Mental disorders. Mental and behavioral disorders
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 other organic diseases or brain lesions.
Mental disorders include post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoia, as well as mental and behavioral disorders associated with reproductive function in women (premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy disorders, postpartum disorders - "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 of alcoholic delirium, withdrawal syndrome, and various types of 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 a critical situation develops, anxiety can result in more serious nervous disorders, which leads to violations not only of a person’s mental perception, 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 the longer it spreads, the stronger the mental disorder can be, and only by changing a person’s attitude to his illness and seizures can this disease be stopped.
Depression
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 exposure to various chemicals, these substances can be some drugs, food components, and industrial poisons. Damage to other organs and systems (eg, endocrine system, vitamin deficiencies, malnutrition) causes the development of psychosis.
Traumatic brain injury
Also, as a result of various traumatic brain injuries, passing, long-term and chronic mental disorders, sometimes quite severe, can occur. 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 the development of mental pathology remains far from being studied.
- pathological conditions, accompanied by a violation of the perception of reality, behavioral disorders, deviations in the volitional, emotional and mental sphere. They can be exogenous (caused by somatic diseases, traumas and stressful situations) or endogenous (genetically determined). Psychiatrists, psychotherapists and medical psychologists are engaged in the diagnosis, treatment and study of mental disorders, in some cases in collaboration with narcologists, neurologists, therapists, traumatologists and doctors of other specialties.
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Mental health is just as important as physical health. Millions of people have mental disorders and have to deal with them. Fortunately, many mental illnesses are successfully treated (up to full recovery) with medication and psychosocial therapy.
Mental illnesses do not depend on age or ethnicity. They often strike when a person is in the prime of life. There are both mild and severe mental disorders. Causes and risk factors may include:
- heredity and family history of diseases;
- traumatic brain injury;
- abuse of tobacco and alcohol;
- during pregnancy - exposure to the fetus of viruses or toxic substances.
There are many different conditions known as mental disorders. There are about 250 types of mental illness. Consider the most common of them.
Anxiety disorders
People with anxiety disorders react to any situation or object with fear and horror, while they show signs of nervousness and anxiety, such as sweating and heart palpitations. The disease is diagnosed when a person's reaction does not correspond to the situation, while he cannot control his reaction, and anxiety interferes with his normal activities. Anxiety mental disorders include panic attacks and specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and others.
Mood disorders
This type of mental illness is characterized by constant feelings of sadness, sadness and irritation, or periods of excessive happiness. There can also be fluctuations in the state from extreme happiness to extreme despondency. The most common mood disorders are mania, dysthymia, depression and bipolar disorder.
Psychotic disorders
In psychotic illness, there is a disturbance in perception and thinking. Hallucinations (for example, hearing voices or seeing images that are not real) and delusions, when the patient accepts false beliefs as true, are common signs of this condition. Mental disorders of this kind include schizophrenia and some forms of mood disorders.
Eating Disorders
This condition occurs when malnutrition occurs due to attitudes towards weight and subsequent behavior. The most common types of diseases: anorexia nervosa, compulsive overeating, bulimia nervosa.
impulse drives
People with such mental disorders cannot exercise control over their drives. Under the influence of an impulse, they carry out actions that can harm both themselves and others. Examples of such disorders are kleptomania, gambling, drug addiction and alcoholism.
Personality disorders
This type is characterized by the formation of long-term patterns of behavior and thinking that differ from what is accepted in society. It interferes with the normal life of a person. Examples of diseases: antisocial, paranoid and obsessive-compulsive
Mental disorders- in a broad sense, this is a disease of the soul, meaning a state of mental activity that is different from healthy. Their opposite is mental health. Individuals who have the ability to adapt to daily changing life conditions and resolve everyday problems are generally considered mentally healthy individuals. When this ability is limited, the subject does not master the current tasks of professional activity or the intimate-personal sphere, and is also unable to achieve the designated tasks, ideas, goals. In a situation of this kind, one can suspect the presence of a mental anomaly. Thus, neuropsychiatric disorders refers to a group of disorders that affect the nervous system and behavioral response of the individual. The described pathologies may appear as a result of deviations occurring in the brain of metabolic processes.
Causes of mental disorders
Due to the numerous factors that provoke them, neuropsychiatric diseases and disorders are incredibly diverse. Disorders of mental activity, whatever their etiology, are always predetermined by deviations in the functioning of the brain. All causes are divided into two subgroups: exogenous factors and endogenous. The former include external influences, for example, the use of toxic substances, viral diseases, injuries, and the latter include immanent causes, including chromosomal mutations, hereditary and gene ailments, mental development disorders.
Resistance to mental disorders depends on the specific physical characteristics and the general development of their psyche. Different subjects have different reactions to mental anguish and problems.
There are typical causes of deviations in mental functioning: neurosis, depressive states, exposure to chemical or toxic substances, head injuries, heredity.
Worry is considered the first step leading to exhaustion of the nervous system. People often tend to draw in their fantasy various negative developments of events that never materialize in reality, but provoke excessive unnecessary anxiety. Such anxiety gradually escalates and, as the critical situation grows, it can transform into a more serious disorder, which leads to a deviation in the mental perception of the individual and to dysfunctions in the functioning of various structures of internal organs.
Neurasthenia is a response to prolonged exposure to traumatic situations. It is accompanied by increased fatigue and exhaustion of the psyche against the background of hyperexcitability and constant over trifles. At the same time, excitability and grumpiness are protective means against the final failure of the nervous system. Individuals are more prone to neurasthenic states, characterized by an increased sense of responsibility, high anxiety, people who do not get enough sleep, and are also burdened with many problems.
As a result of a serious traumatic event, which the subject does not try to resist, hysterical neurosis occurs. The individual simply “runs away” into such a state, forcing himself to feel all the “charm” of experiences. This condition can last from two to three minutes to several years. At the same time, the longer the period of life it affects, the more pronounced the mental disorder of the personality will be. Only by changing the attitude of the individual to his own illness and attacks, it is possible to achieve a cure for this condition.
In addition, people with mental disorders are prone to a weakening of memory or its complete absence, paramnesia, and a violation of the thought process.
Delirium is also a frequent companion of mental disorders. It is primary (intellectual), sensual (figurative) and affective. Primary delirium initially appears as the only sign of impaired mental activity. Sensual delirium is manifested in the violation of not only rational cognition, but also sensual. Affective delirium always occurs along with emotional deviations and is characterized by imagery. Also, overvalued ideas are distinguished, which mainly appear as a result of real-life circumstances, but subsequently take on a meaning that does not correspond to their place in the mind.
Signs of a mental disorder
Knowing the signs and characteristics of mental disorders, it is easier to prevent their development or to identify deviations at an early stage than to treat an advanced form.
Signs of a mental disorder include:
- the appearance of hallucinations (auditory or visual), expressed in conversations with oneself, in response to interrogative statements of a non-existent person;
- unreasonable laughter;
- difficulty concentrating when performing a task or a thematic discussion;
- changes in the behavioral response of the individual in relation to relatives, often there is a sharp hostility;
- in speech there may be phrases with delusional content (for example, “I myself am to blame for everything”), in addition, it becomes slow or fast, uneven, intermittent, confused and very difficult to perceive.
People with mental disorders often seek to protect themselves, and therefore lock all doors in the house, curtain windows, carefully check every piece of food, or completely refuse meals.
You can also highlight the signs of mental deviation observed in the female:
- overeating leading to obesity or refusal to eat;
- alcohol abuse;
- violation of sexual functions;
- depression of the state;
- fast fatiguability.
In the male part of the population, signs and characteristics of mental disorders can also be distinguished. Statistics show that the stronger sex is much more likely to suffer from mental disorders than women. In addition, male patients are characterized by more aggressive behavior. So, common signs include:
- inaccurate appearance;
- there is sloppiness in appearance;
- can avoid hygiene procedures for a long time (do not wash or shave);
- quick mood swings;
- mental retardation;
- emotional and behavioral deviations in the childhood age period;
- personality disorders.
More often, mental illnesses and disorders occur in the childhood and adolescence age period. Approximately 16 percent of children and adolescents have mental disabilities. The main difficulties children face can be divided into three categories:
- a disorder of mental development - children, in comparison with their peers, lag behind in the formation of various skills, and therefore experience difficulties of an emotional and behavioral nature;
- emotional defects associated with severely damaged feelings and affects;
- expansive pathologies of behavior, which are expressed in the deviation of the baby's behavioral reactions from social norms or manifestations of hyperactivity.
Neuropsychiatric disorders
The modern high-speed life rhythm makes people adapt to various environmental conditions, sacrifice sleep, time, and energy in order to do everything. A person cannot do everything. The price of constant haste is health. The functioning of the systems and the coordinated work of all organs is directly dependent on the normal activity of the nervous system. The impact of external environmental conditions of a negative orientation can cause mental disorders.
Neurasthenia is a neurosis that arises against the background of psychological trauma or overwork of the body, for example, due to lack of sleep, lack of rest, prolonged hard work. The neurasthenic state develops in stages. At the first stage, aggressiveness and increased excitability, sleep disturbance, inability to concentrate on activities are observed. At the second stage, irritability is noted, which is accompanied by fatigue and indifference, decreased appetite, discomfort in the epigastric region. Headaches, slowing or increased heart rate, and a tearful state may also be observed. The subject at this stage often takes "to heart" any situation. At the third stage, the neurasthenic state passes into an inert form: the patient is dominated by apathy, depression and lethargy.
Obsessive states are one of the forms of neurosis. They are accompanied by anxiety, fears and phobias, a sense of danger. For example, an individual may be overly worried about the hypothetical loss of some thing or be afraid of contracting one or another ailment.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is accompanied by repeated repetition of the same thoughts that are not significant for the individual, a series of obligatory manipulations before any business, the appearance of absurd desires of an obsessive nature. At the heart of the symptoms is a feeling of fear to act contrary to the inner voice, even if its requirements are absurd.
Conscientious, fearful individuals who are unsure of their own decisions and subordinate to the opinion of the environment are usually subject to such a violation. Obsessive fears are divided into groups, for example, there is a fear of darkness, heights, etc. They are seen in healthy individuals. The reason for their origin is associated with a traumatic situation and the simultaneous impact of a specific factor.
It is possible to prevent the appearance of the described mental disorder by increasing confidence in one's own significance, developing independence from others and independence.
Hysterical neurosis or is found in increased emotionality and the desire of the individual to draw attention to himself. Often such a desire is expressed by rather eccentric behavior (deliberately loud laughter, affectation in behavior, tearful tantrums). With hysteria, there may be a decrease in appetite, fever, weight changes, nausea. Since hysteria is considered one of the most complex forms of nervous pathologies, it is treated with the help of psychotherapeutic agents. It occurs as a result of a serious injury. At the same time, the individual does not resist traumatic factors, but “runs away” from them, forcing him to feel painful experiences again.
The result of this is the development of pathological perception. The patient likes being in a hysterical state. Therefore, such patients are quite difficult to get out of this state. The range of manifestations is characterized by scale: from stamping feet to rolling in convulsions on the floor. By his behavior, the patient tries to benefit and manipulates the environment.
The female sex is more prone to hysterical neuroses. Temporary isolation of people suffering from mental disorders is useful in preventing the onset of hysterical attacks. After all, as a rule, for individuals with hysteria, the presence of the public is important.
There are also severe mental disorders that occur chronically and can lead to disability. These include: clinical depression, schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, identities, epilepsy.
With clinical depression, patients feel depressed, unable to enjoy, work and conduct their usual social activities. Persons with mental disorders caused by clinical depression are characterized by bad mood, lethargy, loss of habitual interests, lack of energy. Patients are not able to "pick up" themselves. They have insecurity, low self-esteem, increased guilt, pessimistic ideas about the future, appetite and sleep disorders, and weight loss. In addition, somatic manifestations can also be noted: dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract, pain in the heart, head and muscles.
The exact causes of schizophrenia are not known for certain. This disease is characterized by deviations in mental activity, logic of judgments and perception. Patients are characterized by detachment of thoughts: it seems to the individual that his worldviews were created by someone else and a stranger. In addition, withdrawal into oneself and into personal experiences, isolation from the social environment is characteristic. Often people with mental disorders provoked by schizophrenia experience ambivalent feelings. Some forms of the disease are accompanied by catatonic psychosis. The patient may remain immobile for hours, or express motor activity. With schizophrenia, emotional dryness can also be noted, even in relation to the closest.
Bipolar affective disorder is called an endogenous ailment, expressed in phase changes of depression and mania. Patients have either a rise in mood and a general improvement in their condition, or a decline, immersion in spleen and apathy.
A dissociative identity disorder is a mental pathology in which the patient has a "separation" of the personality into one or more components that act as separate subjects.
Epilepsy is characterized by the occurrence of seizures, which are provoked by the synchronous activity of neurons in a certain area of the brain. The causes of the disease can be hereditary or other factors: viral disease, traumatic brain injury, etc.
Treatment of mental disorders
The picture of the treatment of deviations in mental functioning is formed based on the anamnesis, knowledge of the patient's condition, and the etiology of a particular disease.
Sedatives are used to treat neurotic conditions due to their calming effect.
Tranquilizers are mainly prescribed for neurasthenia. Drugs in this group can reduce anxiety and relieve emotional tension. Most of them also reduce muscle tone. Tranquilizers are predominantly hypnotic rather than causing perceptual changes. Side effects are expressed, as a rule, in a feeling of constant fatigue, increased drowsiness, and disorders in remembering information. Negative manifestations also include nausea, low blood pressure and decreased libido. Chlordiazepoxide, Hydroxyzine, Buspirone are more commonly used.
Antipsychotics are the most popular in the treatment of mental pathologies. Their action is to reduce the excitation of the psyche, reduce psychomotor activity, reduce aggressiveness and suppress emotional tension.
The main side effects of neuroleptics include a negative effect on skeletal muscles and the appearance of deviations in dopamine metabolism. The most commonly used antipsychotics include: Propazine, Pimozide, Flupentixol.
Antidepressants are used in a state of complete depression of thoughts and feelings, a decrease in mood. The drugs of this series increase the pain threshold, thereby reducing the pain of migraines provoked by mental disorders, improve mood, relieve apathy, lethargy and emotional tension, normalize sleep and appetite, increase mental activity. The negative effects of these drugs include dizziness, tremor of the limbs, confusion. The most commonly used as antidepressants Pyritinol, Befol.
Normotimics regulate inadequate expression of emotions. They are used to prevent disorders that include several syndromes that manifest themselves in stages, for example, with bipolar affective disorder. In addition, the described drugs have an anticonvulsant effect. Side effects are manifested in trembling of the limbs, weight gain, disruption of the digestive tract, unquenchable thirst, which subsequently entails polyuria. It is also possible the appearance of various rashes on the skin surface. The most commonly used salts of lithium, Carbamazepine, Valpromide.
Nootropics are the most harmless among drugs that help cure mental pathologies. They have a positive effect on cognitive processes, enhance memory, increase the resistance of the nervous system to the effects of various stressful situations. Sometimes side effects are expressed in the form of insomnia, headaches and digestive disorders. The most commonly used Aminalon, Pantogam, Mexidol.
In addition, hypnotechniques, suggestion are widely used, less commonly used. In addition, the support of relatives is important. Therefore, if a loved one suffers from a mental disorder, then you need to understand that he needs understanding, not condemnation.
Asthenia is a whole complex of disorders that characterize the initial stage of a mental disorder. The patient begins to quickly get tired, exhausted. The performance is declining. There is general lethargy, weakness, mood becomes unstable. Frequent headaches, sleep disturbance and a constant feeling of fatigue - that require detailed consideration. It is worth noting that asthenia is not always the main symptom of a mental disorder and rather refers to a non-specific symptom, since it can also occur with somatic diseases.
Suicidal thoughts or actions are a reason for emergency hospitalization of a patient in a psychiatric clinic.
A state of obsession. The patient begins to visit special thoughts that cannot be got rid of. Feelings of fear, depression, insecurity and doubt are intensified. The state of obsession may be accompanied by certain rhythmic actions, movements and rituals. Some patients wash their hands thoroughly and for a long time, others repeatedly check whether the door is closed, whether the light, iron, etc. are turned off.
An affective syndrome is the most common first sign of a mental disorder, which is accompanied by a persistent change in mood. Most often, the patient has a depressed mood with a depressive episode, much less often - mania, accompanied by an elevated mood. With effective treatment of a mental disorder, depression or mania is the last to disappear. Against the background of an affective disorder, a decrease is observed. The patient has difficulty making decisions. In addition, depression is accompanied by a number of somatic: indigestion, feeling hot or cold, nausea, heartburn, belching.
If the affective syndrome is accompanied by mania, the patient has an elevated mood. The pace of mental activity is accelerated many times over, a minimum of time is spent on sleep. Excess energy can be replaced by a sharp apathy and drowsiness.
Dementia is the last stage of a mental disorder, which is accompanied by a persistent decrease in intellectual functions and dementia.
Hypochondria, tactile and visual hallucinations, delusions, and substance abuse all accompany the psychic. Close relatives of the patient do not always immediately understand
