Manic-depressive syndrome (disorder): causes, signs, diagnosis, how to treat. Prevention and treatment of manic-depressive psychosis Manic-depressive psychosis interesting facts

in modern psychiatry are very a common diagnosis afflicting humanity. Their appearance is associated with global cataclysms, personal problems of people, the influence environment and other factors.

People, under the pressure of problems, can fall not only into a depressive state, but also into a manic state.

Etymology of the disease

What is manic depressive psychosis can be explained in simple words: this is what is commonly called the periodically alternating state of idle and full depression.

In psychiatry, experts call this a disease that is characterized by the appearance in a person of two periodically alternating polar states that differ in psychosomatic indicators: mania and depression (positive is replaced by negative).

This disease is often referred to in the literature on psychiatry, which also studies MDP, as “manic depression” or “bipolar disorder”.

Types (phases)

Flows in two forms:

– depressive phase,
- manic phase.

Depressive phase is accompanied by the appearance of a depressed pessimistic mood in the sick person, and manic phase bipolar disorder is expressed by an unmotivated cheerful mood.
Between these phases, psychiatrists allocate a time interval - intermission , during which the sick person retains all his personality traits.

Today, according to many experts in the field of psychiatry, manic-depressive psychosis is no longer a separate disease. In its turn bipolar disorder is an alternation of mania and depression, the duration of which can range from one week to 2 years. The intermission separating these phases can be long - from 3 to 7 years - or it can be completely absent.

Causes of the disease

Psychiatrists classify manic-depressive psychosis as autosomal dominant type . Most often, an illness of this nature is hereditary a disease passed from mother to child.

Causes psychosis lies in the disruption of the full activity of emotional centers located in the subcortical region. Malfunctions of the processes of excitation and inhibition occurring in the brain can provoke the appearance of bipolar disorder in a person.

Relationships with others and being in a stressful state can also be considered as causes of manic-depressive psychosis.

Symptoms and signs

Manic-depressive psychosis most often affects women than men. Case statistics: per 1000 healthy people accounts for 7 patients in psychiatric clinics.

In psychiatry, manic depressive psychosis has a number of symptoms manifested in the phases of the disease. In teenagers the signs are the same, sometimes more pronounced.

The manic phase begins in a person with:

– changes in self-perception,
– appearance of vivacity literally out of nowhere,
– tide physical strength and unprecedented energy,
- discoveries second wind,
– disappearance of previously oppressive problems.

A sick person who had any diseases before the onset of the phase suddenly miraculously gets rid of them. He begins to remember all the pleasant moments from his life that he lived in the past, and his mind is filled with dreams and optimistic ideas. The manic phase of bipolar disorder displaces all negativity and thoughts associated with it.

If a person has difficulties, he simply does not notice them.
For the patient, the world appears in bright colors, his sense of smell is heightened and taste buds. A person’s speech also changes, it becomes more expressive and louder, he has a vividness of thinking and an improvement in mechanical memory.

The manic phase changes human consciousness so much that the patient tries to see only exclusively positive things in everything, he is satisfied with life, is constantly cheerful, happy and excited. He reacts negatively to outside criticism, but easily takes on any task, expanding the range of his personal interests and acquiring new acquaintances in the course of his activities. Patients who prefer to live an idle and cheerful life, love to visit places of entertainment, and they change sexual partners quite often. This phase is more typical for adolescents and young people with pronounced hypersexuality.

The depressive phase does not proceed so brightly and colorfully. In patients staying in it, a melancholy state suddenly appears, which is not motivated by anything, it is accompanied by retardation of motor function and slowness thought processes. In severe cases, a sick person may fall into a depressive stupor (complete numbness of the body).

People may experience the following: symptoms:

- sad mood
– loss of physical strength,
- emergence of suicidal thoughts,
– a feeling of one’s own unworthiness for others,
– absolute emptiness in the head (lack of thoughts).

Such people, feeling useless for society, not only think about committing suicide, but often they end their mortal existence in this world in exactly this way.

Patients are reluctant to make verbal contact with other people and are extremely reluctant to answer even the simplest questions.

Such people refuse sleep and food. Quite often the victims of this phase are teenagers who have reached the age of 15; in more rare cases, people over 40 years of age suffer from it.

Diagnosis of the disease

A sick person must undergo a full examination, which includes the following: methods, How:
1. electroencephalography;
2. MRI of the brain;
3. radiography.

But it is not only such methods that are used to carry out examinations. The presence of manic-depressive psychosis can be calculated by polls And tests.

In the first case, specialists try to compile an anamnesis of the disease from the patient’s words and identify genetic predisposition, and in the second, based on tests, bipolar personality disorder is determined.

A test for bipolar disorder will help an experienced psychiatrist identify the patient’s degree of emotionality, alcohol, drug or other addiction (including gambling addiction), determine the level of attention deficit ratio, anxiety, and so on.

Treatment

Manic-depressive psychosis includes the following treatment:

• Psychotherapy. This treatment is carried out in the form of psychotherapeutic sessions (group, individual, family). This kind of psychological help allows people suffering from manic-depressive psychosis to realize their illness and completely recover from it.

Bipolar disorder occupies a special place among affective disorders. affective disorder, or manic-depressive psychosis, as they used to say. Characteristic feature MDP is cyclical - alternating depressive and manic phases. Moreover, they can go either one after another or alternate several times, unevenly.

Etiology of bipolar affective disorder bipolar disorder

Like most mental illnesses, bipolar disorder is characterized by heredity and hormonal imbalances. If we look at the causes of bipolar disorder in more detail, it is worth highlighting three key etiological factors- genetics, personality traits and predisposing factors.

Genetics states that the disease can be transmitted along the X chromosome with a dominant gene. This is especially true for bipolar disorders. Also, a genetic predisposition is explained by a deficiency of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Risk factors for the occurrence of bipolar affective disorder are gender (in men the disease develops statistically more often), period of menstruation and a history of menopause in women. Psychogenic factors and the presence of addiction tendencies play a major role. If we talk about personality type, testing shows the predominance of the melancholic personality type, people with a stuck type of accentuation and psychasthenics. Schizoid personality traits, which were observed in more than 30% of patients, are examined separately bipolar disorder.

Premorbid symptoms of bipolar disorder include affective outbursts and emotional instability. If it has patterns of development, it is worth thinking about possible availability cyclical affective disorders. Bipolar disorder often accompanies other mental disorders.

, epilepsy– these are the most common diseases accompanied by symptoms of bipolar disorder.

Clinical characteristics of MDP

Of all psychiatric nosologies, bipolar (manic-depressive) psychosis is the most studied and controlled. This allows for timely recognition and treatment of the disorder, allowing patients to lead completely normal, full life. Psychiatry considers manic-depressive psychosis as a recurrent mental disorder with intermittent (intermittent), chronic course. The difficulty of diagnosis is that the patient himself may not contact a specialist for years, considering his symptoms normal.

Often, the clinical picture shows a predominance of one of the phases. For example, for 5 depressive phases there may be only one manic phase.

Therefore in modern classification The following forms of manic-depressive psychosis are distinguished:

1. Monopolar.
2. Bipolar.

Monopolar form- V clinical course disorders in this case, one phase predominates, mainly depressive. Of course, it is not permanent. For some time, sometimes up to several weeks, the person remains depressed. Then a period of intermission begins and the patient feels well. The manic phase can occur after 4-5 cycles of depression.

Bipolar form in its classic form it involves alternating manic and depressive phases 1:1. Intermission always occurs between phases. This form is very difficult to tolerate both by the patient and his loved ones. The course of manic-depressive psychosis can be as follows:

• classic (intermittent) with alternating alternation of manic and depressive phases - it can be correctly intermittent and incorrectly intermittent;
• unipolar (periodic mania and periodic depression);
• double form - a change of opposite phases, followed by intermission;
• circular type of flow - without intermissions.

Clinical picture

To confirm the diagnosis of manic-depressive psychosis, the symptoms of the disease must be cyclical, regular, and between them there must be an intermission stage, or “blind spot.”

But the syndromes and their symptoms in bipolar disorder are determined by the stage and duration of the disease. During the manic phase, people with manic depression may experience the following symptoms:

• mental excitement;
• euphoric mood;
• hyperactivity;
• insomnia or a significant decrease in the need for sleep;
• a flow of ideas and thoughts that a sick person may not be able to keep up with;
• delusions of grandeur and overvalued ideas;
• disinhibition in all areas;
• agitation;
• overactive activity aimed at satisfying momentary desires.

Manic-depressive psychosis is characterized by the existence of the so-called BAR triads:

1. Tachycardia (increased heart rate).
2. Dilated pupils.
3. Constipation.

The manic phase of the disease can proceed according to the type of hypomania, severe, manic frenzy and end with a calming stage.

There is a special scale to assess the severity of the manic phase - Young scale.

The depressive phase occurs in four stages:

1. Initial - here there is a decrease in performance, appetite, motivation.
2. The stage of increasing depression is a decrease in mood, anxiety, and a significant decrease in ability to work, both physical and mental. The speech of a sick person becomes monotonous, quiet and monosyllabic. It is at this stage that relatives of patients may suspect something is wrong.
3. Severe - here the occurrence of psychotic affects, a painful experience of melancholy and anxiety is possible. Speech slows down, the patient is reluctant to respond to calls to him. Appetite may disappear completely; patients at this stage are often fed parenterally. Sometimes there may even be productive symptoms.
4. The reactive phase of depression is a gradual fading of symptoms, persistence of asthenia, and sometimes even hyperthymia may appear.

Treatment

The main question troubling patients diagnosed with manic-depressive psychosis is how to live, work, and be a functional member of the family. After all, exacerbations often make a person unadapted to society. The most difficult part of diagnosing manic-depressive psychosis is treatment. It is very difficult to stabilize the unpredictable course of the disease phases. Depending on the form of the disease and phase, combinations of the following drugs are used:

• antipsychotics with short-term therapy;
• lithium preparations and antiepileptic drugs - in the manic phase;
• lamotrigine and antidepressants - during the depressive phase.

Bipolar disorder also requires individual and group psychotherapy. For example, using the methods of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy and psychodynamic direction. Bipolar disorder is a chronic disorder, therefore it requires regular psychopharmacotherapy and psychotherapy to increase the “light intervals” and improve the quality of life of patients.

Periodic deterioration of mood - normal phenomenon. The same goes for improving your emotional state after the crisis is over. But in some cases, depression followed by active joy indicates pathology. For old times' sake, the disease is called manic-depressive psychosis. What it is? What signs are characteristic of the disease? How to treat it?

Manic-depressive psychosis is...?

Manic-depressive psychosis is a mental disorder that involves alternating manifestations affective states(mania and depression). They are called phases or episodes. They are separated by “light” intervals - intermissions, or interphases, during which the state of the psyche is normalized.

Today, the term “bipolar affective disorder (BD)” is used to describe the pathology. The name change occurred in 1993 and was associated with the desire of psychiatrists to more correctly describe the disease:

• it is not always associated with psychotic disorders, which means the word “psychosis” may not be applicable;
• it does not always imply mania and depression, often limiting itself to only one thing, therefore the use of the combination “manic-depressive” can be incorrect.

And although the concept of bipolar disorder is also not the most accurate (for example, there is a unipolar form of it, which inherently contradicts the meaning of the name), now they prefer to use this term.

Manic-depressive psychosis: causes

It is still not clear exactly why people develop depression. manic psychosis. Guided by the latest research, experts have concluded that the causes of the disorder primarily lie in the following areas:

1. Influence of genetic factors. Their impact is estimated at 70-80%. It is believed that a genetic failure leads to psychosis.
2. Influence personal characteristics. People who focus on responsibility, order, and consistency are more likely to experience bipolar psychosis.
3. Influence of environmental factors. The family plays the main role. If parents had problems with mental health, then the child can adopt them not only at the genetic, but also at the behavioral level. Stress also has a negative impact on people. psychological trauma, alcohol and drug abuse.

Manic-depressive disorder occurs in both sexes. Men more often suffer from the bipolar form of pathology, women - from the unipolar one. The likelihood of psychosis increases against the background postpartum depression and other psychiatric episodes occurring after completion of pregnancy. If a woman experiences any mental disorder within two weeks after giving birth, the chances of developing manic-depressive psychosis increase fourfold.

Manic-depressive disorder: types

Depending on whether the patient is experiencing mania, depression, or both, there are five key types of disorder:

1. Monopolar (unipolar) depressive form. The patient experiences only exacerbations of depression.
2. Monopolar manic form. The patient experiences only bouts of mania.
3. Bipolar disorder with predominance of depressive states. There is a change of phases, but the main “emphasis” is on depression - they are more frequent and more intense than mania (it can generally proceed sluggishly and not cause much trouble).
4. Bipolar psychosis with predominant mania. Manic attacks are clearly visible, depression is relatively mild and occurs less frequently.
5. Distinct bipolar type of disorder. Manic and depressive phases alternate “according to the rules” without a significant bias in one direction.

Most often, the course of the disease is regularly intermittent, that is, mania is replaced by depression, depression by mania, and intermissions are observed between them. Sometimes the order gets confused: after depression, depression begins again, after mania, mania begins; then they talk about the abnormally moving type of the disease. If there are no intermissions between the phases, then this is a circular type of development of the disorder.

Manic-depressive psychosis: symptoms

The main symptoms of manic-depressive psychosis are “tied” to manifestations of mania or depression. Pay attention to:

1. Symptoms of mania. They are united by three “themes” - high mood, excitement of the psyche and speech, motor excitement. Signs occur regardless of the situation (for example, the patient maintains a cheerful mood even at a funeral).
2. Symptoms of depression. They are the opposite of mania in nature. The classic triad is a persistently depressed mood, slow thinking, and slow movements.

One phase lasts from a week and a half to a couple of years, with depressive episodes being more extended over time. The state of mania is considered less dangerous, since it is during the period of depression that a person tends to cut off social contacts, stop professional activity or commit suicide.

The standard signs of manic-depressive psychosis may manifest differently in different patients. For example, sometimes a person experiences a single phase in their entire life and never suffers from the disorder again. Then they talk about long-term intermission, stretching for decades (that is, theoretically, an episode of psychosis should happen, but the person does not live to see it due to age).

Manic psychosis: symptoms

There are five stages that manic psychosis goes through. Each of them is characterized by slightly different characteristics:

Stage of manic psychosis	Characteristic symptoms
Hypomanic	verbose active speech high mood cheerfulness distractibility slight decrease in sleep need improved appetite
Severe mania	increased speech stimulation outbursts of anger that quickly fade away rapid transition from topic to topic, inability to concentrate ideas of one's own greatness noticeable motor agitation minimal need for sleep
Manic Fury	severity of all signs of mania incoherent speech for others erratic jerky movements
Motor sedation	gradual decrease in motor excitation high mood speech stimulation
Reactive	gradual return of the patient's condition to normal sometimes – worsening mood

In some cases, manic psychosis is limited only to the first, hypomanic stage.

Depressive psychosis: symptoms

Typically, depressive psychosis is characterized by diurnal mood swings: in the evening emotional condition the patient is improving. The episode goes through four stages of development. They are characterized by the following characteristics:

Stage of depressive psychosis	Characteristic symptoms
Initial	weakening of general tone worsening mood slight decrease in performance difficulty falling asleep
Growing depression	marked decrease in mood increased anxiety serious impairment of performance slow speech insomnia loss of appetite retardation of movements
Severe depression	heavy feeling of melancholy and anxiety refusal to eat very quiet and slow speech monosyllabic answers staying in one position for a long time self-flagellation suicidal thoughts and attempts
Reactive	some weakening of tone gradual restoration of all body functions

Sometimes depression is accompanied by hallucinations. The most common are the so-called “voices” that convince a person of the hopelessness of the situation.

Manic-depressive psychosis: treatment

Therapy for psychosis is complex and does not provide guarantees complete cure. Its goal is to achieve a state of long-term remission. Practiced:

1. Treatment with medications. Lithium preparations, lamotrigine, carbamazepine, olanzapine, quetiapine are used. The products help stabilize mood.
2. Psychotherapy. The patient is taught to control the symptoms of the disorder. In some cases, family therapy is relevant.
3. Consumption of omega-3 polyunsaturated fats fatty acids. Studies have shown that they help normalize mood and avoid relapses. The substances are found in flaxseed, camelina and mustard oils, spinach, seaweed, and fatty sea fish.
4. Transcranial magnetic stimulation. The method involves non-invasive impact on the cerebral cortex with magnetic pulses.

Treatment is not interrupted during periods of intermission. If the patient has other health problems (for example, a malfunction thyroid gland), he should take up their therapy, since many diseases negatively affect mood.

To cope with manic-depressive psychosis, you need to achieve the longest possible remission. This is enough to return to normal life.

Depressive psychosis is a severe mental disorder, expressed in a distorted perception of the surrounding reality. This disorder is caused by pathological organic changes in the body.

Depressive psychosis has a wide variety of forms: manic-depressive, paranoid and others.

Symptoms of depressive psychosis

Depressive psychosis continues long time: from 3 months to 1-2 years. The symptoms of depressive psychosis are described as a complex of three symptoms:

1. Oppression.
2. Braking.
3. Stiffness.

In other words, a person is constantly in a sad mood. He feels depressed. His thoughts are inhibited, his movements are constrained, the person is tense. Being in depressed state, a person experiences indifference to the people around him and his favorite activities, melancholy, and does not find joy in everything that previously seemed interesting to him. Most often, a person is in one position, usually lying down. He answers questions from people around him in monosyllables, inhibited, and with obvious dissatisfaction.

The future of people suffering from depressive psychosis seems bleak. Everything that happened to them previously is regarded as a failure. A person considers himself useless and insignificant. This condition can lead to suicide. Women in a state of depressive psychosis may not have menstruation. In older people, the disease is characterized by anxiety, fear of the future, and the feeling that something bad is about to happen. In such a state, a person is aware of everything that happens to him, but does not have the opportunity to change anything. Your own helplessness causes additional suffering.

Symptoms of paranoid psychosis

A person with paranoid psychosis projects his condition onto other people. He is cold towards others, keeps his distance, and perceives any actions of others as hostile. Paranoid type psychosis begins with suspicion. A person begins to suspect everyone around him of betrayal and infidelity. Any criticism addressed to you is regarded as a threat.

The patient becomes vindictive, he is constantly dissatisfied with something. A person's eccentric behavior causes problems for others. If you begin to observe signs of paranoid depressive psychosis in one of your loved ones, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Cognitive-behavioral disorders are more typical for depressive psychoses:

• Suicidal tendencies;
• Low self-esteem;
• Violation of facial expressions;
• Constant absent-mindedness;
• Tendency to constant generalization;
• Poor concentration;
• Tendency to dependency;
• Constant search for the culprit;
• Constantly feeling like a victim;
• Psychomotor inhibition;
• Inexpressive speech due to impaired thinking;
• Difficulty in choosing the right solution;
• Inexpressive speech;
• Aggressive disorders.

Depression does not appear out of nowhere. Depression, and subsequently psychosis, can be caused by certain events called triggers:

1. Loss of relatives or loved ones.
2. Severe illness or loss of limbs.
3. Treason.
4. Divorce or family breakdown.
5. Job losses.
6. Major material losses.
7. Change of place of residence or work.

Any of these situations is accompanied by emotional shock, which goes through three stages:

• Emotional shock, stunned consciousness.
• Crying, sadness, self-blame.
• Rejection of the situation, the appearance of obsessive ideas.

Depressive psychosis can be treated depending on the type and stage of the disease. Exist different methods Treatments: psychotherapeutic and medicinal.

For paranoid depressive psychosis, long-term psychotherapy is prescribed, which is aimed at normalizing social interaction. It is important that the patient's life skills and self-esteem are enhanced.

Medications for this type of disorder are used extremely rarely, only in extremely severe conditions. Usually prescribed, and. The exception is drugs for the treatment of diseases that are the cause, for example, brain injury, atherosclerosis, cerebral syphilis. In this case, medications are prescribed by appropriate specialists.

The life of any person consists of joys and sorrows, happiness and misfortune, to which he reacts accordingly - such is our human nature. But if the “emotional swing” is pronounced, that is, there are episodes of euphoria and deep depression appear very clearly, without any reason, and periodically, then we can assume the presence of manic-depressive psychosis (MDP). Currently, it is commonly called bipolar affective disorder (BAD) - this decision was made psychiatric community so as not to injure patients.

This syndrome is specific mental illness requiring treatment. It is characterized by alternating depressive and manic periods with intermission - a completely healthy state in which the patient feels great and does not experience any mental or physical pathologies. It should be noted that there are no personality changes, even if phase changes occur frequently, and he already suffers from the disorder enough for a long time. This is what makes it unique of this disease psyche. At one time such people suffered from it famous personalities, like Beethoven, Vincent Van Gogh, actress Virginia Woolf, which had a strong impact on their work.

According to statistics, almost 1.5% of the world's population is affected by MDP, and among the female half there are four times more cases of the disease than among males.

Types of BAR

There are two types of this syndrome:

1. Bipolar type I. Since in this case the periods of mood changes can be traced very clearly, it is called classic.
2. Bipolar type II. Due to the weak severity of the manic phase, it is more difficult to diagnose, but is much more common than the first. It can be confused with in different forms depressive disorders, among which:

• clinical depression;
• postpartum and other female depression, seasonal, etc.;
• so-called atypical depression with such pronounced symptoms as increased appetite, anxiety, drowsiness;
• melancholy (insomnia, lack of appetite).

If the depressive and manic phases are mild in nature - their manifestations are dim, smoothed out, then such bipolar psychosis is called “cyclotomy”.

According to clinical manifestations, TIRs are divided into types:

• with predominance of the depressive phase;
• with the superiority of the manic period;
• with alternating euphoria and depression, interrupted by periods of intermission;
• the manic phase changes to the depressive phase without intermission.

What Causes Bipolar Disorder

The first signs of manic-depressive syndrome appear in adolescents aged 13-14 years, but it is quite difficult to diagnose it during this period, since this puberty age is characterized by special mental problems. Before the age of 23, when your personality is formed, this is also problematic. But by the age of 25, psychosis is completely formed, and in the period of 30-50 years it can already be observed characteristic symptoms and development.

There are also difficulties in determining the causes of bipolar disorder. It is believed that it is inherited through genes, and may also be associated with characteristics nervous system. That is, it is a congenital disease.

However, there are also such biological “impetuses” to the development of this psychosis:

• oncological diseases;
• head injuries;
• violations in hormonal sphere, imbalance of essential hormones;
• intoxication of the body, including drug use;
• thyroid dysfunction.

MDP can also provoke socio-psychological reasons. For example, a person has experienced a very strong shock, from which he is trying to recover through promiscuous sex, heavy drinking, having fun, or plunging headlong into work, resting only a few hours a day. But after a while the body becomes exhausted and tired, as described manic state gives way to depressed, depressed. This is explained simply: from nervous overstrain there is a failure in biochemical processes, they negatively affect autonomic system, and this, in turn, affects human behavior.

Those at risk of developing bipolar affective disorder are people whose psyches are mobile, susceptible to outside influence, and unable to adequately interpret life events.

The danger of bipolar disorder is that it gradually makes mental condition the person is getting worse. If you neglect treatment, this will lead to problems with loved ones, finances, communication, etc. The result is suicidal thoughts, which is fraught with sad consequences.

Symptom groups

Bipolar psychosis, dual by definition, is also defined by two groups of symptoms characteristic of depressive and manic disorder respectively.

Characteristics of the manic phase:

1. Active gestures, hasty speech with “swallowed” words. With strong passion and the inability to express emotions in words, simply waving your arms occurs.
2. Optimism, unsupported, incorrect assessment of the chances of success - investing money in dubious enterprises, participating in the lottery with confidence in big win and so on.
3. Desire to take risks - commit a robbery or a dangerous stunt for fun, participate in gambling.
4. Overconfidence, ignoring advice and criticism. Disagreement with a certain opinion can cause aggression.
5. Excessive excitement, energy.
6. Severe irritability.

Depressive symptoms are diametrically opposed:

1. Malaise in the physical sense.
2. Complete apathy, sadness, loss of interest in life.
3. Distrust, self-isolation.
4. Sleep disturbances.
5. Slow speech, silence.
6. Loss of appetite or, conversely, gluttony (rare).
7. Decreased self-esteem.
8. The desire to leave life.

A given period can last several months or hourly.

The presence of the above symptoms and their alternation gives reason to believe the presence of manic-depressive psychosis. You must immediately contact a specialist for advice. Treatment of TIR for early stages will help relieve the disorder and prevent complications from developing, prevent suicide, and improve the quality of life.

You should seek medical help if:

• mood changes for no reason;
• sleep duration changes unmotivated;
• appetite suddenly increases or worsens.

As a rule, the patient himself, believing that everything is fine with him, does not go to the doctor. All this is done for him by close people who see from the outside and are concerned about the inappropriate behavior of his relative.

Diagnostics and therapy

As mentioned above, bipolar syndrome difficult to diagnose due to the correspondence of its symptoms to others mental disorders. To achieve this, you have to observe the patient for some time: this makes it possible to make sure that there are manic attacks and depressive symptoms, and they are cyclical.

The following will help identify manic-depressive psychosis:

• testing for emotionality, anxiety, addiction bad habits. The test will also determine the attention deficit coefficient;

• thorough examinations - tomography, lab tests blood, ultrasound. This will determine the presence of physical pathologies, cancerous tumors, disruptions in the endocrine system;
• specially designed questionnaires. The patient and his relatives are asked to answer questions. This way you can understand the history of the disease and genetic predisposition to it.

That is, to diagnose MDP it is necessary A complex approach. It involves collecting as much information as possible about the patient, as well as analyzing the duration of his behavioral disorders and their severity. It is necessary to observe the patient to ensure that there is no physiological pathologies, drug addiction, etc.

Experts never tire of reminding: timely identification clinical picture and the development of a treatment strategy guarantees receiving positive result in a short time. The modern techniques available in their arsenal are able to effectively combat attacks of psychosis, extinguish them, and gradually reduce them to nothing.

Pharmaco- and psychotherapy for manic-depressive psychosis

This psychosis is very difficult to treat, because the doctor is dealing with two opposite conditions at once, which require a completely different approach.

Medicines and doses are selected by a specialist very carefully: the drugs should gently remove the patient from the attack, without putting him into depression after a manic period and vice versa.

The goal of treating bipolar disorder with medications includes the use of antidepressants that reuptake serotonin ( chemical substance, a hormone present in the human body associated with mood and behavior). Prozac is usually used, which has proven its effectiveness in this psychosis.

The lithium salt found in drugs such as contemnol, lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxybutyrate, etc. stabilizes the mood. They are also taken to prevent the recurrence of the disorder, but they should be used with caution by people with hypotension, problems with the kidneys and the gastrointestinal tract.

Lithium is replaced by antiepileptic drugs and tranquilizers: carbamezapine, valproic acid, topiramate. They slow down nerve impulses and prevent mood swings.

Neuroleptics are also very effective in the treatment of bipolar disorder: halapedrol, aminazine, Tarasan, etc.

All of the above drugs have a sedative effect, that is, among other things, they reduce the reaction to external stimuli, so get behind the wheel vehicle It is not recommended to sit down while taking them.

Together with drug treatment, to manage the patient’s condition, control it and maintain long-term remission, psychotherapy is also necessary. This is possible only after the patient’s mood has stabilized with the help of medications.

Psychotherapeutic sessions can be individual, group or family. The specialist conducting them has the following goals:

• to achieve the patient’s awareness that his condition is not standard in emotional terms;
• develop a strategy for the patient’s behavior for the future if a relapse of any phase of psychosis occurs;
• consolidate the successes achieved in the patient’s ability to control his emotions and his condition in general.

Family psychotherapy involves the presence of the patient and people close to him. During the sessions, cases of bipolar disorder attacks are worked through, and relatives learn how to prevent them.

Group sessions help patients understand the syndrome more deeply, as they bring together people suffering from the same problem. Seeing from the outside the desire of others to find emotional stability, the patient develops strong motivation for treatment.

In the case of rare attacks, interspersed with long “healthy” phases, the patient can lead a normal lifestyle, work, but at the same time undergo outpatient treatment - undergo preventive therapy, take medications, visit a psychologist.

In particularly severe cases of circular pathology, the patient may be assigned disability (group 1).

If you recognize it in time, you can live a normal life with bipolar disorder, knowing how to manage it. For example, it was diagnosed in actors Catherine Zeta Jones, Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller, which does not prevent them from successfully acting in films, having a family, etc.