Types of mental disorders. Mental illnesses. Definition of mental illness

Mental disorders are a condition characterized by mental and behavioral changes in a destructive direction.

The term has several interpretations, both in the field of jurisprudence and in psychiatry or psychology, which introduces ambiguity into its meaning.

ICD (International Classification of Diseases) does not distinguish this disorder as a mental or mental illness.

The term rather bears a general assessment of various disorders of the human psyche.

Psychiatry notes that it is not always possible to identify biological, social or medical signs of mental disorders. Only a few mental problems have arisen due to a physical disorder of the body.

Risk factors

Each mental disorder of an individual can arise both due to a change in the structure, and due to a violation of the normal functioning of the brain.

The reasons that influence this are divided into the following groups:

Exogenous. It is customary to refer to this category any external factor that affects a person: be it various industrial toxins, narcotic drugs, microorganisms or brain injuries, which, among other things, could be caused by a disease.
Endogenous. This category includes immanent factors, which included in their composition violations of the set of chromosomes, gene diseases, hereditary diseases.

It is impossible to scientifically explain many more mental disorders. Every 4th has a tendency to mental disorders and behavioral variability.

The main factors provoking the considered pathologies are usually attributed to the biological and psychological influence of the environment.

The disorder can be genetically transmitted regardless of gender. Psychological factors combined heredity, as well as the impact of the environment, which can lead to personality disorders.

Instilling a false sense of family values among children increases the chances of developing mental disorders.

Psychiatric disorders are the most common among patients with diabetes mellitus, vascular diseases of the brain, infectious diseases, as well as those who have experienced a stroke.

Alcohol dependence can deprive a person of a sane state, violating the mental and physical functions of the body.

Symptoms of the disease can also appear in the case of regular use of psychoactive drugs that affect the nervous system.

Autumn exacerbations or personal troubles can lead any person to mild depression. It is for this reason that vitamins are recommended in the fall.

Classification

To make it easier to diagnose, the World Health Organization classified mental pathologies, which are usually grouped as follows:

A condition caused by various kinds of organic damage to the brain. This category includes disorders caused by brain injuries, strokes, or systemic diseases. Cognitive functions are impaired, symptoms such as hallucinations, emotional variability, and delusions occur.
A permanent mental change caused by excessive use of alcohol or drugs. This group includes pathologies that were caused by the influence of psychoactive drugs, as well as sedatives, hypnotics, hallucinogenic substances.
Schizophrenia and schizotypal disorders. Symptoms are manifested in the form of a sharp change in character, the commission of illogical and ridiculous acts, changes in interests and the emergence of uncharacteristic hobbies, a drop in efficiency. An individual can completely lose the state of sanity and perception of the events around him. If the symptoms are mild or borderline, then the patient is diagnosed with schizotypal disorder.
Affective disorders are a group of disorders that manifest as mood swings. The brightest representative of the category is bipolar disorder. This group also includes manias with a variety of psychotic disorders and stable forms of these disorders are considered to be
Phobias and neuroses. It is customary to include various neurotic disorders in this group, including a panic attack, a paranoid state, neurosis, a chronic stress state, various phobias, and somatic deviations. The classification includes specific and situational types of phobias.
Behavioral syndromes, including physiological problems. This group includes a variety of disorders related to nutrition, sleep and sexual dysfunctions..
Disorders of personality and behavior. This group included many states, including problems of identification by gender, sexual preferences, habits and attraction.
Specific personality disorders include a persistent change in behavior as a reaction to a social or personal situation. Such conditions include paranoid, schizoid, dissocial personality disorder symptoms.
Mental retardation. This category includes congenital conditions characterized by mental retardation. These manifestations reduce intellectual functions such as speech, thinking, attention, memory and social adaptation functions.
The disorder can be mild, moderate, moderate and severe, which is characterized by overt clinical manifestations. These conditions are based on possible fetal injuries during childbirth, developmental delays inside the womb, genetic predispositions, and attention deficits at an early age.
Developmental disorders of the psyche. This category included speech pathologies, delays in skills acquisition, learning, motor function, and psychological developmental problems. The condition appears in childhood and is often caused by brain damage. It proceeds evenly, without deterioration and remission.
Disorders related to activity and attention. This group also includes hyperkinetic pathologies. Symptoms appear in adolescents or children as attention problems. Children show hyperactivity, disobedience, sometimes aggression.

Symptoms

Mental pathologies have the following symptoms, divided into groups of signs.

Group 1 - hallucinations
Hallucinations include an imaginary perception that is not caused by an external object. Such perceptions can be verbal, visual, tactile, gustatory and olfactory.
- Verbal (auditory) hallucinations are manifested by separate words, songs, music, phrases that the patient hears. Often words can be in the nature of a threat or an order that is difficult to resist.
- visual can be manifested by the appearance of silhouettes, objects, pictures and full-fledged films.
- Tactile hallucination is perceived as a sensation on the body of foreign beings or objects, as well as their movement through the body and limbs.
- Taste hallucination characterized by a sense of taste, as if the patient had bitten something.
- Olfactory hallucination manifested by the flair of aromas, usually disgusting.

They can manifest themselves in a wide variety of cases and are a symptom of psychosis. They can occur both in schizophrenia and in case of poisoning with alcohol or other toxic substances. It is also possible manifestation in case of brain damage or in senile psychosis.

Group 2 - symptoms of impaired thinking
This group of symptoms includes pathologies of thought processes, it includes: obsessive, delusional and overvalued ideas.
- Obsessions include conditions that occur against the will of the patient. The patient evaluates standing critically and tries to cope with it. Obsessive thoughts are characterized by inconsistency with the patient's worldview. An obsession occurs in the case of a neurotic state or schizophrenia.
  - obsessive doubt is manifested by regular uncertainty in the actions and actions performed, exists contrary to reasonable logic;
  - the patient can repeatedly check whether electrical appliances are turned on, whether the doors are locked;
  - obsessive memory is manifested by a regular reminder to oneself of an unpleasant fact or event;
  - an obsessive abstract idea is manifested by scrolling in thoughts of incoherent concepts, numbers and operations with them.
- Overvalued ideas. They manifest as logically supported beliefs based on realistic situations that are associated with personal characteristics and emotionally charged. Such ideas push the patient to narrowly focused actions, which often contributes to his maladjustment. At the same time, critical thinking is preserved, so it is possible to correct ideas.
- Crazy ideas. By them is meant a false idea that arises against the background of mental disorders and does not correspond to reality. Such judgments are not criticized, therefore they are fully immersed in the patient's consciousness, changing the activity and reducing the patient's social adaptation.
Group 3 - signs of emotional disturbance

Here various types of emotional disturbances are grouped, reflecting the human attitude to reality and to oneself personally.

The human body has a close relationship with the external environment, which leads to constant exposure to stimuli from the outside.
Such an impact can be both emotionally positive and negative or cause uncertainty. Emotions are newly arisen (hypothymic, hyperthymic and parathymic) or lost.
1. hypothymia manifested by a decrease in mood in the form of a test of anxiety, fears, feelings of longing or confusion.
  - Yearning is a state that depresses any mental processes of a person. The whole environment is painted in gloomy tones.
    Activity decreases, there is a strong expression of doom. There is a feeling that life is meaningless.
    There is a high risk of suicide. Longing manifests itself in cases of neurosis and manic-depressive psychosis.
  - Anxiety- internal restlessness, tightness and excessive tension in the chest. Usually accompanied by a sense of impending disaster.
  - Fear This is a condition that causes fear for one's own life and well-being. The patient may, at the same time, not realize what he is really afraid of and be in a state of expectation that something bad will happen to him.
    Some will seek to escape, some become overwhelmed, freezing in place. Fear can be certain. In this case, the person is aware of the cause of fear (cars, animals, other people).
  - Confusion. In this state, there is a variability of the emotional background along with the manifestation of bewilderment.
2. Hypothymic states do not have specificity and can occur in various conditions.
3. Hyperthymia - excessively good mood. Such conditions appear euphoria, complacency, ecstasy, anger.
  - - causeless joy, happiness. In this state, there is often a desire to do something. It manifests itself with the use of alcohol or drugs, as well as with manic-depressive psychosis.
  - Ecstasy is characterized by the highest degree of mood enhancement. It occurs in patients with schizophrenia or epilepsy.
  - Complacency - a state of carelessness with a lack of desire for action. Most often occurs in senile dementia or atrophic processes of the brain.
  - Anger. The state is irritability of the highest level, anger with the manifestation of aggressive, destructive activity. When combined with longing, it is called dysphoria. The condition is typical for patients with epilepsy.
All the types of emotional states described above can occur in a perfectly healthy person in everyday life: the main factor here is the number of manifestations, intensity and influence on further activity.
Group 4 - symptoms of memory impairment

The fourth group contains symptoms of memory problems. These include a decrease in memory function or their complete loss, the inability to remember, retain and reproduce individual events or information.

They are divided into paramnesia (memory deception) and amnesia (memory loss)

Group 5 - signs of violation of volitional activity
Volitional disorders include such types of violations as hypobulia (expressed by a weakening of volitional activity), (lack of activity), and parabulia (perversion of volitional acts).
1. Hypobulia is characterized by a decrease in the intensity and number of actions that encourage activity. It can be manifested by the suppression of individual instincts, for example, food, sexual or defensive, which leads to anorexia, decreased libido and the absence of protective actions against the threat, respectively. Usually observed in neurosis, depressive states. More persistent conditions occur in some cases of brain damage, as well as schizophrenia and dementia.
2. The opposite symptom is hyperbulia, which is expressed by a painful increase in volitional activity. A similar unhealthy desire for activity occurs in the case of manic-depressive psychosis, dementia and some types of psychopathy.
Group 6 - signs of attention disorder

The sixth group of symptoms includes signs of absent-mindedness, distractibility, exhaustion and stiffness.

distraction. In this state, a person is not able to focus on one type of activity.
Exhaustibility. Such a violation of attention leads to a weakening of focus on a particular process. As a result, it becomes impossible to perform work productively.
Distractibility. Such a manifestation leads to a frequent and unreasonable change of activity, and as a result, to a loss of productivity.
stiffness. It becomes difficult for a person to switch attention from one object to another.

The described pathologies almost always occur in cases of mental illness.

Public reaction

Most people tend to avoid contact with people suffering from mental disorders, most often the reason for this is stereotypes.

At the same time, there are many options for deviations that create problems for the patient, but not for the people around him. Only some pathologies lead to antisocial behavior and violation of laws. In this case, the person is recognized as insane and sent to compulsory therapy.

Old stereotypes nurture complexes in people that do not allow visiting psychotherapists, as is customary in Western culture. No one can be immune from mental disorders, so do not ignore specialists who can help overcome a psychological problem.

With the timely provision of proper medical care, the severe and sometimes irreversible impact of mental illness on a person can be avoided.

Documentary film on the topic: “Psyche and mental disorders. Genius or disease.

Psychiatry has traditionally dealt with the recognition and treatment of mental illnesses and disorders. Those violations of a person's mental activity that are manifested in thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions, and behavior in general are studied. These violations may be obvious, strongly pronounced, and may not be so obvious as to speak of "abnormality". Not always unbalanced people are mentally unhealthy.

The line where pathology begins beyond the norm is rather blurred and has not yet been clearly defined either in psychiatry or psychology. Therefore, mental illness is difficult to unambiguously interpret and evaluate. If there are signs of a mental disorder in women, then they can be the same in men. Explicit gender differences in the nature of the manifestation of mental illness are sometimes difficult to notice. In any case, with clearly expressed mental disorders. But the level of prevalence by gender can be different. Signs of mental disorders in men are manifested with no less force, although they are not without originality.

If a person believes, for example, that he is Napoleon or has superpowers, or he has sudden mood swings for no reason, or longing begins or he falls into despair because of the most trivial everyday problems, then we can assume that he has signs of mental diseases. There may also be perverted desires or his actions will be clearly different from normal. Manifestations of painful states of the psyche are very different. But what will be common is that, first of all, the personality of a person, his perception of the world will undergo a change.

Personality is a combination of mental and spiritual properties of a person, his way of thinking, responding to changes in the environment, his character. Personality properties of different people have the same differences as bodily, physical - the shape of the nose, lips, eye color, height, etc. That is, the individuality of a person has the same meaning as physical individuality.

By the manifestations of personality traits, we can recognize a person. Personality properties do not exist separately from each other. They are closely interconnected, both in their functions and in the nature of manifestation. That is, they are organized into a kind of integral system, just like all our organs, tissues, muscles, bones form a bodily shell, a body.

Just as the body undergoes changes with age or under the influence of external factors, the personality does not remain unchanged, it develops, changes. Personality changes can be physiological, normal (especially with age) and pathological. Personality changes (normal) with age, under the influence of external and internal factors occur gradually. The mental image of a person is also gradually changing. At the same time, the properties of the personality change so that the harmony and integrity of the personality are not violated.

What happens when there is a sudden change in personality traits?

But sometimes, a person can change dramatically (or at least, it will seem so to others). Familiar people suddenly become boastful from modest, too harsh in judgments, were calm, balanced, and became aggressive and quick-tempered. From detailed turn into frivolous, superficial. Such changes are hard to miss. The harmony of personality is already broken. Such changes are clearly pathological, are mental disorders. That it is mental illness that can cause such changes is obvious. Doctors and psychologists talk about this. After all, mentally ill people often behave inappropriately to the situation. Yes, and it becomes obvious to others over time.

Factors provoking the occurrence and development of mental illness:

Traumatic head and brain injuries. At the same time, mental activity changes dramatically, obviously not for the better. Sometimes it stops altogether when a person falls into an unconscious state.
Organic diseases, congenital pathologies of the brain. In this case, both individual mental properties and the entire activity of the human psyche as a whole can be violated or "fall out".
General infectious diseases (typhus, septicemia or blood poisoning, meningitis, encephalitis, etc.). They can cause irreversible changes in the psyche.
Intoxication of the body under the influence of alcohol, drugs, gases, medicines, household chemicals (such as glue), poisonous plants. These substances can cause profound changes in the psyche and disruption of the central nervous system (central nervous system).
Stress, psychological trauma. In this case, signs of mental abnormalities may be temporary.
Burdened heredity. If a person has a history of close relatives with chronic mental illness, then the likelihood of such a disease among subsequent generations increases (although this point is sometimes disputed).

There may be other causes among the above factors. There may be many of them, but not all of them are known to medicine and science. Usually, a clearly mentally unbalanced person is immediately noticeable, even to the townsfolk. And yet, the human psyche is perhaps the most poorly understood system of the human body. Therefore, its changes are so poorly amenable to a clear and unambiguous analysis.

Each case of pathological changes in the psyche must be studied individually. Mental disorder or illness can be acquired or congenital. If they are acquired, it means that a certain moment has come in a person’s life when the pathological properties of the personality come to the fore. Unfortunately, it is impossible to trace the moment of transition from the norm to the pathology, and it is difficult to know when the first signs appeared. Also, how to prevent this transition.

Where and when does the "abnormality" begin?

Where is the line beyond which mental illness immediately begins? If there was no obvious interference from the outside in the psyche (head injury, intoxication, illness, etc.), in any case, there was no, in the opinion of both the sick person himself and his environment, then why did he get sick or mental disorders occurred, Even if not psychogenic? What went wrong, at what point? Physicians do not give answers to these questions yet. One can only speculate, carefully study the history, try to find at least something that could provoke changes.

Speaking of congenital, it is assumed that the mental properties of a person have never been in harmony. The person was born already with the broken integrity of the personality. Mental disorders in children and their symptoms represent a separate area for study. Children have their own mental characteristics, which differ from adults. And it should be borne in mind that the signs of a mental disorder can be obvious and obvious, or they can appear as if gradually and by chance, occasionally. Moreover, anatomical changes (in this case, most often they mean changes in the brain, in the first place) in diseases and mental disorders can be visible and obvious, but it happens that they cannot be traced. Or their changes are so subtle that they cannot be traced at a given level of development of medicine. That is, from a purely physiological point of view, there are no violations, but the person is mentally ill and needs treatment.

The pathophysiological basis of mental illness should be considered primarily disorders of the functions of the central nervous system - a violation of the basic processes of higher nervous activity (according to I.P. Pavlov).

If we talk directly about the signs of mental disorders, then we should take into account the peculiarities of the classification of mental illness. In each historical period in the development of psychiatry, classifications have undergone various changes. Over time, it became obvious that there is a need for consistent diagnosis of the same patients by different psychiatrists, regardless of their theoretical orientation and practical experience. Although even now this can be difficult to achieve, due to the conceptual disagreement in understanding the essence of mental disorders and diseases.

Another difficulty is that there are different national taxonomy of diseases. They may differ from each other according to various criteria. At the moment, from the point of view of the significance of reproducibility, the International Classification of Diseases of the 10th revision (ICD 10) and the American DSM-IV are used.

Types of pathology of the psyche (according to the domestic classification), depending on the main causes that cause them:

Endogenous (under the influence of external factors) mental illness, but with the participation of exogenous factors. These include schizophrenia, epilepsy, affective disorders, etc.
Exogenous (under the influence of internal factors) mental illness, but with the participation of endogenous factors. These include somatogenic, infectious, traumatic diseases, etc.
Diseases caused by developmental disorders, as well as due to dysfunctions or disruptions in the functioning of the formed body systems. These types of diseases include various personality disorders, and so on.
Psychogeny. These are diseases with signs of psychoses, neuroses.

It should be noted that all classifications not perfect and are open to criticism and improvement.

What is a mental disorder and how can it be diagnosed?

Patients with mental disorders may visit physicians frequently. Many times they can be in the hospital and undergo numerous examinations. Although, first of all, mentally unhealthy people often complain about their somatic condition.

The World Health Organization has identified the main signs of a mental disorder or illness:

Clearly expressed psychological discomfort.
Impaired ability to perform normal work or school duties.
Increased risk of death. Suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts. General disturbance of mental activity.

It is worth alerting if even a thorough examination does not reveal somatic disorders (and complaints do not stop), the patient has been “treated” for a long time and unsuccessfully by different doctors, and his condition does not improve. Mental illnesses or mental illnesses can be expressed not only by signs of a violation of mental activity, but in the clinic of the disease there may also be somatic disorders.

Somatized symptoms caused by anxiety

Anxiety disorders are twice as common in women as in men. Patients with anxiety disorders are more likely to present somatic complaints than complaints about changes in their general mental state. Often, somatic disorders are observed with various types of depression. It is also a very common mental disorder among women.

Somatized symptoms caused by depression

Anxiety and depressive disorders often occur together. ICD 10 even has a separate anxiety-depressive disorder.

At present, a complex psychological examination is actively used in the practice of a psychiatrist, which includes a whole group of tests (but their results are not a sufficient basis for making a diagnosis, but only play a clarifying role).

When diagnosing a mental disorder, a comprehensive personality examination is carried out and various factors are taken into account:

The level of development of higher mental functions (or their changes) - perception, memory, thinking, speech, imagination. What is the level of his thinking, how adequate are his judgments and conclusions. Are there any memory impairments, is attention exhausted? How do thoughts correspond to mood, behavior. For example, some people can tell sad stories and laugh at the same time. Assess the pace of speech - whether it is slow or vice versa, the person speaks quickly, incoherently.
Evaluate the general background of mood (oppressed or unreasonably high, for example). How adequate are his emotions to the environment, to changes in the world around him.
They monitor the level of his contact, readiness to discuss his condition.
Assess the level of social, professional productivity.
The nature of sleep is assessed, its duration,
Eating behavior. Whether a person suffers from overeating, or vice versa, takes food too little, rarely, haphazardly.
The ability to experience pleasure, joy is assessed.
Can the patient plan his activities, control his actions, behavior, are there any violations of volitional activity.
The degree of adequacy of orientation in themselves, other people, in time, place - do patients know their name, are they aware of who they are (or consider themselves a superhuman, for example), do they recognize relatives, friends, can build a chronology of events in their lives and the lives of loved ones.
Presence or absence of interests, desires, inclinations.
The level of sexual activity.
The most important thing is how critical a person is to his condition.

These are only the most general criteria, the list is far from complete. In each specific case, age, social status, state of health, and individual personality traits will also be taken into account. In fact, the usual behavioral reactions can serve as signs of mental disorders, but in an exaggerated or distorted form. Of particular interest to many researchers is the creativity of the mentally ill, its influence on the course of the disease. Mental illness is not such a rare companion even for great people.

It is believed that "Mental illnesses have the ability to sometimes suddenly open the springs of the creative process, the results of which are ahead of ordinary life, sometimes for a very long time." Creativity can serve as a means of calming and beneficially influence the patient. (P.I. Karpov, “Creativity of the mentally ill and its influence on the development of art, science and technology”, 1926). They also help the doctor to penetrate deeper into the soul of the patient, to better understand him. It is also believed that creators in the field of science, technology and art often suffer from nervous imbalance. According to these views, the creativity of the mentally ill often has no less value than the creativity of healthy people. Then what should be mentally healthy people? This is also an ambiguous wording and approximate signs.

Signs of mental health:

Adequate to external and internal changes behavior, actions.
Healthy self-esteem, not only of yourself, but also of your capabilities.
Normal orientation in one's personality, time, space.
Ability to work normally (physically, mentally).
Ability to think critically.

A mentally healthy person is a person who wants to live, develop, knows how to be happy or sad (shows a large number of emotions), does not threaten himself and others with his behavior, is generally balanced, in any case, this is how he should be evaluated by people around him. These characteristics are not exhaustive.

Mental disorders most common in women:

Anxiety disorders
Depressive disorders
Anxiety and depressive disorders
Panic Disorders
Eating Disorders
Phobias
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Adjustment disorder
Histrionic Personality Disorder
dependent personality disorder
Pain disorder, etc.

Often, signs of a mental disorder are observed in women after the birth of a child. Especially, signs of neuroses and depressions of various nature and severity can be observed.

In any case, doctors should deal with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. The success of the cure is highly dependent on the timeliness of therapy. The support of family and friends is very important. In the treatment of mental disorders, combined methods of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are usually used.

Each of us is familiar with the state of anxiety, each of us has experienced difficulties with sleep, each of us has experienced periods of depressed mood. Many are familiar with such phenomena as children's fears, some obsessive melody was "attached" to many, from which it was impossible to get rid of for some time. All of these conditions are found in both normal and pathological conditions. However, normally they appear sporadically, for a short time and, in general, do not interfere with life.

If the condition has dragged on (the formal criterion is a period of more than 2 weeks), if it has begun to disrupt performance or simply interferes with a normal lifestyle, it is better to consult a doctor so as not to miss the onset of the disease, possibly severe: it does not necessarily begin with rough mental disorders. Most people, for example, think that schizophrenia is necessarily a severe psychosis.

In fact, almost always schizophrenia (even its most severe forms) begins gradually, with subtle changes in mood, character, and interests. So, a lively, sociable and affectionate teenager before becomes closed, alienated and hostile towards relatives. Or a young man, who used to be mainly interested in football, begins to sit for almost days at books, thinking about the essence of the universe. Or the girl begins to be upset about her appearance, to claim that she is too fat or that she has ugly legs. Such disorders can last several months or even several years, and only then a more serious condition develops.

Of course, any of the changes described are not necessarily indicative of schizophrenia or any mental illness at all. The character changes in adolescence in everyone, and this causes parents well-known difficulties. Almost all teenagers are characterized by grief about their appearance, and very many begin to have "philosophical" questions.

In the vast majority of cases, all these changes have nothing to do with schizophrenia. But it happens that they have. It is helpful to remember that this may be the case. If the phenomena of "transitional age" are already very pronounced, if they create much more difficulties than in other families, it makes sense to consult a psychiatrist. And this is absolutely necessary if the matter is not exhausted by changes in character, but other, more distinct painful phenomena, for example, depression or obsessions, join them.

Not all conditions are listed here, in which it would be reasonable to seek help in a timely manner. These are just guidelines that can help you suspect something is wrong and make the right decision.

Is this a disease?

Any disease, whether physical or mental, invades our lives unexpectedly, brings suffering, frustrates plans, disrupts our usual way of life. However, a mental disorder burdens both the patient himself and his relatives with additional problems. If it is customary to share a physical (somatic) illness with friends and relatives and consult on how best to proceed, then in the case of a mental disorder, both the patient and his family members try not to tell anyone anything.

If, with a physical illness, people strive to understand what is happening as quickly as possible and quickly seek help, then when mental disorders occur, the family does not realize for a long time that it is a disease: the most ridiculous, sometimes mystical assumptions are made, and a visit to a specialist is postponed for months or even years.

A mental disorder manifests itself in the fact that the perception of the outside world (or the perception of oneself in this world) is changing, as well as in a change in behavior.

Why is this happening?

Symptoms of physical (somatic) diseases are most often very specific (pain, fever, cough, nausea or vomiting, upset stool or urination, etc.) In such a situation, everyone understands that they need to go to the doctor. And the patient may not have the usual complaints of pain, weakness, malaise, there may not be "usual" symptoms such as fever or lack of appetite. Therefore, the thought of the disease does not immediately come to mind - to the patient himself, and to his relatives.

The symptoms of mental illness, especially at the very beginning, are either rather vague or very incomprehensible. In young people, they often look like difficulties of character ("whims", "whim", age crisis), with depression - like fatigue, laziness, lack of will.

Therefore, for a very long time, people around think that a teenager, for example, is poorly educated or has fallen under a bad influence; that he was overtired or "retrained"; that a person "plays the fool" or mocks relatives, and first of all, the family tries to apply "educational measures" (moralizing, punishment, demands to "pull themselves together").

With a gross violation of the patient's behavior, his relatives have the most incredible assumptions: "jinxed", "zombified", drugged and so on. Often family members guess that it is a mental disorder, but explain it with overwork, a quarrel with a girlfriend, fear, etc. They try in every possible way to delay the time of seeking help, waiting for it to “pass by itself”.

But even when it becomes clear to everyone that the matter is much more serious, when the thought of "damage" or the "evil eye" is already behind us, when there is no longer any doubt that a person has fallen ill, the prejudice still presses that a mental illness is not at all what that disease, such as the heart or stomach. Often this wait lasts from 3 to 5 years. This affects both the course of the disease and the results of treatment - it is known that the sooner treatment is started, the better.

Most people are firmly convinced that body diseases (they are also called somatic diseases, because "soma" in Greek means "body") are an ordinary phenomenon, and mental disorders, diseases of the soul ("psyche" in Greek - soul), - this is something mysterious, mystical and very scary.
Let's repeat that it's just a prejudice and that its causes are complexity and "unusual" psychopathological symptoms. In other respects, mental and somatic diseases are no different from each other.

Signs that suggest mental illness:

Noticeable personality change.
Inability to cope with problems and daily activities.
Weird or grandiose ideas.
Excessive anxiety.
Prolonged depression or apathy.
Noticeable changes in eating and sleeping habits.
Thoughts and talk of suicide.
Extreme ups and downs in mood.
Abuse of alcohol or drugs.
Excessive anger, hostility, or misbehavior.

Conduct violations- the symptoms of the disease, and the patient is just as little to blame for them, as the flu patient is in the fact that he has a temperature. This is a very difficult problem for relatives to understand and accustom themselves to the fact that the wrong behavior of a sick person is not a manifestation of malice, bad upbringing or character, that these violations cannot be eliminated or normalized (by educational or punitive) measures, that they are eliminated as the condition improves. sick.

For relatives, information about the initial manifestations of psychosis or about the symptoms of an advanced stage of the disease may be useful. All the more useful may be recommendations on some rules of behavior and communication with a person who is in a painful condition. In real life, it is often difficult to immediately understand what is happening with your loved one, especially if he is scared, suspicious, distrustful and does not express any complaints directly. In such cases, only indirect manifestations of mental disorders can be noticed.
Psychosis can have a complex structure and combine hallucinatory, delusional and emotional disorders (mood disorders) in various proportions.

The following symptoms may appear with the disease all without exception, or separately.

Manifestations of auditory and visual hallucinations:

Conversations with oneself, resembling a conversation or remarks in response to someone's questions (excluding comments aloud like "Where did I put my glasses?").
Laughter for no apparent reason.
Sudden silence, as if the person is listening for something.
An alarmed, preoccupied look; inability to focus on a topic of conversation or a specific task
The impression that your relative sees or hears something that you cannot perceive.

The appearance of delirium can be recognized by the following signs:

Changed behavior towards relatives and friends, the appearance of unreasonable hostility or secrecy.
Direct statements of implausible or dubious content (for example, about persecution, about one's own greatness, about one's inexcusable guilt.)
Protective actions in the form of curtaining windows, locking doors, obvious manifestations of fear, anxiety, panic.
A statement without obvious grounds for fear for one's life and well-being, for the life and health of loved ones.
Separate, incomprehensible to others, meaningful statements that give mystery and special significance to everyday topics.
Refusal to eat or carefully check the content of the food.
Active litigious activity (for example, letters to the police, various organizations with complaints about neighbors, colleagues, etc.). How to respond to the behavior of a person suffering from delusions:
Do not ask questions that clarify the details of delusional statements and statements.
Do not argue with the patient, do not try to prove to your relative that his beliefs are wrong. This not only does not work, but can also aggravate existing disorders.
If the patient is relatively calm, tuned in to communication and help, listen carefully to him, calm him down and try to persuade him to see a doctor.

Suicide Prevention

In almost all depressive states, thoughts about unwillingness to live can arise. But depressions accompanied by delusions (for example, guilt, impoverishment, an incurable somatic disease) are especially dangerous. These patients at the height of the severity of the condition almost always have thoughts of suicide and suicidal readiness.

The following signs warn of the possibility of suicide:

Statements of the patient about his uselessness, sinfulness, guilt.
Hopelessness and pessimism about the future, unwillingness to make any plans.
The presence of voices advising or ordering suicide.
The patient's belief that he has a fatal, incurable disease.
Sudden calming of the patient after a long period of melancholy and anxiety. Others may have the false impression that the patient's condition has improved. He puts his affairs in order, for example, writing a will or meeting up with old friends whom he has not seen for a long time.

Preventive action:

Take any discussion of suicide seriously, even if it seems unlikely to you that the patient might attempt suicide.
If there is an impression that the patient is already preparing for suicide, without hesitation, immediately seek professional help.
Hide dangerous items (razors, knives, pills, ropes, weapons), carefully close windows, balcony doors.

If you or someone close to you has one or more of these warning signs, you need to see a psychiatrist urgently.
A psychiatrist is a doctor who has received a higher medical education and completed a course of specialization in the field of psychiatry, who has a license for his activity and constantly improves his professional level.

Questions from relatives about the manifestation of the disease.

I have an adult son - 26 years old. Something has been happening to him lately. I see his strange behavior: he stopped going out, is not interested in anything, does not even watch his favorite videos, refuses to get up in the morning and almost does not care about personal hygiene. This was not the case with him before. I can't find the reason for the change. Maybe it's a mental illness?

Relatives often ask this question, especially in the very early stages of the disease. The behavior of a loved one causes anxiety, but it is impossible to pinpoint the cause of the change in behavior. In this situation, between you and a person close to you, there may be a significant tension in the relationship.

Watch your loved ones. If the resulting behavioral disturbances are sufficiently persistent and do not disappear with changes in circumstances, it is likely that a mental disorder may be the cause. If you feel any disorder, try to consult a psychiatrist.
Try not to get into conflict with the person you care about. Instead, try to find productive ways to resolve the situation. Sometimes it can be helpful to start by learning as much as possible about mental illness.

How to convince a patient to seek psychiatric help if he says: "I'm fine, I'm not sick"?

Unfortunately, this situation is not rare. We understand that it is extremely painful for relatives to see a family member suffering from an illness, and it is equally difficult to see that he refuses to seek help from a doctor and even from his relatives in order to improve his condition.

Try to express your concern to him - in such a way that it does not look like criticism, accusation or excessive pressure on your part. Sharing your fears and worries with a trusted friend or doctor first will help you talk calmly with the patient.

Ask your loved one if they are concerned about their own condition and try to discuss with them possible solutions to the problem. Your main principle should be to involve the patient as much as possible in the discussion of problems and the adoption of appropriate decisions. If it is not possible to discuss anything with the person you care about, try to find support in resolving the difficult situation from other family members, friends or doctors.

Sometimes the mental state of the patient deteriorates sharply. You need to know when mental health services provide treatment contrary to the wishes of the patient (carry out involuntary hospitalization, etc.), and in which they do not.

The main goal of involuntary (forced) hospitalization is to ensure the safety of both the patient himself, who is in an acute condition, and the people around him.

Remember that there is no substitute for a trusting relationship with your doctor. With him you can and should talk about the problems that arise before you in the first place. Don't forget that these problems can be no less difficult for the professionals themselves.

Please explain whether the system of psychiatric care provides for any mechanism for its provision in case the patient needs help, but he refuses it?

Yes, in accordance with such a mechanism is provided. A patient may be placed in a psychiatric institution and held there on an involuntary basis if the psychiatrist believes that the person is suffering from a mental illness and, left untreated, may cause serious physical harm to himself or others.

To persuade the patient to voluntary treatment, the following can be advised:

Choose the right moment to talk to the client and try to be honest with him about your concerns.
Let him know that you are primarily concerned about him and his well-being.
Consult with your relatives, the attending physician, what is the best course of action for you.

If this does not help, seek advice from your doctor, if necessary, contact emergency psychiatric help.

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

Causes of mental disorders

Mental disorders can be explained by a variety of factors, which can generally be divided into exogenous and endogenous. The first are factors of external influence, for example, the intake of dangerous poisonous substances, viral illnesses and traumatic injuries. And internal causes are represented by chromosomal mutations, hereditary and gene ailments, as well as mental development disorders.

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

Typical causes of mental disorders include neurosis, neurasthenia, depressive states, aggressive exposure to chemical or toxic elements, as well as traumatic head injuries and a hereditary factor.

Mental disorder - symptoms

There are a number of different symptoms that can be observed in mental disorders. They are most often manifested by psychological discomfort and impaired activity in various areas. Patients with these problems present with a variety of physical and emotional symptoms, and cognitive and perceptual disturbances may also occur. For example, a person may feel unhappy or super happy, regardless of the severity of the events that have occurred, and he may also experience failures in building logical relationships.

Excessive fatigue, rapid and unexpected mood swings, insufficiently adequate response to events, spatio-temporal disorientation are considered classic manifestations of mental disorders. Also, specialists are faced with a violation of perception in their patients, they may not have an adequate attitude to their own condition, there are abnormal reactions (or lack of adequate reactions), fear, confusion (sometimes hallucinations). A fairly common symptom of mental disorders is anxiety, problems with sleep, falling asleep and waking up.

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

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

A frequent companion of mental disorders is considered delirium, which can be both primary and sensual, and affective.

Sometimes mental disorders are manifested by problems with eating - overeating, which can cause obesity, or, conversely, by refusing food. Alcohol abuse is common. Many patients with such problems suffer from sexual dysfunction. They also often look sloppy and may even refuse hygiene procedures.

Types of mental disorders

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

Doctors also separately consider persistent or drugs.

In addition, psychological developmental disorders can be distinguished (they debut in early childhood) and disturbances in activity, concentration of attention and hyperkinetic disorders (usually recorded in children or adolescents).

Mental disorder - treatment

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

So quite often, experts use sedatives that have a pronounced calming effect. Tranquilizers can also be used, they effectively reduce anxiety and relieve emotional tension. Still such funds lower the tone of the muscles and have a mild hypnotic effect. The most common tranquilizers are Chlordiazepoxide, and.

Mental disorders are also treated with the use of antipsychotics. These drugs are considered the most popular in such diseases, they reduce the excitement of the psyche, reduce psychomotor activity, reduce aggressiveness and suppress emotional tension. Popular drugs in this group are Propazine, Pimozide, and Flupentixol.

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

Another treatment of mental disorders can be carried out with the help of normotimics, which are designed to regulate inadequate manifestations of emotions, and have anticonvulsant efficacy. These drugs are often used for bipolar affective disorder. These include, etc.

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

In addition, patients with mental disorders are shown corrective psychotherapy. They will benefit from hypnotechniques, suggestion, sometimes NLP methods. An important role is played by the mastery of the method of autogenic training, in addition, one cannot do without the support of relatives.

Mental disorder - alternative treatment

Traditional medicine experts argue that some medicines based on herbs and improvised means may well contribute to the elimination of mental disorders. But you can use them only after consultation with the doctor.

So traditional medicine can be an excellent alternative to some sedative medicines. For example, to eliminate nervous excitement, irritability and insomnia, healers advise mixing three parts of crushed valerian root, the same amount of peppermint leaves and four parts of clover. Brew a tablespoon of such raw materials with a glass of only boiled water. Infuse the medicine for twenty minutes, then strain, and squeeze the plant material. Take a ready-made infusion in half a glass twice a day and just before bedtime.

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

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

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

Some traditional medicine can be used to treat depression. So a good effect is given by taking a medicine based on chicory root. Twenty grams of such crushed raw materials, brew a glass of boiling water. Boil the product on a fire of minimum power for ten minutes, then strain. Take a ready-made broth in a tablespoon five to six times a day.

If depression is accompanied by a severe breakdown, prepare a medicine based on rosemary. Twenty grams of crushed leaves of such a plant, brew one glass of boiling water and boil on a fire of minimum power for fifteen to twenty minutes. Cool the finished medicine, then strain. Take half a teaspoon of it half an hour before a meal.

A remarkable effect in depression is also obtained by taking an infusion based on ordinary knotweed. Brew a couple of tablespoons of this herb with half a liter of boiling water. Insist for half an hour, then strain. Take during the day in small portions.

Mental disorders are quite serious conditions that require close attention and adequate correction under the supervision of specialists. The feasibility of using folk remedies is also worth discussing with your doctor.

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook And In contact with

We often attribute extravagant acts to the character of a person. What if there is something more behind it? Outstanding American psychotherapists Aaron Beck and Arthur Freeman in the book "Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders" (Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders) revealed the secrets of human temperament.

Editorial website carefully studied the work of these scientists and prepared for you a guide to 10 character traits that can bring a lot of problems to their owners if they are not kept under control.

1. Negligence

In this category, you can safely write down everyone who wants to relax more and work less. Of course, this is an ordinary human desire, but some of us often go too far. For example, if a company employee took several sick days in a year, took a couple of vacations and countless days off, and at the same time managed to be late, the psychologist would give him antisocial personality disorder. True, for this it is necessary that the following symptoms be observed:

frequent lies that are not motivated by anything;
desire to live at the expense of others;
frequent dismissal without further plans for employment, that is, “going nowhere”;
waste of money for other purposes (I was going to buy groceries, but bought a new toy for the console).

Time management and rewards will help fight antisociality. It is enough to write down what present you can give yourself for this or that achievement (for example, live according to the plan for a couple of days), and stick to the schedule for at least a month so that the habit has time to develop. Even with such violations, psychologists recommend the exercise “Overview of elections”: the problem is posed in writing, possible ways out of it and the advantages / disadvantages of each are determined. This will help you make rational decisions.

2. Shyness

Encouraged shyness over time can develop into total alienation and unwillingness to establish ties with the outside world. People who are on the verge of a mental disorder stop feeling strong emotions and try to limit themselves in any contacts, and therefore they often choose remote work or other activities that have nothing to do with communication.

Hypertrophied introversion leads to schizoid personality disorder which has the following features:

indifference to criticism and praise;
lack of close friends or having only one friend;
a tendency to dream often and unrealistically;
excessive sensitivity that is impossible or scary to express to others.

There are many ways to prevent the development of the disease. One of the most effective - activities in a group. Any circle will do: drawing, learning a foreign language, yoga or Pilates.

To combat the growing misanthropy, you should use a simple life hack: instead of the phrase “I don’t like people”, say “I don’t like this thing” (character trait, clothes, appearance, habit, or something else). Such an approach will allow us to form a new attitude: in addition to the bad, there is also something good in people.

3. Procrastination

Rebels who do not want to obey the rules in society fall into this category. Everything is expressed in postponing the necessary actions for sometime. Running procrastination may well lead to passive aggressive personality disorder which often leads to chronic depression.

A little rebelliousness at school or university is a completely natural phenomenon, and it is not necessary to look for the origins of the disease in it. The following symptoms may indicate that procrastination is moving into a new phase of development:

irritability in response to requests to do something not particularly pleasant, but ordinary for most people (for example, wash the dishes, clean up after the cat, or take out the garbage);
very slow pace of work and its poor quality;
resentment at the helpful advice of others on how to do the job faster and better;
unreasonable vicious criticism of people who are endowed with power.

The difficulty of prevention lies in the fact that a person usually believes that he is not to blame for anything. The exercise we have already described, “Overview of Elections,” is perfect here. A social game is also recommended, in which you need to put yourself in the shoes of other people in order to understand their feelings. Such therapy will stop the progress of procrastination and make a person more empathetic towards others.

4. Impulsivity and short temper

A person who does not try to control his anger is at risk of earning borderline personality disorder. One of the typical manifestations of an approaching illness is a sharp and unmotivated change of opinions to radically opposite ones. Let's say today you think that fried eggs have a terrible effect on your stomach, and you hate it, and the day after tomorrow you cook it with gusto for breakfast.

Of course, just impulsiveness does not threaten anything. Although it’s worth thinking about if you find, along with irascibility, the following symptoms:

inconsistent friendships and romantic relationships;
frequent thoughtless spending of money (gathered for a coffee maker, and bought a second TV);
reckless, near-accident driving;
mood swings for no apparent reason and a feeling of chronic boredom.

Excellent prevention - anger management courses and various trainings on self-identity. Self-control with encouragement will be useful. For example, if you are going for the ill-fated coffee maker, buy it (without taking half the store with you), and as a reward, get the thing that you have long dreamed of.

5. Self-flagellation

People who are prone to self-flagellation can be safely called ostriches: at every opportunity they hide their heads in the sand, trying to hide from problems. In psychology this is called avoidant personality disorder. In advanced cases, panic attacks, depression and sleep disturbances appear.

Self-criticism in small doses is useful because it pushes us to development, but in large doses it is frankly dangerous for the mental state. You can sound the alarm if the following is observed:

strong and instant resentment at criticism or disapproval;
avoidance of new contacts, reaching the point of absurdity (for example, refusing a promotion if it requires communication with new people);
exaggeration of potential difficulties, physical dangers or risks of ordinary activities;
restraining oneself in communicating with people because of the fear of saying something wrong.

An effective exercise in this case is the refutation of false predictions. You need to write down your assumptions about some action that needs to be taken. For example: “If I go to an unfamiliar store late in the evening, they will definitely rob me,” and then perform this action and write down the result. Subsequently, when doubts and a negative premonition arise, it is enough just to open a notebook with notes to make sure that nothing terrible will happen.

6. Suspiciousness

Each of us is a little paranoid, and that's okay. But some people in their suspicions cross all conceivable boundaries: they hack pages on social networks, listen in on telephone conversations, and even hire a private detective. A person who is driven by doubt to such desperate actions may be suffering paranoid personality disorder. This violation is accompanied by the following symptoms:

unreasonable distrust of the partner;
search for hidden meanings in ordinary actions of people (for example, a neighbor deliberately slams the door to annoy you);
the tendency to regard everyone but oneself as guilty;
lack of a sense of humor, inability to see the funny in everyday situations.

A great way to deal with chronic mistrust is to make a list of people you know and put plus signs next to their name every time they live up to expectations in some way (for example, you were afraid that the guy at the corporate party would forget about your existence, but he paid attention to you all evening ). The next time there is any suspicion, it will be enough to look at the number of pluses, and distrust will disappear.

7. Helpfulness

Dependence on loved ones is a hallmark of all mammals and, of course, humans. Relying on others is completely normal, but excessive attachment is defined in medicine as dependent personality disorder. The line behind which lies a real mental disorder is considered to be a great difficulty or inability to make decisions without the approval of an authoritative person. In addition, the disease is accompanied by the following symptoms:

agreement with others, even if they are wrong;
a feeling of discomfort in loneliness and the desire to do anything, just not to be alone;
performing unpleasant or humiliating acts in order to please;
groundless obsessive thoughts that all the people around are traitors.

The best way to fight is to collect evidence of your competence, for example: “I drive a car well”, “I prepared an excellent report at work”, etc. Whenever there is a desire to ask someone for approval, you need to look at the list - this will add confidence.

8. Emotionality

Excessive emotionality and sensitivity can be a symptom histrionic personality disorder which in the world is simply called hysteria. The desire to attract attention is natural for a person until it turns into outbursts of anger and seizures. A distinctive feature is a very emotional speech and at the same time the absence of details in it. For example, to the question “What does your mother look like?” the answer will be something like this: "She was very good."

Other signs of the disorder:

constant search for support, approval and praise of an authoritative person;
inability to focus on one thing for a long time;
superficial, rapidly changing emotions;
intolerance to procrastination with a constant desire to do something.

One great way to counter hysteria is to work on a timer. You need to set a timer for half an hour or an hour and all this time do only one thing. With the seeming ease of the exercise, it will not be so easy to complete it: it is very difficult for overly emotional people to sit still. It is also difficult for them to set goals, because they usually dream about something beautiful, but vague, so setting specific goals is a great solution: to achieve a promotion in 2 months, learn how to cook risotto for the New Year, etc.

Perfectionists should be alarmed when they discover the following trends:

unwillingness to waste time on yourself for fear of becoming unproductive;
refusal to throw away unnecessary things with the thought “it will come in handy for something”;
pathological fear of making a mistake;
the desire to do work for others because of the thought that no one else can do it with the same quality.

It is difficult for perfectionists to sit still because their being requires immediate activity, and therefore psychologists recommend everyday meditation. Any form will do, from massage to listening to music with your eyes closed. To consolidate success, it is useful to record how many things were done on days without relaxation and on days when it was. This will convince the perfectionist that resting productivity is not a hindrance.

10. Inflated self-esteem
hidden or overt anger in response to any criticism;

using people to achieve their own goals;

expectation of a special attitude towards oneself (for example, in the queue of such a person everyone should pass, and why - he himself does not know);

intense envy and constant dreams of unthinkable wealth.

The main problem of the narcissist is the discrepancy between expectations and reality, and hence the side ones: a feeling of worthlessness, frequent mood swings, fear of getting into an awkward position. One of the exercises for dealing with frustration is to lower the bar of desires to what is realistically achievable. For example, instead of buying a fancy car, you can buy shoes at the nearest shoe store.

Tell me, have you ever encountered a situation where some character trait prevented you or your friends from living a normal life?