Neuropsychiatric disorders. Professional burnout syndrome

Mental disorders are invisible to the naked eye, and therefore very insidious. They significantly complicate a person’s life when he does not even suspect there is a problem. Experts who study this aspect of the boundless human essence claim that many of us have mental disorders, but does this mean that every second inhabitant of our planet needs treatment? How to understand that a person is truly sick and needs qualified help? You will receive answers to these and many other questions by reading the subsequent sections of the article.

What is a mental disorder

The concept of “mental disorder” covers a wide range of deviations of a person’s mental state from the norm. Problems with internal health, in question, should not be taken as negative manifestation negative side human personality. Like any physical illness, a mental disorder is a disruption of the processes and mechanisms of perception of reality, which creates certain difficulties. People faced with such problems do not adapt well to real life conditions and do not always correctly interpret what is happening.

Symptoms and signs of mental disorders

Characteristic manifestations of mental deviation include disturbances in behavior/mood/thinking that go beyond generally accepted cultural norms and beliefs. As a rule, all symptoms are dictated by a depressed state of mind. In this case, the person loses the ability to fully perform the usual social functions. The general spectrum of symptoms can be divided into several groups:

physical - pain in various parts body, insomnia;
cognitive – difficulties in clear thinking, memory impairment, unjustified pathological beliefs;
perceptual - states in which the patient notices phenomena that other people do not notice (sounds, movement of objects, etc.);
emotional – sudden feeling of anxiety, sadness, fear;
behavioral – unjustified aggression, inability to perform basic self-care activities, abuse of psychoactive drugs.

Main causes of diseases in women and men

The etiology aspect of this category of diseases has not been fully studied, so modern medicine cannot clearly describe the mechanisms that cause mental disorders. Nevertheless, a number of reasons can be identified, the connection of which with mental disorders has been scientifically proven:

stressful life conditions;
difficult family circumstances;
brain diseases;
hereditary factors;
genetic predisposition;
medical problems.

In addition, experts identify a number of special cases that represent specific deviations, conditions or incidents against the background of which serious mental disorders develop. The factors that will be discussed are often found in everyday life, and therefore can lead to a deterioration in people’s mental health in the most unexpected situations.

Alcoholism

Systematic abuse of alcoholic beverages often leads to mental disorders in humans. In the body of a person suffering chronic alcoholism, constantly contained large number decomposition products ethyl alcohol, which cause major changes thinking, behavior and mood. In this regard, there are dangerous violations psychics, including:

Psychosis. Mental disorder due to impairment metabolic processes in the brain. Toxic influence ethyl alcohol clouds the patient’s judgment, but the consequences appear only a few days after stopping use. A person is overcome by a feeling of fear or even a mania of persecution. In addition, the patient may have all sorts of obsessions related to the fact that someone wants to cause him physical or moral harm.
Delirium tremens. A common post-alcohol mental disorder that occurs due to profound disturbances in metabolic processes in all organs and systems human body. Delirium tremens manifests itself in sleep disorders and seizures. The listed phenomena, as a rule, appear 70-90 hours after stopping alcohol consumption. The patient exhibits sudden changes moods from carefree fun to terrible anxiety.
Rave. A mental disorder, called delusion, is expressed in the patient’s appearance of unshakable judgments and conclusions that do not correspond to objective reality. In a state of delirium, a person's sleep is disturbed and photophobia appears. The boundaries between sleep and reality become blurred, and the patient begins to confuse one with the other.
Hallucinations are vivid ideas, pathologically brought to the level of perception of real-life objects. The patient begins to feel as if the people and objects around him are swaying, rotating, or even falling. The sense of the passage of time is distorted.

Brain injuries

When receiving mechanical injuries to the brain, a person may develop the whole complex serious mental disorders. As a result of damage nerve centers are launched complex processes, leading to clouding of consciousness. After such cases, the following disorders/conditions/diseases often occur:

Twilight states. Celebrated, as a rule, in the evening hours. The victim becomes drowsy and becomes delirious. In some cases, a person may plunge into a state similar to stupor. The patient’s consciousness is filled with all sorts of pictures of excitement, which can cause appropriate reactions: from psychomotor disorder to brutal affect.
Delirium. Serious disorder mental disorder, in which a person experiences visual hallucinations. For example, a person injured in a car accident can see moving vehicles, groups of people and other objects associated with the roadway. Mental disorders plunge the patient into a state of fear or anxiety.
Oneiroid. A rare form of mental disorder in which the nerve centers of the brain are disrupted. Expressed in immobility and slight drowsiness. For some time, the patient may become chaotically excited, and then freeze again without moving.

Somatic diseases

In the background somatic diseases The human psyche suffers very, very seriously. Violations appear that are almost impossible to get rid of. Below is a list of mental disorders that medicine considers the most common in somatic disorders Oh:

Asthenic neurosis-like state. A mental disorder in which a person exhibits hyperactivity and talkativeness. The patient systematically experiences phobic disorders, often falls into short-term depression. Fears, as a rule, have clear outlines and do not change.
Korsakov's syndrome. A disease that is a combination of memory impairment regarding current events, impaired orientation in space/terrain and the appearance of false memories. Serious mental disorder that cannot be treated known to medicine methods. The patient constantly forgets about the events that just happened and often repeats the same questions.
Dementia. A terrible diagnosis that stands for acquired dementia. This mental disorder often occurs in people aged 50-70 years who have problems somatic nature. The diagnosis of dementia is given to people with reduced cognitive function. Somatic disorders lead to irreparable abnormalities in the brain. The mental sanity of a person does not suffer. Find out more about how treatment is carried out, what is the life expectancy with this diagnosis.

Epilepsy

Almost all people suffering from epilepsy experience mental disorders. Disorders that occur against the background of this disease can be paroxysmal (single) and permanent (constant). The cases of mental disorders listed below are found in medical practice more often than others:

Mental seizures. Medicine identifies several types of this disorder. All of them are expressed in sudden changes in the patient’s mood and behavior. A mental seizure in a person suffering from epilepsy is accompanied by aggressive movements and loud screams.
Transitory mental disorder. Long-term deviations of the patient's condition from normal. Transient disorder psyche is a protracted mental attack(described above), aggravated by a state of delirium. It can last from two to three hours to a whole day.
Epileptic mood disorders. As a rule, such mental disorders are expressed in the form of dysphoria, which is characterized by a simultaneous combination of anger, melancholy, causeless fear and many other sensations.

Malignant tumors

Development malignant tumors often leads to changes in a person’s psychological state. As the formations on the brain grow, the pressure increases, causing serious abnormalities. In this state, patients experience unreasonable fears, delusions, melancholy and many other focal symptoms. All this may indicate the presence of the following psychological disorders:

Hallucinations. They can be tactile, olfactory, auditory and gustatory. Such deviations are usually detected in the presence of tumors in temporal lobes brain Vegetovisceral disorders are often detected along with them.
Affective disorders. Such mental disorders in most cases are observed with tumors localized in the right hemisphere. In this regard, attacks of horror, fear and melancholy develop. Emotions caused by a violation of the structure of the brain are displayed on the patient’s face: facial expression and skin color change, the pupils narrow and dilate.
Memory disorders. With the appearance of this deviation, signs of Korsakov's syndrome appear. The patient gets confused about the events that just happened, asks the same questions, loses the logic of events, etc. In addition, in this state a person’s mood often changes. Within a few seconds, the patient's emotions can switch from euphoric to dysphoric, and vice versa.

Vascular diseases of the brain

Operational disruptions circulatory system and blood vessels instantly affect a person’s mental state. When diseases associated with an increase or decrease in blood pressure, brain functions deviate from normal. Serious chronic disorders can lead to the development of extremely dangerous mental disorders, including:

Vascular dementia. This diagnosis means dementia. According to its symptoms vascular dementia resemble the consequences of some somatic disorders that manifest themselves in old age. Creative thought processes in this state almost completely fade away. The person withdraws into himself and loses the desire to maintain contact with anyone.
Cerebrovascular psychoses. The genesis of mental disorders of this type is not fully understood. At the same time, medicine confidently names two types of cerebrovascular psychosis: acute and prolonged. Acute form expressed by episodes of confusion, twilight stupefaction, delirium. A protracted form of psychosis is characterized by a state of stupefaction.

What are the types of mental disorders?

Mental disorders can occur in people regardless of gender, age and ethnicity. The mechanisms of development of mental illness are not fully understood, so medicine refrains from making specific statements. However, on at the moment The relationship between some mental illnesses and age has been clearly established. Each age has its own common deviations.

In older people

IN old age against the background of diseases such as diabetes mellitus, heart/renal failure and bronchial asthma Many mental disorders develop. Senile mental illnesses include:

paranoia;
dementia;
Alzheimer's disease;
marasmus;
Pick's disease.

Types of mental disorders in adolescents

Adolescent mental illness is often associated with adverse circumstances in the past. Over the past 10 years, the following mental disorders have often been recorded in young people:

prolonged depression;
bulimia nervosa;
anorexia nervosa;
drankorexia.

Features of diseases in children

IN childhood Serious mental disorders may also occur. This is usually due to problems in the family, wrong methods education and conflicts with peers. The list below contains mental disorders that are most often recorded in children:

autism;
Down syndrome;
attention deficit disorder;
mental retardation;
developmental delays.

Which doctor should I contact for treatment?

Mental disorders cannot be treated on their own, therefore, if there is the slightest suspicion of mental disorders, it is necessary to urgent appeal to a psychotherapist. A conversation between the patient and a specialist will help quickly identify the diagnosis and choose effective treatment tactics. Almost everything mental illness curable if treated in time. Remember this and do not delay!

Video about mental health treatment

The video attached below contains a lot of information about modern methods fight against mental disorders. The information received will be useful for everyone who is ready to take care of the mental health of their loved ones. Listen to the words of experts to destroy stereotypes about inadequate approaches to combating mental disorders and find out the real medical truth.

Our psyche is a rather subtle and complex system. Experts classify it as a form of a person’s active reflection of objective reality, which arises during an individual’s interaction with the outside world and regulates his behavior and activities. Quite often doctors have to deal with pathological abnormalities from normal condition, which they call mental disorders. There are many mental disorders, but some are more common. Let's talk about what a human mental disorder is in a little more detail, discuss the symptoms, treatment, types and causes of such health problems.

Causes of mental disorders

Mental disorders can be explained by the most various factors, which can generally be divided into exogenous and endogenous. The first are external influence factors, for example, the intake of dangerous toxic substances, viral diseases and traumatic lesions. A internal reasons are represented by chromosomal mutations, hereditary and genetic diseases, as well as mental development disorders.

An individual’s resistance to mental disorders is also determined by specific physical characteristics, and general development of the psyche. After all, different subjects react differently to mental anguish and various kinds of problems.

TO typical reasons, causing mental disorders include neuroses, neurasthenia, depressive states, aggressive exposure to chemical or toxic elements, as well as traumatic head injuries and hereditary factors.

Mental disorders - symptoms

There are a number various symptoms which can be observed in mental disorders. They most often appear psychological discomfort and disturbances in activity in different areas. Patients with such problems experience a variety of physical and emotional symptoms, and cognitive and perceptual impairments may also occur. For example, a person may feel unhappy or extremely happy, regardless of the seriousness of the events that occurred, and he may also experience failures in building logical relationships.

Classic manifestations of mental disorders include excessive fatigue, rapid and unexpected changes in mood, insufficiently adequate reaction to events, and spatial and temporal disorientation. Also, specialists are faced with a violation of perception in their patients; they may lack an adequate attitude towards their own condition, observed abnormal reactions(or lack adequate reactions), fear, confusion (sometimes hallucinations). Enough common symptom mental disorders include anxiety, problems with sleep, falling asleep and waking up.

Sometimes mental health problems are accompanied by the appearance of obsessions, delusions of persecution and various phobias. Similar violations often lead to the development of depressive states, which can be interrupted by frantic emotional outbursts aimed at fulfilling some incredible plans.

Many mental disorders are accompanied by disorders of self-awareness, which make themselves felt by confusion, depersonalization and derealization. People with such problems often have weakened memory (and sometimes completely absent), paramnesia and disturbances in the thought process.

Delusion, which can be either primary, sensory or affective, is considered a frequent accompaniment of mental disorders.

Sometimes mental disorders manifest themselves as problems with eating - overeating, which can cause obesity, or, conversely, refusal to eat. Alcohol abuse is common. Many patients with such problems suffer from sexual dysfunction. They also often look sloppy and may even refuse to hygiene procedures.

Types of mental disorders

There are quite a few classifications of mental disorders. We will consider only one of them. It includes conditions provoked by various organic diseases of the brain - injuries, strokes and systemic diseases.

Also, doctors separately consider persistent or drug use.

In addition, disorders can be identified psychological development(debut in early childhood) and disturbances in activity, concentration and hyperkinetic disorders (usually recorded in children or adolescents).

Mental disorder - treatment

Therapy for problems of this kind is carried out under the supervision of a psychotherapist and other narrow specialists, while the doctor takes into account not only the diagnosis, but also the patient’s condition and other existing health problems.

So, quite often, specialists use sedatives that have a pronounced calming effect. Tranquilizers can also be used; they effectively reduce anxiety and relieve emotional tension. Such drugs also reduce muscle tone and have a mild hypnotic effect. The most common tranquilizers are Chlordiazepoxide, and.

Mental disorders are also treated with the use of antipsychotics. These drugs are considered the most popular for such diseases; they are good at reducing mental agitation, reducing psychomotor activity, reducing aggressiveness and suppressing emotional tension. Popular drugs in this group are Propazine, Pimozide, and Flupenthixol.

Antidepressants are used to treat patients with complete depression of thoughts and feelings, with a severe decrease in mood. Such drugs can increase pain threshold, improve mood, relieve apathy and lethargy, they normalize sleep and appetite well, and also increase mental activity. Qualified psychotherapists often use Pyritinol and as antidepressants.

Treatment of mental disorders can also be carried out with the help of mood stabilizers, which are designed to regulate inadequate manifestations of emotions and have anticonvulsant effectiveness. Such medications are often used for bipolar affective disorder. These include, etc.

The safest medications for the treatment of mental disorders are nootropics, which have a positive effect on cognitive processes, enhance memory and increase resilience. nervous system to the effects of various stresses. The drugs of choice are usually Aminalon.

In addition, correctional psychotherapy is indicated for patients with mental disorders. They will benefit from hypnotic techniques, suggestions, and sometimes NLP methods. Important role plays mastery of the technique autogenic training Moreover, it is impossible to do without the support of relatives.

Mental disorders - traditional treatment

Traditional medicine experts claim that some herbal and improvised medicines may well help eliminate mental disorders. But they can be used only after consultation with the doctor.

Thus, traditional medicines can be an excellent alternative to some sedative medications. For example, to eliminate nervous excitement, irritability and insomnia, healers advise mixing three parts of crushed valerian root, the same amount of peppermint leaves and four parts of clover. Brew a tablespoon of this raw material with a glass of just boiled water. Infuse the medicine for twenty minutes, then strain and squeeze out the plant material. Take the prepared infusion half a glass twice a day and immediately before bed.

Also for irritability of the nervous system, insomnia and nervous excitement, you can mix two parts of valerian roots with three parts of chamomile flowers and three parts of caraway seeds. Brew and take this remedy in the same way as in the previous recipe.

You can cope with insomnia with a simple infusion based on hops. A couple of tablespoons of crushed pine cones of this plant pour half a liter of cool, pre-boiled water. Leave for five to seven hours, then strain and drink a tablespoon three or four times a day.

Another excellent sedative is oregano. Brew a couple of tablespoons of this herb with half a liter of boiling water. Leave for half an hour, then strain and take half a glass three or four times a day immediately before meals. This medicine perfectly eliminates sleep problems.

Some traditional medicines can be used to treat depression. So, taking a medicine based on chicory root gives a good effect. Brew twenty grams of this crushed raw material with a glass of boiling water. Boil the product over low heat for ten minutes, then strain. Take the prepared decoction one tablespoon five to six times a day.

If depression is accompanied by severe loss of energy, prepare a medicine based on rosemary. Brew twenty grams of crushed leaves of such a plant with one glass of boiling water and simmer over low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes. Cool the finished medicine and then strain. Take half a teaspoon half an hour before meals.

Taking an infusion based on common knotweed also has a remarkable effect on depression. Brew a couple of tablespoons of this herb with half a liter of boiling water. Leave for half an hour, then strain. Take small portions throughout the day.

Mental disorders are quite serious conditions that require close attention and adequate correction under the supervision of specialists. The advisability of using folk remedies should also be discussed with your doctor.

Against the background of mental illness, delusion arises, which is often the primary or sole manifestation of it. In most cases, delirium is also combined with other mental disorders, such as hallucinations and various types of disturbances of consciousness.

Types of delusional syndromes.

Delusional syndromes are mental disorders in which the most important feature is delusion - a false opinion or idea that is not connected with reality and a certain life situation, which arises in the patient’s head and completely takes possession of him. The patient is one hundred percent sure that he is right in his judgments.

Delusional syndromes accompany such mental illnesses as schizophrenia, manic-depressive syndrome, as well as organic (as a result of trauma, infection and tumor) diseases of the brain, its chronic poisoning And vascular lesions(intoxication, alcohol abuse).

The main delusional syndromes can be called paranoid, paranoid and paraphrenic. Let us consider in more detail how mental disorders manifest themselves in such syndromes.

Paranoid delusional syndrome.

Delirium that develops with clear consciousness and often with normal intellectual abilities and professional skills.

A highly valuable idea that often underlies is a belief that was formed under the influence of objectively real life situations. But the patient attaches too much importance to the priceless idea, which it is not worth.

Gradually, turning into classified paranoid nonsense, such an invaluable idea acquires more and more new conjectures. Such delirium can be acute or chronic.

This mental disorder manifests itself gradually. The idea of persecution appears first. Then the patient is afraid of persecution at work, or hostility from neighbors... Over time, the patient begins to fear for his life. And here it is already necessary to take more active actions towards the patient.

Patients become withdrawn, shutting themselves off from the entire outside world, or aggressively attack people (“enemies” in their understanding), committing actions that are contrary to their rights. Sometimes paranoia appears as a delusion of greatness, invention, and social transformation.

Acute paranoid syndrome is often expressed by the unexpected appearance of anxiety, fear, or exalted delight against the background of some fictitious opinion. Strong emotional experiences often contribute to the appearance in patients to a large extent aggression. Most often, a mental disorder such as paranoid delusions occurs in schizophrenia.

Paranoid delusional syndrome.

Paranoid or hallucinatory-paranoid syndrome is a complex of symptoms that are manifested by delusional ideas of persecution and impressionable disorders with verbal hallucinations and mental automatisms (impositions of “strangers” on the mind). In addition to the feeling of persecution, other delusional ideas arise - applications physical strength, jealousy, poisoning, surveillance.

Delusions of persecution and influence are often combined. It seems to the patient that someone is constantly watching him, and thus this harms him. “Enemies” are capable of introducing delusional ideas into his thinking, which force him to take certain actions. Paranoid syndrome often develops gradually, but can also begin acutely.

Spicy paranoid delusion is a combination of hallucinations with figurative delusions, non-existent hallucinations and the imposition of someone’s thoughts in the head (mental automatism syndrome). With such manifestations of paranoid syndrome, patients are constantly confused and unreasonably alarmed.

Paranoid syndrome usually occurs with a chronic disease such as schizophrenia.

Paraphrenic delusional syndrome.

Paraphrenia (fantasyophrenia, fantastic-paranoid syndrome) is a complex of symptoms dominated by delusions of non-existent content, which is often combined with grandiose delusions of grandeur with ideas of persecution or influence by someone relative to the patient and often with auditory hallucinations or non-existent hallucinations. The level of systematization of nonsense and its utopianism may vary. Very often, such symptoms of paraphrenic delusional syndrome are combined with verbal hallucinations.

In one of the psychiatric hospitals, patients say that they are affected by various fantastic devices. That they are supposedly dating celebrities. Paraphrenic syndrome is caused by chronic ongoing diseases.

The term "mental disorder" refers to a huge number of different illness conditions. To learn how to navigate them, to understand their essence, we will use the experience of presenting the doctrine of these disorders, that is, psychiatry, in textbooks intended for specialists.

The study of psychiatry (Greek psyche - soul, iateria - treatment) traditionally begins with the presentation of general psychopathology and only then moves on to specific psychiatry. General psychopathology includes the study of symptoms and syndromes (signs) of mental illness, since any disease, including mental illness, is, first of all, a set of its specific manifestations. Private psychiatry provides a description of specific mental illnesses - the causes of their occurrence, mechanisms of development, clinical manifestations, treatment, preventive measures.

Let's consider the main symptoms and syndromes of mental disorders in order of their severity - from mild to more profound.

Asthenic syndrome.

Asthenic syndrome (asthenia) is a widespread condition that manifests itself increased fatigue, exhaustion, decreased performance. People with asthenic disorders experience weakness, mood instability, and are characterized by impressionability, sentimentality, and tearfulness; They are easily moved, they are easily irritated, they lose their composure over any little thing. Asthenic conditions Frequent headaches and sleep disturbances are also characteristic (it becomes superficial, does not bring rest, and increased sleepiness is noted during the day).

Asthenia is a nonspecific disorder, i.e. can be observed in almost any mental illness, as well as in somatic diseases, in particular after operations, severe infectious diseases, or overwork.

Obsessiveness.

Obsessions are experiences in which a person, against his will, has any special thoughts, fears, or doubts. At the same time, a person recognizes them as his own, they visit him again and again, it is impossible to get rid of them, despite a critical attitude towards them. Obsessive disorders can manifest themselves in the emergence of painful doubts, completely unjustified, and sometimes simply ridiculous thoughts, in an irresistible desire to count everything. A person with such disorders can check several times whether he has turned off the light in the apartment, whether he has closed the front door, and as soon as he moves away from the house, doubts take possession of him again.

This same group of disorders includes obsessive fears - fear of heights, enclosed spaces, open spaces, traveling in public transport and many others. Sometimes, in order to relieve anxiety, internal tension, and calm down a little, people experiencing obsessive fears and doubts perform certain obsessive actions or movements (rituals). For example, a person with an obsessive fear of pollution may spend hours in the bathroom, repeatedly wash his hands with soap, and if he is distracted by something, start the whole procedure again and again.

Affective syndromes.

These mental disorders are the most common. Affective syndromes are manifested by persistent changes in mood, more often by a decrease in mood - depression, or an increase in mood - mania. Affective syndromes often occur at the very beginning of mental illness. They may remain predominant throughout, but may become more complex and coexist for a long time with other, more severe mental disorders. At reverse development Depression and mania are often the last illnesses to disappear.

When we talk about depression, we primarily mean its following manifestations.

Decreased mood, feeling of depression, depression, melancholy, in severe cases physically felt as heaviness or chest pain. This is an extremely painful condition for a person.
Decreased mental activity (thoughts become poorer, shorter, more vague). A person in this state does not answer questions immediately - after a pause, gives short, monosyllabic answers, speaks slowly, in a quiet voice. Quite often, patients with depression note that they find it difficult to understand the meaning of the question asked of them, the essence of what they read, and complain of memory loss. Such patients have difficulty making decisions and cannot switch to new activities.
Motor inhibition - patients experience weakness, lethargy, muscle relaxation, talk about fatigue, their movements are slow and constrained.

In addition to the above, characteristic manifestations of depression are:

feelings of guilt, ideas of self-blame, sinfulness;
a feeling of despair, hopelessness, impasse, which is very often accompanied by thoughts of death and suicide attempts;
daily fluctuations in condition, often with some relief of well-being in the evening;
sleep disorders; shallow, intermittent night sleep, with early awakenings, disturbing dreams, sleep does not bring rest).

Depression may also be accompanied by sweating, tachycardia, fluctuations blood pressure, feeling of heat, cold, chilliness, loss of appetite, weight loss, constipation (sometimes symptoms such as heartburn, nausea, belching occur in the digestive system).
Depression is characterized by a high risk of suicide!

Read the text below carefully - this will help you to notice in time the appearance of suicidal thoughts and intentions in a person with depression.

If you have depression, the possibility of a suicide attempt is indicated by:

statements of a sick person about his uselessness, guilt, sin;
a feeling of hopelessness, meaninglessness of life, reluctance to make plans for the future;
sudden calm after long period anxiety and melancholy;
accumulation of medications;
a sudden desire to meet old friends, ask forgiveness from loved ones, put your affairs in order, make a will.

The appearance of suicidal thoughts and intentions is an indication for immediate appeal see a doctor, decide on hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital!

Manias (manic states) are characterized by the following symptoms.

Increased mood (fun, carefree, rosy, unshakable optimism).
Speeding up the pace mental activity(the appearance of many thoughts, various plans and desires, ideas of overestimating one’s own personality).
Motor excitement (excessive liveliness, mobility, talkativeness, feeling of excess energy, desire for activity).

Manic states, like depression, are characterized by sleep disturbances: usually people with these disorders sleep little, but short nap It’s enough for them to feel cheerful and rested. With a soft option manic state(so-called hypomania) a person experiences an increase in creative powers, increased intellectual productivity, vitality, performance. He can work a lot and sleep little. He perceives all events with optimism.

If hypomia turns into mania, that is, the condition becomes more severe, the listed manifestations are accompanied by increased distractibility, extreme instability of attention and, as a consequence, loss of productivity. Often people in a state of mania look lightweight, braggarts, their speech is replete with jokes, witticisms, quotes, their facial expressions are animated, their faces are flushed. When talking, they often change their position, cannot sit still, and actively gesticulate.

Characteristic symptoms of mania are increased appetite and increased sexuality. The behavior of patients can be unrestrained, they can establish multiple sexual relationships, and commit thoughtless and sometimes ridiculous actions. A cheerful and joyful mood can be replaced by irritability and anger. As a rule, with mania, the understanding of the painfulness of one’s condition is lost.

Senestopathies.

Senestopathies (Latin sensus - feeling, sensation, pathos - illness, suffering) are symptoms of mental disorders, manifested by a wide variety of unusual sensations in the body in the form of tingling, burning, twisting, tightening, transfusion, etc., not associated with any disease internal organ. Senestopathies are always unique, unlike anything else. The vague nature of these disorders causes serious difficulties when trying to characterize them. To describe such sensations, patients sometimes use their own definitions (“rustling under the ribs,” “squelching in the spleen,” “it feels like your head is coming off”). Often, senestopathies are accompanied by thoughts about the presence of some kind of somatic disease, and then we're talking about about hypochondriacal syndrome.

Hypochondriacal syndrome.

This syndrome is characterized by persistent preoccupation with one's own health, constant thoughts about the presence of a serious, progressive and possibly incurable somatic disease. People with this disorder present persistent physical complaints, often interpreting normal or routine sensations as manifestations of illness. Despite negative results examinations, dissuading specialists, they regularly visit different doctors, insisting on additional serious examinations and repeated consultations. Hypochondriacal disorders often develop against the background of depression.

Illusions.

When illusions arise, real-life objects are perceived by a person in a changed - erroneous form. Illusory perception can also occur against the background of complete mental health, when it is a manifestation of one of the laws of physics: if, for example, you look at an object under water, it will seem much larger than in reality.

Illusions can also appear under the influence strong feeling- anxiety, fear. So, at night in the forest, trees can be perceived as some kind of monster. In pathological conditions, real images and objects can be perceived in a bizarre and fantastic form: a wallpaper pattern as a “tangle of worms”, a shadow from a floor lamp as a “head of a terrible lizard”, a pattern on a carpet as a “beautiful unprecedented landscape”.

Hallucinations.

This is the name for disorders in which a person with a disturbed psyche sees, hears, feels something that does not exist in reality.

Hallucinations are divided into auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and general sense hallucinations (visceral, muscular). However, their combination is also possible (for example, a sick person can see a group of strangers, hear them talking).

Auditory hallucinations manifest themselves in the patient’s pathological perception of certain words, speeches, conversations (verbal hallucinations), as well as individual sounds or noises. Verbal hallucinations can be very different in content - from the so-called calls, when a sick person hears a voice calling him by name or surname, to entire phrases and conversations involving one or more voices. Patients call verbal hallucinations “voices.”

Sometimes the “voices” are of an imperative nature - these are the so-called imperative hallucinations, when a person hears an order to remain silent, to hit, to kill someone, or to harm himself. Such conditions are very dangerous both for the patients themselves and for those around them, and therefore are an indication for serious drug treatment as well as special supervision and care.

Visual hallucinations can be elementary (in the form of sparks, smoke) or objective. Sometimes the patient sees entire scenes (battlefield, hell). Olfactory hallucinations most often represent an imaginary sensation of unpleasant odors (rotting, decay, poisons, some kind of food), less often unfamiliar or pleasant ones.

Tactile hallucinations occur mainly in later life, with patients experiencing burning, itching, stinging, pain, other sensations, and touching the body. The text below lists signs by which one can determine or at least suspect the presence of auditory and visual hallucinatory disorders in a sick person.

Signs of auditory and visual hallucinations.

conversations with oneself that resemble a conversation (for example, emotional answers to some questions);
unexpected laughter for no reason;
anxious and preoccupied look;
difficulty concentrating on a topic of conversation or a specific task;
a person listens to something or sees something that you cannot see.

Delusional disorders.

According to experts, such disorders are among the main signs of psychosis. Defining what delirium is is not an easy task. With these disorders, even psychiatrists often disagree in their assessment of the patient’s condition.

Highlight following signs delirium:

It is based on incorrect conclusions, erroneous judgments, and false convictions.
Delirium always occurs on a painful basis - it is always a symptom of a disease.
Delusion cannot be corrected or dissuaded from the outside, despite the obvious contradiction with reality, a person with delusional disorder completely convinced of the validity of his erroneous ideas.
Delusional beliefs are of extreme significance for the patient; one way or another, they determine his actions and behavior.

Delusional ideas are extremely diverse in their content. These ideas could be:

persecution, poisoning, influence, material damage, witchcraft, damage, accusations, jealousy;
self-deprecation, self-blame, hypochondriacal, denial;
invention, high birth, wealth, greatness;
love, erotic delirium.

Delusional disorders are also ambiguous in their form. There is a so-called interpretative delusion, in which the evidence of the main delusional idea is one-sided interpretation of everyday events and facts. This is a fairly persistent disorder when a sick person is disrupted in reflecting cause-and-effect relationships between phenomena. Such nonsense is always logically justified in its own way. A person suffering from this form of delusion can endlessly prove that he is right, give a lot of arguments, and debate. The content of interpretive delusion can reflect all human feelings and experiences.

Another form of delirium is sensory or figurative delirium, which occurs against a background of anxiety, fear, confusion, severe mood disorders, hallucinations, and disturbances of consciousness. Such delirium is observed in acutely developed painful conditions. In this case, during the formation of delusions, there is no evidence or logical premises, and everything around is perceived in a special “delusional” way.

Often the development of acute sensory delirium syndrome is preceded by such phenomena as derealization and depersonalization. Derealization is a feeling of change in the surrounding world, when everything around is perceived as “unreal”, “rigged”, “artificial”; depersonalization is a feeling of change in one’s own personality. Patients with depersonalization characterize themselves as having “lost their own face,” “becoming stupid,” and “losing the fullness of their feelings.”

Catatonic syndromes.

This is how conditions are defined in which disturbances in the motor sphere predominate: retardation, stupor (Latin stupor - numbness, immobility) or, on the contrary, excitement. With catatonic stupor, muscle tone is often increased. This condition is characterized by complete immobility, as well as complete silence and refusal to speak. A person can freeze in the most unusual, uncomfortable position - with his arm extended, one leg raised, with his head raised above the pillow.

The state of catatonic excitation is characterized by chaoticity, lack of purpose, and repetition of individual movements, which can be accompanied by either complete silence or shouting of individual phrases or words. Catatonic syndromes can be observed even with clear consciousness, which indicates a great severity of disorders, and be accompanied by confusion. In the latter case, we are talking about a more favorable course of the disease.

Syndromes of confusion.

These conditions occur not only in mental disorders, but also in severe somatic patients. When consciousness is clouded, perception of the environment becomes difficult, contact with the outside world is disrupted.

There are several syndromes of stupefaction. They are characterized by a number of common features.

Detachment from the outside world. Patients are unable to comprehend what is happening, as a result of which their contact with others is disrupted.
Disorientation in time, place, situation and in one’s own personality.
Thinking disorder is the loss of the ability to think correctly and logically. Sometimes there is incoherent thinking.
Memory impairment. During the period of clouding of consciousness, the assimilation of new information and reproduction of the existing one. After emerging from the state of impaired consciousness, the patient may experience partial or complete amnesia (forgetting) of the transferred state.

Each of the listed symptoms can occur in different mental disorders, and only their combination allows us to talk about clouding of consciousness. These symptoms are reversible. When consciousness is restored, they disappear.

Dementia (dementia).

Dementia is a deep impoverishment of a person’s entire mental activity, a persistent decline in all intellectual functions. With dementia, the ability to acquire new knowledge and their practical use deteriorates (and sometimes is completely lost), and adaptability to the outside world is impaired.

Experts distinguish between acquired pathology of intelligence (dementia, or dementia), which develops as a result of the progression of certain mental illnesses, and congenital pathology (oligophrenia, or dementia).

To summarize the above, we note that this lecture provides information about the most common symptoms and syndromes of mental disorders. It will help the reader better understand what specific mental illnesses are, such as schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, and neuroses.

E.G. Rytik, E.S. Akimkina
"Main symptoms and syndromes of mental disorders."

Sometimes it seems that a loved one has gone crazy.

Or it starts to go away. How to determine that “the roof has gone crazy” and it’s not your imagination?

In this article, you will learn about the 10 main symptoms of mental disorders.

There is a joke among people: “There are no mentally healthy people, there are underexamined ones.” This means that individual signs Mental disorders can be found in the behavior of any person, and the main thing is not to fall into a manic search for corresponding symptoms in others.

And the point is not even that a person can become dangerous to society or himself. Some mental disorders arise as a consequence of organic brain damage, which requires immediate treatment. Delay can cost a person not only mental health, but also life.

Some symptoms, on the contrary, are sometimes regarded by others as manifestations of bad character, promiscuity or laziness, when in fact they are manifestations of illness.

In particular, depression is not considered by many to be a disease requiring serious treatment. “Pull yourself together! Stop whining! You are a weakling, you should be ashamed! Stop digging into yourself and everything will pass!” - this is how relatives and friends exhort the patient. And he needs specialist help and long-term treatment, otherwise you won’t get out.

Offensive senile dementia or early symptoms Alzheimer's disease can also be mistaken for age-related decline intelligence or bad character, but in fact it’s time to start looking for a nurse to look after the patient.

How can you determine whether you should worry about a relative, colleague, or friend?

Signs of a mental disorder

This condition can accompany any mental disorder and many somatic diseases. Asthenia is expressed in weakness, low performance, mood swings, hypersensitivity. A person begins to cry easily, becomes instantly irritated and loses self-control. Asthenia is often accompanied by sleep disturbances.

Obsessive states

IN wide range Obsessions include many manifestations: from constant doubts, fears that a person is not able to cope with, to an irresistible desire for cleanliness or performing certain actions.

Under power obsessive-compulsive disorder a person may return home several times to check whether he has turned off the iron, gas, water, or whether he has locked the door. An obsessive fear of an accident may force the patient to perform certain rituals, which, according to the sufferer, can ward off trouble. If you notice that your friend or relative washes their hands for hours, has become overly squeamish and is always afraid of getting infected with something, this is also an obsession. The desire not to step on cracks in the asphalt, tile joints, avoidance certain types transport or people wearing clothes of a certain color or type is also an obsessive state.

Mood changes

Melancholy, depression, a desire for self-recrimination, talk about one’s own worthlessness or sinfulness, and about death can also be symptoms of the disease. You should also pay attention to other manifestations of inadequacy:

Unnatural frivolity, carelessness.
Foolishness, not typical of age and character.
A euphoric state, optimism that has no basis.
Fussiness, talkativeness, inability to concentrate, chaotic thinking.
Inflated self-esteem.
Projecting.
Increased sexuality, extinction of natural shyness, inability to restrain sexual desires.

You have cause for concern if your loved one begins to complain about the appearance of unusual sensations in the body. They can be extremely unpleasant or downright annoying. These are sensations of squeezing, burning, moving “something inside”, “rustling in the head”. Sometimes such sensations can be a consequence of very real somatic diseases, but often senestopathies indicate the presence of hypochondriacal syndrome.

Hypochondria

Expressed in manic preoccupation with the state of one’s own health. Examinations and test results may indicate the absence of diseases, but the patient does not believe it and requires more and more examinations and serious treatment. A person talks almost exclusively about his well-being, does not leave clinics and demands to be treated as a patient. Hypochondria often goes hand in hand with depression.

Illusions

There is no need to confuse illusions and hallucinations. Illusions force a person to perceive real objects and phenomena in a distorted form, while with hallucinations a person perceives something that does not really exist.

Examples of illusions:

the pattern on the wallpaper seems to be a tangle of snakes or worms;
the size of objects is perceived in a distorted form;
the patter of raindrops on the windowsill seems like the careful steps of someone scary;
the shadows of the trees turn into terrible creatures creeping up with frightening intentions, etc.

If outsiders may not be aware of the presence of illusions, then the susceptibility to hallucinations may manifest itself more noticeably.

Hallucinations can affect all senses, that is, be visual and auditory, tactile and gustatory, olfactory and general, and also be combined in any combination. To the patient, everything he sees, hears and feels seems completely real. He may not believe that those around him do not feel, hear, or see all this. He may perceive their bewilderment as a conspiracy, deception, mockery, and become annoyed that he is not understood.

With auditory hallucinations, a person hears various kinds of noise, fragments of words or coherent phrases. “Voices” can give commands or comment on the patient’s every action, laugh at him or discuss his thoughts.

Gustatory and olfactory hallucinations often cause sensations unpleasant properties: disgusting taste or smell.

With tactile hallucinations, the patient thinks that someone is biting, touching, strangling him, that insects are crawling on him, that some creatures are inserting themselves into his body and moving there or eating the body from the inside.

Externally, susceptibility to hallucinations is expressed in conversations with an invisible interlocutor, sudden laughter or constant intense listening to something. The patient may constantly shake something off himself, scream, look around himself with a worried look, or ask others if they see something on his body or in the surrounding area.

Rave

Delusional states often accompany psychosis. Delusion is based on erroneous judgments, and the patient stubbornly maintains his false belief, even if there are obvious contradictions with reality. Delusional ideas acquire super-value, significance that determines all behavior.

Delusional disorders can be expressed in erotic form, or in conviction of one's great mission, in descent from a noble family or aliens. The patient may feel that someone is trying to kill or poison him, rob or kidnap him. Sometimes the development of a delusional state is preceded by a feeling of unreality of the surrounding world or one’s own personality.

Hoarding or excessive generosity

Yes, any collector can be under suspicion. Especially in cases where collecting becomes obsession, subjugates a person’s entire life. This can be expressed in the desire to drag things found in garbage dumps into the house, accumulate food without paying attention to expiration dates, or pick up stray animals in quantities that exceed the ability to provide them with normal care and proper maintenance.

The desire to give away all your property and excessive spending can also be regarded as a suspicious symptom. Especially in the case when a person has not previously been distinguished by generosity or altruism.

There are people who are unsociable and unsociable due to their character. This is normal and should not raise suspicions of schizophrenia or other mental disorders. But if a born cheerful person, the life of the party, a family man and good friend suddenly starts to destroy social connections, becomes unsociable, shows coldness towards those who were recently dear to him - this is a reason to worry about his mental health.

A person becomes sloppy, stops taking care of himself, and in society can begin to behave shockingly - commit acts that are considered indecent and unacceptable.

What to do?

Very hard to accept the right decision in the event that there are suspicions of a mental disorder in someone close to you. Perhaps the person is simply going through a difficult period in his life, and that is why his behavior has changed. Things will get better - and everything will return to normal.

But it may turn out that the symptoms you notice are a manifestation of a serious illness that needs to be treated. In particular, oncological diseases brain in most cases lead to one or another mental disorders. Delay in starting treatment can be fatal in this case.

Other diseases also need to be treated in a timely manner, but the patient himself may not notice the changes happening to him, and only those close to him will be able to influence the state of affairs.

However, there is another option: the tendency to see everyone around as potential patients of a psychiatric clinic may also turn out to be a mental disorder. Before calling emergency psychiatric help for a neighbor or relative, try to analyze your own condition. What if you have to start with yourself? Remember the joke about the under-examined?