Psychological disorders are various disorders of the human psyche, caused by a number of biological, social or psychological factors. Individuals susceptible to mental disorders cannot adapt to existing living conditions or solve their problems on their own. It can be difficult for such people to recover from failures that have befallen them. There are signs of inadequacy in their thinking, actions and behavior.
A mental disorder is a painful condition characterized by various destructive changes in the psyche of the individual. There are many mental disorders, but they all manifest themselves differently. Individuals susceptible to psychological disorders have absurd ideas, they think and behave inappropriately, and react incorrectly to various events. Some types mental illness cause somatic disorders.
Mental illnesses are more common in women than in men. It's connected with a large number provoking factors in representatives of the weaker half of humanity (pregnancy, childbirth, menopause).
In a state of mental disorder, an individual, unlike a healthy person, cannot cope with ordinary everyday problems or properly perform his professional tasks. Mental disorders affect thinking, mental
Types of psychological disorders
Types and characteristics of mental disorders:
- Organic mental disorders. Caused, as a rule, by organic diseases of the brain. Mental disorders are possible after a concussion, head injury, stroke, etc. systemic diseases. The individual experiences destructive changes that negatively affect memory and thinking, as well as hallucinations, delusional thoughts, and mood swings.
- Mental and behavioral dysfunctions associated with the use of alcohol and psychotropic drugs. Violations are caused by taking psychoactive substances that are not drugs. These include sleeping pills, sedatives, and hallucinogenic drugs.
- Schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional states. Mental illnesses affecting the psycho-emotional state of the individual. The individual commits illogical actions, he is insane, he does not understand what is happening around him. The individual has reduced performance and social adaptation.
- Affective disorders. The disease leads to a deterioration in mood. Manifestations of the disorder: biopolar affective disorder, mania, depression, cyclothymia, as well as dysthymia and others.
- Mental disorders provoked by a stressful situation. Neuroses, panic attacks, fears, phobias, constant stress, paranoia. An individual develops fears of various objects or phenomena.
- Behavioral disorders caused by physical and physiological factors. Various mental disorders associated with food and food consumption (overeating, anorexia), as well as problems with sleep and sex.
- Behavioral as well personality disorders mature age. Problems with gender identity, sexual disorders (pedophilia, sadomasochism), pathological addiction to gambling, bad habits.
- Mental retardation. A congenital condition manifested by delayed personality development. The individual’s thought process, memory, and adaptation to society deteriorate. The disorder develops due to a genetic predisposition or problems during pregnancy and childbirth.
- Disturbances in psychological development. Manifest in the form of problems with speech, slowness general development individual, delayed motor functions and reduced learning ability. Problems appear in early childhood and are associated with brain damage.
- Disorders that are typical for childhood and adolescence. Disobedience, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, problems concentrating.
20 percent of the world's population develop disorders associated with various types of phobias throughout their lives. True, fear sometimes arises as a reaction to a threatening situation. Another common mental disorder is depression. It occurs in 7 percent of the female half of the world's population and 3 percent of the male half. Every person on the planet suffers from depression at least once in their life.
A common disorder in human thinking and behavior is schizophrenia. People susceptible to this disease are often in depressed state and try to isolate themselves from public life.
Mental disorders of adulthood manifest themselves in the form alcohol addiction, sexual deviations, irrational behavior. True, many of them are dictated by psychological traumas of childhood and adolescence.
Symptoms of mental disorders
The main manifestations of all kinds of mental disorders are disturbances in mental activity, psycho-emotional state, and behavioral reactions, which significantly go beyond the framework of existing orders and ethical standards. People who suffer from psychological disorders have various physical, cognitive, emotional nature. For example, a person may feel too happy or, conversely, disadvantaged, which is not entirely consistent with the events taking place around him.
Different types of mental illnesses have their own characteristics. Clinical manifestations the same disorder different people may vary. Depending on the severity of the individual’s condition and violations in his behavior,
Main symptoms of mental disorders:
1. Asthenic syndrome.
The individual experiences severe fatigue, exhaustion, and decreased performance. This condition is characterized by instability of mood, increased irritability, sentimentality, and tearfulness. Asthenia is accompanied by constant headaches and sleep problems. Asthenic symptom observed in various mental disorders, as well as after transferred infectious diseases or when tired.
2. Obsessiveness.
People, regardless of their will, experience obsessive experiences, anxieties, fears, and phobias. Unjustified doubts plague the individual. He torments himself with groundless suspicions. When coming into contact with a frightening situation or phenomenon, a person experiences nervous tension. Obsessive fears force an individual to act irrationally, for example, being afraid of germs and constantly washing their hands.
3. Affective syndrome.
Manifests itself in the form of persistent mood changes (depression, mania). This symptom usually occurs at the beginning of mental illness. Subsequently, it remains predominant throughout the illness or is complicated by other mental disorders.
Depression is characterized by a feeling of depression, decreased physical activity, and pain in the heart area. In this state, the individual speaks slowly, thinks poorly, and cannot understand the essence of what he read or heard. The individual develops weakness, lethargy, and lethargy. During a person's depression, despair, hopelessness. Sometimes an individual experiences suicidal thoughts.
A manic state, on the contrary, is characterized by increased optimism, cheerfulness and carelessness. A person appears great amount plans and ideas. He is too lively, active, talkative. IN manic state people experience excess energy, creativity, increased intellectual activity and performance. However, subsequently hyperactivity can lead to rash, inappropriate actions, which affects the individual’s condition. The cheerful mood is replaced by anger and irascibility.
4. Senesthopathy.
They manifest themselves in the form of unpleasant sensations throughout the body. A person feels tingling, pain, burning, tightening, but all these symptoms are not associated with internal diseases organs. The individual feels as if his throat is being squeezed by some force or something is rustling under his ribs.
5. Hypochondriacal syndrome.
A person constantly feels as if he is sick with something. The individual feels discomfort, although in fact he does not have any pathologies. Hypochondria often develops against the background of depression.
6. Illusion.
When an individual has illusions, he real things perceives erroneously. This visual disturbance may be caused by lighting conditions or other optical phenomena. For example, under water all things seem larger than in reality. In the dark, the silhouettes of objects can be mistaken for monsters.
7. Hallucination.
Mental disorders lead to the fact that an individual sees, hears and feels something that does not happen in reality. Hallucinations can be visual, olfactory, auditory, or tactile. Auditory sounds vary in content: the individual hears someone’s voice or the conversation of non-existent people. Voices in your head can give orders, force you to do something, for example, kill, remain silent, or leave somewhere. Visual hallucinations lead to the fact that an individual for a moment sees objects that do not really exist. The olfactory senses make you smell rotting food or cologne. Tactile ones cause unpleasant sensations.
8. Delusional disorders.
Delirium is an individual who builds his conclusions on facts divorced from reality. It is difficult to dissuade him of the incorrectness of his ideas. A person is captive of his delusional fantasies and beliefs, constantly trying to prove that he is right.
9. Catatonic syndrome.
It manifests itself in the form of motor retardation, stupor, or, conversely, strong excitement. During stupor, the individual is unable to move or speak. Catatonic agitation, on the contrary, is characterized by chaotic and frequently repetitive movements. Such a disorder can occur normally in cases of severe stress or as a result of a severe mental disorder.
10. Confusion of consciousness.
The individual's adequate perception of reality is disrupted. A person feels detached from reality and does not understand what is happening around him. The individual loses the ability to think logically and is not oriented in the situation, in time and space. It may be difficult for a person to remember new information, and partial or complete amnesia is also observed.
11. Dementia.
The individual's intellectual functions decrease. He loses the ability to acquire various knowledge, does not understand how to act in difficult situation, cannot find himself and adapt to living conditions. Dementia can occur during the progression of mental illness or be congenital (mental retardation).
Why do they arise?
Unfortunately, the causes of many mental disorders are still unclear. True, depending on the type of disorder, there are certain factors that provoke the development of diseases. There are biological, psychological and social reasons mental disorders.
Mental health disorders are known to be caused by changes in the structure or function of the brain. It is generally accepted that the occurrence of mental disorders is influenced by exogenous or endogenous factors. Exogenous drugs include poisonous drugs, alcohol, infections, psychological trauma, bruises, concussions, cerebrovascular diseases. These types of disorders are affected by stressful situations, or social problems. TO endogenous factors include abnormalities in chromosomes, gene mutations or hereditary diseases genes.
Psychological deviations, regardless of the reasons for their occurrence, bring many problems. A sick person is characterized by inappropriate thinking, incorrect response to some life situations and often irrational behavior. Such individuals have an increased tendency to suicide, crime, and the formation of alcohol or drug addiction.
Psychological disorders in children
In the process of growing up, a child undergoes a number of physiological and psychological changes. Many factors, including the attitude of parents towards them, leave their mark on the formation of children’s worldview. If adults raise a child correctly, he grows up to be a mentally healthy person who knows how to behave correctly in society and in any situation.
Children who are early age were exposed to violence every day, perceive this parental behavior as the norm. As they mature, they will exhibit similar behavior to other people. All the negative aspects in raising young children make themselves felt in adulthood.
The famous psychiatrist D. MacDonald identified the most dangerous signs in a child’s mental state, which need to be paid attention to as early as possible. If adults ignore these factors and do not take their children to a psychiatrist, they will have to face a number of serious problems in the future.
Signs psychological disorders in children:
- zoosadism - cruelty to animals (killing kittens, fish);
- inability to empathize with someone else's pain;
- coldness in expressing feelings;
- constant lies;
- enuresis;
- running away from home, love of wandering;
- stealing other people's things;
- desire to start arson;
- bullying of weak peers.
If a child demonstrates deviant behavior, it means that the parents made some mistake in raising him. Negative behaviors indicate symptoms of mental disorders only when they are repeated regularly. Parents need to take deviant behavior seriously and not let the situation take its course.
How to treat?
Before treating a person for a psychological disorder, a specialist must correctly establish a diagnosis and identify the cause that influenced the development of the disease. First of all, you need to consult a psychologist. The specialist talks with the client in a calm atmosphere, conducts tests, assigns tasks and carefully observes the individual’s reactions and behavior. After conducting a psychological diagnosis, the psychologist identifies disorders in the client’s psyche and determines the method of corrective assistance.
If a person has encountered a number of difficulties in life, as a result of which he has psychological disorders, he can seek help from a psychologist-hypnologist
A mental disorder is understood as a deviation of the psyche from the norm, a violation of not only the somatic, but also the mental state of a person. Pathology of the mental aspect manifests itself in disorders of behavior, emotions, cognitive sphere, adaptation and personal characteristics individual. Every year the variety and prevalence of mental disorders increases. Due to the dynamics of science, classifications of psychopathologies are constantly changing and improving.
Main classifications of mental disorders
The problem of differentiating mental pathology is associated with different approaches to understanding the essence of the disease. There are three main principles for systematizing mental disorders:
- nosological,
- statistical,
- syndromological.
Nosological differentiation of diseases was first proposed by E. Kraepelin, who relied on the origin, causes and general clinical picture mental disorders. According to this classification, mental pathology can be divided into two large groups(according to etiology):
- endogenous,
- exogenous.
Endogenous diseases are caused internal factors, such as: genetic predisposition, chromosomal mutations and aberrations. Exogenous disorders manifest themselves due to exposure to external negative factors: intoxication, brain injury, infectious diseases, psychogenic influences, stress.
Statistical differentiation of mental illnesses and disorders is the most common; it includes the famous ICD, which is still successfully used by Russian psychiatric science to this day. The basis of this principle is statistical calculations of the dynamics of development and prevalence of mental illness among the world population. The International Classification of Mental Illnesses was developed by WHO to improve diagnostic criteria in defining pathology.
The syndromological approach to the systematization of mental illnesses is based on the theory of the unity of mental pathology, which implies common reasons development and manifestations of diseases. Representatives of this direction believe that all mental disorders are of a similar nature, differing from each other only in symptoms at different stages of the development of the disease. Great importance in the development of this classification was the use medical supplies to relieve symptoms of mental disorders (hallucinations, delusions).
Main types of mental disorders according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
Based on numerous studies, using information from the American nosological classification, known as DSM, the International Classification of Diseases was developed. Over the course of several decades, changes were made to the classification that improved its structure and content. All types of mental disorders are divided according to symptomatic, etiological and statistical criteria.
To date domestic psychiatry uses ICD-10, which contains the following list of mental disorders:
- organic and symptomatic mental disorders,
- mental pathologies caused by the action of psychoactive substances,
- delusional mental disorders, schizophrenia,
- affective disorders (mental disorders of feelings),
- stress, somatoform and neurotic disorders,
- mental illness of adulthood,
- behavioral disorders caused by physiological or physical factors,
- mental retardation,
- psychological and mental development personalities,
- emotional and behavioral disorders in childhood,
- syndromes and disorders not otherwise specified.
The first section contains a list of diseases caused by infectious, traumatic and intoxicating lesions of the brain. The clinical picture of disorders is dominated by cognitive impairment, pathology of perception and impairment emotional sphere. Cerebral disorders lead to dysfunction of one or more parts of the cerebral cortex. This group includes the following diseases:
- various manifestations of dementia,
- non-alcoholic delirium,
- organic personality disorders,
- delirium, hallucinosis of organic origin.
Disorders caused by the use of various psychoactive substances are classified as a special group of disorders. This section includes addictions, intoxications, withdrawal states and mental pathologies caused by psychoactive stimulants. Mental disorders in this group of diseases have general algorithm currents:
- euphoria,
- addiction,
- abstinence.
The use of narcotic or other drugs in the initial stages causes an increased emotional background, euphoria or physical activity, then dependence is formed. Withdrawal syndrome is side effect and causes an irresistible desire to re-use psychoactive drugs. The latter include drugs, alcohol, psychostimulants, vapors of toxic substances, etc. Excessive use or excess doses can cause toxicity, which can lead to stupor, coma or even death.
The next block of mental disorders includes diseases based on the pathology of consciousness and perception. The main symptoms of such disorders are hallucinations and delusions. The main disease in this section is schizophrenia, characterized by large-scale disturbances of perception and thought processes. Other mental disorders include: schizotypal, delusional and affective disorders.
Mental disorders of feelings and affective disorders form a section that includes various pathologies of emotional background and mood. Feeling disorder refers to deviations in emotional response to internal or external stimuli. The objective reaction corresponds to the strength of the current stimulus, when the pathological one is monopolar - excessive or suppressed. Among the main sensory disorders are:
- mania,
- ecstasy,
- emotional ambivalence,
- euphoria,
- weakness.
These conditions can manifest themselves in the following mental pathologies:
- bipolar affective disorder,
- affective disorders,
- manic and depressive episode.
Premorbid conditions, such as neuroses, neurasthenia, phobias, as well as disorders caused by negative impact stress factors are combined into a special group of disorders. This section identifies the following disorders:
- somatoform,
- conversion,
- anxious and phobic,
- obsessive-compulsive.
Behavioral pathology, manifested in eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, sleep disorders belong to the fifth category of the International Classification of Diseases. The section includes behavioral abnormalities associated with the postpartum condition, as well as various unspecified disorders.
Diseases in old age are associated with dysfunction of organs and systems, which cause failure not only in the physiological, but also in the mental level. The practical side of psychiatric science shows that many disorders from the list of mental disorders under this heading can manifest themselves in childhood, progressing with age. This block of pathologies includes:
- drive disorders (gaming addictions, sexual deviations, trichotillomania, etc.),
- specific personality disorders,
- pathology of sexual orientation and identification.
Mental retardation, included in a special section of diseases, covers not only intellectual impairment, but also cognitive, speech and social spheres. Depending on the degree of retardation, mild, moderate and severe forms. The nature of diseases largely depends on heredity, chromosomal aberrations and mutations, and genetic diseases.
Mental and psychological development become noticeable in early childhood, their symptoms are persistent and manifest themselves mainly in a delay in the development of the speech component, motor coordination and socialization. Most disorders go away as the child gets older; only a few signs remain for life, the exception being autism.
Emotional disorders in childhood often manifest themselves in inappropriate behavior, excessive activity, delays in speech and motor development. Teenage years, as the most sensitive stage, causes a diverse range of deviations in behavioral and emotional responses. This category includes the following disorders:
- behavioral disorders,
- socialization disorders,
- mixed disorders,
- tics.
Treatment of mental disorders
Today, the following methods are used to treat mental disorders:
- pharmacotherapy,
- psychotherapy,
- somatotherapy.
Drug treatment mental pathologies is based mainly on the use of tranquilizers and antidepressants, since these substances provide prolonged therapeutic effect. A properly selected drug has a calming and activating effect.
Psychotherapeutic influence has a positive effect on mental condition sick. Using various methods and approaches can achieve enormous results and get rid of the patient’s suffering; there are cases where psychotherapy helped where medications were ineffective.
An integrated approach in the treatment of mental illness is the most productive: medications relieve symptoms, psychotherapy stabilizes the patient’s mental state.
An epidemic of violence has spread across Russia: teenagers mercilessly slaughter people and rape corpses, and students revive Columbine and attack schools with Molotov cocktails. There is panic in parent chats: horror stories are replacing each other with great speed, and everyone wants to isolate inadequate people from society at any cost. At this time, deputies are looking for something else to ban so that the violence stops.
Of course, this happens to people for a reason: probably, each of the perpetrators of the incidents had their own reasons for this, and they cannot be generalized. But you can understand how to recognize a mentally ill person and try to provide him with timely help, because, as a rule, such people subconsciously ask others for it.
the site decided to look into the problem and turned to the chief psychotherapist of the Sverdlovsk region, Mikhail Pertsel, who has been dealing with mental disorders of all types for many years and knows everything about them.
Almost every day on the news agenda there are murders and attacks, the “heroes” of which are teenagers. What is this connected with, is it some kind of pathology?
I think it’s impossible to generalize; there are many factors here. But many experts believe that this is due to the lack of some educational work in the family and school. In fact, teenagers can be subjected to some kind of external influence in the form of websites, interest groups, communities, without having ideas about what is good and what is bad formed by their upbringing. The presence of these ideas should be the main prevention of such deviations. In my opinion, such statements have been heard since the time of Socrates. The older generation will probably always exclaim that the children turned out to be the wrong ones, thereby stating their ideas about their own inadequacy as educators. Such manifestations of aggression have always existed, they just take a different form now. Now this gives rise to imitation and looks terrible, primarily due to the lack of some kind of education system among some young people and an understanding of who really is a scumbag and who is worthy of respect.
Is it possible to somehow drive a person crazy from the outside? What happens to people in sects and terrorist groups?
IN normal conditions It is almost impossible to influence the human psyche in this way. In order to change a person’s worldview and his mental state, a very serious impact is needed. But the fact is that a person gets there, already being vulnerable due to insufficient, for various reasons, adaptation in normal life. A healthy person will resist brainwashing in every possible way.
- What has to happen for a person to go crazy?
The disorder can be either congenital and genetic in nature, or formed in the process of abnormal personality development. It all depends on what mechanisms a person has to respond to a stressful situation. It is quite natural that a person will react heavily to the loss of some values and relationships that are important to him - there will be a reaction of adaptation to some kind of loss or to a change in a state of affairs that is significant for him. He will try to adapt his life to new conditions or change conditions - this is a healthy way.
An unhealthy path is possible when the stressor is excessive or lasts too long. For example, after hostilities and disasters - when a person is faced with the question of life and death, physical or moral survival. So-called chronic stress disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder, may occur. Severe stress can also trigger another mental disorder that is not directly related to it, but can be triggered as a result of a strong emotional “shock.”
As a rule, those who come into view official statistics, are people with diseases that are associated with organic dysfunction of the brain. Such people have borderline disorders.
- How many mentally ill people are there among us who could really use the help of specialists?
States mental health And mental illness do not have a clearly defined boundary between themselves: at some point a person may feel completely healthy, at another - sick and unhappy. However, research suggests that about 30-50 percent of people in the world suffer from mental illness. In addition, according to data obtained during a survey of visitors to Russian clinics several years ago, about 40 percent suffer from depressive disorders. Moreover, no more than 10 percent receive adequate psychiatric care. The rest either simply do not seek it or do not receive a correct diagnosis.
- How many of them are aggressive and dangerous to society, many should be afraid?
The percentage is not that big. Some mental illnesses actually cause significant changes: personality, worldview, way of thinking. For example, a person suffering from pathological delusions of jealousy (obsessive and groundless belief in betrayal on the part of a partner - approx. edit.), will perceive others in a completely distorted way - in this case, he can really be dangerous. But if you look at crime statistics, most crimes are still committed healthy people for some selfish or other reasons.
- How do you understand that the person next to you is mentally ill, what are the symptoms?
Here you need to start from the idea of what the norm is. Normally, a person is cheerful, cheerful, healthy, sociable and functional - he does what depends on him. Noticeable deviations may exist for a long time or appear unexpectedly. The person may become exceptionally sad and begin to talk about issues related to life and death. If he is depressed, if he suddenly becomes inhibited and stops coping with responsibilities, if he has some inappropriate actions and statements, this is always a reason to think about it and at least draw the attention of the person himself to this.
Definitely say that mentally unhealthy person should become sad and mourn your failed life, of course, you can’t. It happens that the opposite is true. Most important indicator- this is a change in behavior in a direction that is not typical for a person. Separate mention should be made of the risk of suicide. This is a very complex phenomenon in which a person, due to various reasons feels in a hopeless situation. He may become overly anxious - or, conversely, overly calm - as if he is living on the edge, preparing to leave, putting his affairs in order. This can manifest itself in statements regarding the future - people with mental problems often do not see themselves in the future at all and avoid this topic. If this happens, then the person definitely needs help.
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If a person is ironic about the topic of death, is this normal? Is it necessary to try to drag such a person for psychological help?
In our culture, it is not very common to joke about death - it is believed that people are quite sensitive to such issues. But it is impossible to drag him for psychological help until he himself wants it. Behind such bravado about death there may actually be serious problems. Most often, a person in this way can unconsciously call on others for help - in such cases, he begins to sneer at the topic of his value, life in general, and underestimates his achievements. For example, all studies show that people who have attempted suicide in one way or another, in their life path tried to turn to others for help in some way. If they were heard, everything ended well, if not, they moved on this way.
Not certainly in that way. Depression and aggression are two different things. With depression, a person may have a negative attitude towards himself, but at the heart of the disorder is depression, the loss of the opportunity to enjoy life. A person stops feeling positive sides that exist in the current moment. To this are added the ideas of one’s worthlessness and guilt, worthlessness and irrelevance. Mood decreases, and all body functions are inhibited. Serious depression is accompanied by intellectual and motor retardation.
Aggression is a completely different mechanism, which in its essence is as universal as the anxiety mechanism. Any creature needs aggression to survive. Another thing is that normally it is constructive and directed in the right direction, regulated in degree of expression. Constructive means aimed at achieving some socially acceptable result.
Are psychopaths more likely to become cold-blooded killers? What is the basis of psychopathic disorder?
This term today belongs to the category of everyday ones - in the international classification it is called “personality disorder”, which can manifest itself in completely different aspects. This is not only aggressiveness - it happens that, on the contrary, a person is characterized by excessive scrupulosity and defenselessness. Personality disorder refers to the dominant in a person’s life rigid features of his reaction, motivation, behavior, thinking, emotions that do not correspond to standards, leading to maladaptation of a person in society. This is caused by uneven ripening different parts personality structure due to congenital causes and pathological upbringing, which characterizes the personality as a whole. Due to the immaturity of inhibition mechanisms, for example, aggressiveness may be increased; due to the peculiarities of the emotional sphere and the peculiarities of thinking - a tendency to a depressive reaction. In essence, a personality disorder is a general disharmony of the mental sphere, which leads to the fact that a person does not achieve a harmonious internal state and opportunities for successful functioning in society.
The most discussed at the intersection of psychiatry and psychology now is the so-called borderline disorder personality, in which the main characteristic is the immaturity of, first of all, the sense of one’s own “I”, general idea About Me. A person does not feel like a whole person, therefore he constantly needs complex relationships with other people, rapid changes in these relationships, and risk - this is how he tries to feel his “I”. Often the disorder is accompanied by some kind of self-harm - this is a tool that allows you to drown out mental pain with physical pain. The way out of states of maladaptation due to personality disorders can only be through qualified assistance specialists - psychiatrist, psychotherapist, psychologist.
- The most dangerous to society are those who have increased excitability?
Most often, we are faced with the fact that the greatest damage is caused by hooligans and brawlers, that is, asocial individuals. Thus, in the American psychiatric tradition, people with the so-called dissocial disorder are usually called psychopaths. In this case, the immaturity of personal structures concerns the lack of social feeling, the feeling of being a person and part of society. Such a person has the highest nervous system The structures that are responsible for conscience, integrity, humanity, compassion and empathy are not developed or trained. He becomes a cold, excitable, insensitive egoist who is ready to do everything only for himself and his momentary pleasure.
How often do we communicate with people without even knowing what is really going on in their heads. It is possible that your interlocutor suffers from schizophrenia or manic-depressive disorder, because outwardly these diseases hardly manifest themselves at all. But communication, behavior and character of a person can say a lot. To identify a mental disorder, it is enough to pay attention to the signs described below.
Depression
According to WHO, depression is the most common mental disorder in the world, affecting more than 300 million people. An experienced specialist should diagnose this disease, but there are several signs that make it possible to recognize depression by the characteristics of the conversation and behavior of the interlocutor.
- Inhibition, careful selection of speech before answering;
- Frequent use“negative” words (sadness, unhappiness, melancholy, sadness, etc.) and words expressing totality (never, always);
- Lack of desire to continue the conversation;
- Quiet talk.
An equally common phenomenon is hidden depression, when a person pretends to be happy in order to hide the real state of affairs. In such cases, recognizing the disease can be much more difficult.
Bipolar affective disorder (BD)
Bipolar disorder is also called manic-depressive psychosis. This disease More than 60 million people are affected. The life of a patient with this diagnosis is divided into two “modes” - depression and manic psychosis. Each phase has its own characteristics and different durations. In conversation, a person with this disorder may express himself in the following ways:
- Excessive talkativeness;
- Prostration;
- Boasting, self-confidence;
- Delusional ideas;
- Lethargy.
Generalized anxiety disorder
In the presence of of this disorder the person regularly experiences anxiety and restlessness, and may also experience some physical symptoms in the form of sweating, body tremors and dizziness. Signs of GAD:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
With OCD, the patient experiences intrusive thoughts which cause feelings of restlessness and anxiety. To combat them, a person often performs strange actions - washing his hands several times, checking all the locks in the room, counting money, and the like. For him, this is not the usual worry that thieves will break into the apartment or not have enough cash to pay at the store. These are vital rituals that he will not refuse under any circumstances.
It is by these that one can identify a person suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. In conversation, these people do not show themselves in any way.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Participants in combat operations, victims of terrorist attacks, sexual violence and other people who have experienced stressful situations are the main category of patients with PTSD. Patients with PTSD are simultaneously susceptible to anxiety and depressive effects, so the same signs that are observed in these disorders may “slip through” in their conversation.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is one of the most serious mental disorders, which leads to a complete loss of contact with reality and destruction of personality. A person suffering from schizophrenia, as a rule, does not feel sick, makes grandiose, often impossible plans, believes in conspiracy theories and thinks that he is being persecuted. In a conversation with you, such a person may guess that the planet has long been ruled by aliens.
Remember that only a specialist can make a diagnosis, and it is impossible to assess a person’s condition based on one conversation. However, if you notice similar signs and obvious changes in behavior in a loved one, it is best to show him or her to the doctor.
Asthenia is a whole complex of disorders that characterize initial stage mental disorder. The patient begins to quickly get tired and exhausted. Performance decreases. There is general lethargy, weakness, and mood becomes unstable. Frequent headaches, sleep disturbances and a constant feeling of fatigue require detailed consideration. It is worth noting that asthenia is not always the main sign of a mental disorder and rather refers to a nonspecific symptom, as it can also occur with somatic diseases.
Suicidal thoughts or actions are a reason for emergency hospitalization of the patient in a psychiatric clinic.
A state of obsession. The patient begins to have special thoughts that cannot be gotten rid of. Feelings of fear, depression, uncertainty and doubt increase. The state of obsession may be accompanied by certain rhythmic actions, movements and rituals. Some patients wash their hands thoroughly and for a long time, others repeatedly check whether the door is closed, the lights are turned off, the iron is turned off, etc.
Affective syndrome is the most common first sign of mental disorder, which is accompanied by persistent change moods. Most often, the patient has a depressed mood with a depressive episode, much less often - mania, accompanied by an elevated mood. At effective treatment mental disorder depression or mania disappears last. On the background affective disorder there is a decrease. The patient has difficulty making decisions. In addition, depression is accompanied by a number of somatic symptoms: indigestion, feeling hot or cold, nausea, heartburn, belching.
If affective syndrome accompanied by mania, the patient has high mood. Pace mental activity speeds up many times over, leaving you with minimal time to sleep. Excess energy can be replaced by severe apathy and drowsiness.
Dementia – last stage mental disorder, which is accompanied by a persistent decline in intellectual functions and dementia.
Hypochondria, tactile and visual hallucinations, crazy ideas, abuse psychoactive substances and – all this accompanies a mental disorder. Close relatives of the patient do not always immediately understand what is happening, so psychiatric help are addressed when the disorder becomes pronounced.
Timely treatment of mental disorders is a guarantee of success
Modern medicine has in its arsenal enough effective means for the treatment of mental disorders. The sooner treatment is started, the higher the chance of success.
