manifests itself in the form of hallucinations, and distorted thinking - the patient experiences delusional statements and ideas.

Mood disorders (also called affective) are indicated by codes F30 - F39. Their peculiarity is a change in emotions towards pessimistic views, anxiety and apathy towards everything. The opposite state is also possible, when a person’s mood is elevated without reason, to the point of carelessness and euphoria.

The class of neurotic conditions is associated with various kinds phobias, anxiety states. Disorders that are associated with obsessive thoughts, constant discomfort and pain in the heart, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory and autonomic systems (psychosomatic disorders) are separately described. Codes F40 - F49.

Group F50 - F59 indicates a clinical picture of behavioral disorders. These include problems with eating, sleeping, sexual dysfunction and others.

Under codes F60 - F69, several types of mental personality disorders are distinguished. This category is united by a common feature - a person’s behavior constantly leads to conflicts with others, or vice versa, a person becomes dependent on other people:

emotionally unstable (explosive) personality disorder
schizoid
paranoid
dependent
alarming
dissocial (sociopathy)
hysterical

Forms of mental retardation - from mild to profound - are described by class F70 - F79. Signs include mental retardation or incompleteness. Mental retardation occurs due to irreversible damage to the central nervous system during pregnancy or childbirth.

Problems with speech, coordination, and motor functions indicate mental development disorders, which are designated F80 - F89.

The penultimate group F90 - F98 characterizes emotional and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents, and the next one contains all unspecified mental health problems.

Popular mental disorders

The number of cases of mental illness worries doctors around the world. As noted by practicing psychotherapists and psychiatrists, depression and phobias are the main mental illnesses.

Depression is a common medical finding. Any depressive disorder (even the mildest) is dangerous due to decreased performance up to disability and suicidal thoughts.

Mental illnesses that are associated with a feeling of fear make up a huge list. A person is capable of panic fear not only of the dark, heights or confined spaces. He feels fear when he sees:

animals, insects
crowds of people, public speaking, afraid of getting into an awkward situation in public
cars, metro, ground public transport

Here we are not talking about fear as a sense of self-preservation. People with this disorder are afraid of things that do not pose a real threat to their health or life.

Major mental disorders are also associated with sleep disturbances, eating problems, and alcohol and substance abuse.

Eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. With anorexia, a person brings himself to a state where he is unable to eat normally, and the sight of food disgusts him. With bulimia, a person does not control the amount of food he eats, does not experience the taste of food and does not feel full. After breakdowns (overeating), repentance comes, which is reinforced by attempts to quickly remove food from the body. The person begins to provoke vomiting, drinks laxatives and diuretics.

In our magazine, the experts are practicing doctors - psychotherapists and psychiatrists. The articles describe the clinical picture of various syndromes and diseases, diagnosis and methods of restoring health.