Mental and behavioral disorders. Symptom of mental disorder

Acute mental disorder, or acute and transient psychotic disorders, are temporary transient mental disorders with an acute onset and the presence of delusions, hallucinations, disorientation and impaired consciousness. The average duration is from several days to one month.

Characteristics of acute transient psychotic disorder:

• fast start;
• on average lasts up to two weeks;
• the presence of hallucinations, delusions, speech impairment;
• confusion, impaired attention;
• not caused by alcohol or drug use;
• not caused by somatic diseases and metabolic disorders.

Causes of acute mental disorder

Human psychology is a subtle structure that depends on many nuances, including mood reflexes, behavior and the essence of cognition. Psychologists who study such processes have come to the conclusion that a lot in a person and his mental psyche depends on inclusions of a biological nature - for example, neurotransmitters that can change the performance of the immune system.

It has been observed that those who constantly experience stress are more likely to get colds. And even taking into account the similarity in the functional metabolism of the cerebral cortex, practicing psychiatry distinguishes between ordinary mental and congenital organic disorders. The latter cause damage to the brain, causing dramatic changes in the human ability to touch, feel and think. Alzheimer's disease is typical for organic changes.

If any physical causes are found that can cause certain mental disorders, the changes are classified as organically caused. However, the mental disorder itself does not come on its own, out of nowhere; there are prerequisites that can cause it. Depression can last indefinitely and not cause serious problems until a certain moment, and it is this moment that can become the impetus for the launch of a person’s mental disorder (death of a loved one, betrayal, etc.).

In many physically healthy people, deprived of the basic conditions (deprivation) of life in childhood, intellectual and mental development is inhibited. The causes of the disorder are affected, which accumulated at a young age and gave an impetus in the opposite direction. In families where there is a genetically burdened heredity, even with the creation of comfortable conditions and excellent upbringing, a person may develop schizophrenia as he grows up.

Numerous studies have shown that the majority of patients in their care entered the last active phase of the disease only when life circumstances became difficult or difficulties arose.

Alcohol dependence at the genetic level is diagnosed in a huge number of people, but alcoholism will not occur or develop in them until a certain time, until they try alcohol. Additional aggravating factors that provoke lesions and mental disorders may be autism or low psychological activity. People who lead an isolated, closed lifestyle find it more difficult to navigate society, and they withdraw even more into themselves, provoking their psyche to split consciousness.

What applies to them

These include:

1. Acute polymorphic psychotic disorder without signs of schizophrenia. The clinical picture includes symptoms of hallucinations and delusions. These symptoms are varied: their content changes hourly or daily. Patients experience emotional instability and inappropriate behavior. Emotional extremes alternate: from euphoria to anger, from a feeling of happiness to severe irritability. Usually this disorder develops within an hour, lasts several days and resolves itself just as quickly.
2. Acute polymorphic psychotic disorder with signs of schizophrenia. The clinical picture is characterized by imperative auditory (imperative) hallucinations, unsystematic and rapidly changing delusions, Candide-Clerambault syndrome (the patient believes that someone is putting thoughts into his head or reading thoughts), and a feeling of openness of thoughts. There are emotional disturbances: fear, anxiety, anger, rage, euphoria. The patient is distracted, agitated, and cannot sit still. This condition lasts no longer than a month.
3. Acute schizophrenomorphic disorder. The clinical picture contains symptoms of delusions and hallucinations, Candidsky-Clerambault syndrome. It occurs in one of two forms: confusion or affective variant. The confusional form is characterized by disorientation in time, space, and self. The affective form is characterized by emotional disturbances: anger, anxiety, fear, confusion, ecstasy or euphoria. It develops quickly and quickly fades away. Acute schizophrenomorphic disorder can occur with speech impairment: it is disorganized, broken, inconsistent. Symptoms of catatonia may occur: the patient will either be very agitated or be in a frozen position.
4. Other acute predominantly delusional psychotic disorders. This diagnosis is made when the patient has persistent delusions and hallucinations, but cannot be diagnosed as schizophrenia. Includes paranoid psychosis - a severe disorder of thinking. It is characterized by unsystematized paranoid delusions. Most often, the patient expresses ideas that they are persecuting him or trying to poison him. Often accompanied by anxiety, fear, psychomotor agitation.
5. Reactive psychosis. Occurs as a result of severe psychological trauma. A short-term state of shock with disorientation occurs. It occurs in two forms: hyperkinetic and hypokinetic. The hyperkinetic form is accompanied by psychomotor agitation and chaotic movements. The hypokinetic form is accompanied by stupor and numbness, a feeling of horror and anxiety.

Acute mental disorder: treatment

The reasons for how an acute mental disorder occurs are sometimes easier to determine than to treat it in the future. The basis of treatment for this disease is the elimination of its symptoms, which limit the patient’s quality of life. It is important to understand that a person’s recovery program must have a comprehensive effect on the main syndromes of a mental disorder and be safe. Effective treatment results and stable remission can be achieved through unity:

• drug treatment with atypical antipsychotics;
• psychotherapeutic assistance to the patient and his relatives (social skills training, sociotherapy, psychoeducational work, rehabilitation program, social and labor rehabilitation, etc.).

Different strategies and approaches must be used at many stages in the treatment of acute mental illness. In the event of an exacerbation of a mental disorder (schizophrenia), hospitalization of the patient and provision of assistance by specialists in a controlled medical environment is necessary. Such treatment in a hospital setting would be appropriate in cases where the symptoms of this disease are registered for the first time. The hospital has all the conditions for an accurate diagnosis by a doctor and selection of safe and effective drug therapy.

How do mental disorders manifest themselves in people?

Deviations in the psyche primarily manifest themselves in the fact that a person’s perception of the world changes and his attitude towards the people around him changes. Unlike healthy people, people with mental disorders strive to satisfy only their physical and physiological needs; they do not care how their inappropriate behavior will affect the health and mood of others. They are cunning and attentive, selfish and hypocritical, unemotional and resourceful.

It is very difficult to understand when someone close to you shows excessive anger, aggression and unfounded accusations against you. Few are able to remain calm and accept the inappropriate behavior of a loved one associated with mental disorders. In most cases, people think that a person is mocking them and try to apply “educational measures” in the form of moral teachings, demands and evidence of innocence.

Over time, mental illness progresses and can combine delusional, hallucinatory and emotional disorders. Manifestations of visual, auditory and delusional hallucinations include the following:

• a person talks to himself, laughs for no apparent reason.
• cannot concentrate on the topic of conversation, always looks preoccupied and alarmed.
• hears extraneous voices and sees someone that you cannot perceive.
• is hostile towards family members, especially those who serve him. In later stages of the development of mental illness, the patient becomes aggressive, attacks others, and deliberately breaks dishes, furniture and other objects.
• tells stories of implausible or dubious content about himself and loved ones.
• fears for his life, refuses to eat, accusing his loved ones of trying to poison him.
• writes statements to the police and letters to various organizations with complaints about relatives, neighbors and just acquaintances.
• hides money and things, quickly forgets where he put them and accuses others of stealing.
• does not wash or shave for a long time, there is sloppiness and uncleanliness in behavior and appearance.

Knowing the general signs of mental disorders, it is very important to understand that mental illness brings suffering, first of all, to the patient himself, and only then to his loved ones and society. Therefore, it is completely wrong to prove to the patient that he is behaving immorally, to blame or reproach him for not loving you and making your life worse. Of course, a mentally ill person is a problem in the family. However, he must be treated as a sick person and react to their inappropriate behavior with understanding.

Depression

Depression is a complex of disorders that have a direct connection with emotions. This disorder can be characterized by prolonged feelings of anxiety, melancholy, guilt, decreased communication and refusal of entertainment. A person experiences apathy, he begins to get tired quickly, there is incorrect functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and insomnia, as well as problems of a sexual nature.

The causes of depression are considered to be low self-esteem and lack of self-esteem, as well as changes in lifestyle.

Often, after the birth of a baby, women suffer from postpartum depression due to the fact that they are forced to spend all their time with the baby and find themselves isolated from their usual life.

Treatment of such an illness can be psychotherapeutic or pharmacological.

Schizophrenia

A person with schizophrenia loses basic functions - emotions, thinking, motor skills. The disease can manifest itself in different ways:

• Decreased activity and lack of emotionality.
• Neuralgia.
• Hallucinations.

Often people who have schizophrenia hear an inner voice and note that they have voices in their heads that comment on various actions. The behavior and speech of a person who suffers from an illness can be disorganized.

The causes of schizophrenia are different - biological, social, environmental and psychological. There is an opinion that genetic reasons, realized through the influence of various factors, can lead to it.

The psychopharmacological method is most often used for treatment. But psychocorrection or psychotherapy can also take place.

Features of borderline disorder

Borderline personality disorder has less severe symptoms. Such people are characterized by:

• increased sensitivity to current events;
• more developed imagination and fantasy compared to other people;
• increased suggestibility.

People with borderline emotional disorder show interest only in a specific topic that is happening at the moment and is interesting only to them. Such people completely devote their energies to solving any problem, so any difficulties encountered along the way are perceived most acutely and tragically. As a result of this, this type of people experiences strong emotional impressions and feelings that a healthy person feels only in moments of stress.

Even in childhood, such individuals are distinguished by increased manifestation of imagination and suggestibility. It is quite difficult to establish good stable relationships with other children. In their studies, such children lag behind their peers due to their restlessness and increased activity.

Due to the fact that people with a borderline type of disorder are easily instilled with any thoughts and rules of behavior in a company, such patients often end up in bad company, begin to drink alcohol, drugs, and become criminals.

Asthenic syndrome

This is a fairly common condition. The main symptom of a mental disorder is increased fatigue. A person feels a decrease in performance, internal exhaustion. People with mental disorders may behave differently. With asthenia, for example, they are characterized by impressionability, instability of mood, tearfulness, and sentimentality. Such people are very easily moved, they can quickly lose their composure over little things. Asthenia itself can act as a symptom of a mental disorder, which, in turn, accompanies conditions after severe infectious lesions, operations, and so on.

Prevention of mental illness

How to protect yourself and your family from mental illness as much as possible? To do this, preventive measures should be applied in everyday life. It is necessary to control the level of nervous and mental stress, try to avoid stressful situations, interpersonal and family conflicts. For prevention purposes, it is recommended to periodically visit a psychotherapist or psychologist, especially if there are suspicions of mental dysfunction. Medical and genetic counseling at the stage of pregnancy planning can reduce the risk of having a child with mental disorders. To prevent exacerbation and worsening of the course of a mental disorder, long-term maintenance therapy is used. If the doctor constantly monitors the patient and is well acquainted with his everyday environment, then he is able to intervene in a timely manner and prevent a relapse of the disease. As part of the prevention of severe consequences of mental disorders, psychotherapy methods aimed at social adaptation and reducing the patient’s aggression are very effective.

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How to deal with eating problems

How to stop eating everything after a stressful situation? This question worries everyone who dreams of losing weight or has returned from a doctor with a diagnosis of high cholesterol. In most cases, it is impossible to do without external support, the help of a specialist. It can be very difficult to cope alone. The most important thing is to admit that you have difficulties with nutrition and not put off the decision. What to do?

1. Control your diet. When people are stressed, they try to absorb as much food as possible, they get worried and start chewing faster. Your task will be to chew your food thoroughly. Satiety comes after a certain period of time, usually 20-25 minutes. Stretch out the absorption process.
2. Keep a diary and describe your bouts of gluttony. Why do this? It is necessary to trace the psychological source. When do breakdowns happen? To what situation does the body react acutely? If the cause can be eliminated, overeating will decrease.
3. It is understandable to want to lose weight, but it is unlikely to be possible to do this with the help of diets. If a person eats due to stress, then dieting will only make the situation worse. Losing weight due to impulsive overeating is possible only with the help of a specialist and by eliminating the underlying cause. In addition, you need a lot of desire to help yourself cope with the situation.
4. If you have an irresistible desire to eat food, try replacing it with exercise. This will help you get back into shape and redirect negative emotions. Active activity helps improve night sleep and reduce negative experiences.

Characteristics of diseases

Mental disorders often appear in men at a young age (60%), and the remaining 40% of cases occur in older men. The types of mental illnesses depend on the causes, which are quite diverse.

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The nature of the disorders is expressed in different ways - some pathologies can appear spontaneously and disturb only temporarily, while others progress slowly and make themselves felt already in a state of neglect. In some cases, disorders are diagnosed in early childhood; in other men, problems with the nervous system are not detected throughout their lives, and there are no symptoms of mental disorders. For a certain group of diseases, periodic attacks with long phases of remission are typical.

Schizophrenia, which also belongs to mental disorders, has a good prognosis in case of prompt treatment.

Folk remedies that help with mental illness

Effective assistance for mental disorders can be provided by auxiliary treatment with folk remedies. This includes not only infusions and decoctions of herbs, but also correction of diet, physical activity and aromatherapy. Treatment strategy with folk remedies:

• Herbs that have a calming effect help with nervous and mental illnesses. Infusions using oregano, valerian, geranium, lemon balm, fireweed, mint, thyme, and hops calm the nervous system, relieve headaches and help normalize sleep.
• Proven folk remedies for depression and schizophrenia are teas with sage, cloves, cardamom, ginseng - they relieve stress well. If a person with schizophrenia has low magnesium levels, Epsom salts can be consumed in small quantities.
• You should add poultry fillet, peas, and sea fish to your daily diet. It is useful to eat foods rich in nicotinic acid: tomatoes, potatoes, eggs, carrots, broccoli. For nervous diseases, foods high in folic acid are recommended: green vegetables, bananas, liver, citrus fruits.
• You should avoid drinking coffee, alcohol, and reduce the amount of sugar and white flour. But honey, on the contrary, will be useful for mental disorders.
• You can calm the nervous system and relieve tension with relaxing massages and aromatherapy. Essential oils of lemon balm, mint, vanilla, bergamot, mandarin, lavender, cedar, etc. are well suited.

Moderate physical activity also has a positive effect on mental health. If you do exercises every day, walk in the fresh air, douse yourself with cool water and practice breathing exercises, this will help you maintain a stable mental state.

Anxiety and phobic disorders

A fifth of all neuroses are anxiety-phobic disorders. A person suffering from such an illness worries about literally everything: about his career, family, about his own health. And sometimes this anxiety exhausts him so much that the next diagnosis for such a patient is a nervous breakdown.

Physical symptoms of neurotic anxiety may include headaches and body aches, muscle tension, increased sweating, discomfort in the stomach or intestines, dizziness, and nervous tremors. In addition, patients suffering from anxiety-phobic disorder may have problems sleeping.

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