Hello! Schizophrenia is a mental illness that is quite common, more than 1% of people in the world have received this diagnosis. Translated from Greek means the splitting of the soul.
In principle, it is this function that it performs, a person suddenly changes at one moment. He seemed to have a completely different set of feelings, thoughts, completely uncharacteristic of someone whom he seemed to know so well.
And today we will consider in detail not only the causes of schizophrenia, but also the symptoms, classification of species, types of the course of the disease and how it is diagnosed and treated.
Symptoms
Behavior inadequacy
His reactions to external stimuli become completely inappropriate, incorrect and incomprehensible to others.
And no one knows when and how he will behave. For example, he grimaces, takes unusual poses, behaves, and his gait becomes somehow strange and special. That is, it goes fast, then slows down sharply, up to “freezing”, then suddenly revives.
Clumsiness is also characteristic, a person drops things, crashes into objects. He himself can even notice strangeness in behavior, which is why he will try to restrain mimic movements, gestures. Only this makes it even more unnatural and attracts attention.
And in the most extreme cases, it falls into a catatonic state, sometimes maintaining the same position for several days.
Creating your own world
Attention is directed deep into himself, he seeks to limit contact with the outside world. For example, if earlier a person was considered quite sociable, with a wide circle of acquaintances, then with the development of the disease, he becomes an introvert.
The lack of full-fledged communication, the exchange of information over time causes a feeling that he is spiritually impoverished and unable to maintain a constructive, rational conversation.
It is often accompanied by the onset of autism, a painful state of the psyche, which is precisely characterized by complete «closedness» from the world.
Change of mind
Mental activity ceases to be productive, since the conclusions to which he comes are completely divorced from reality.
There are violations in the creation of logical connections, respectively, there is no sequence in the conversation. He starts talking about one thing, and then abruptly changes the subject and gives out just a set of phrases that do not correlate with each other.
Unclear speech
Uses hints, the same turns of speech, some strange metaphors and just similar-sounding words, believing that they make sense. In principle, the hallmark is precisely the symbolization.
Emotional impoverishment
In the early stages, there is simply a frequent change of mood, or depression. Therefore, schizophrenia often goes unnoticed during this period.
But both the intensity of living feelings and their range gradually decrease. He loses interest in close people, in what he used to love and what he was fond of. There is a feeling that he is simply indifferent to everything.
Even instincts cease to be significant. That is, he is indifferent to sex, food, and so on. But a phenomenon called “glass and wood” can be observed — a person seems to have become emotionally dull, but at one moment he can become too vulnerable, giving out inadequate reactions.
And it happens that at the moment of aggression he is overly excitable, his vital needs come to the fore.
Senestopathy
This is a manifestation of unusual sensations in the body, such as burning, tingling, twisting, rotting, delamination, and so on. Moreover, the presence of real pathological changes in the body is not observed, this is all a figment of the patient’s fantasy, but which significantly poisons his existence, causing a lot of pain and inconvenience.
For example, he complains that he feels his brain being sucked out, or how a tumor grows in the body, bones break, organs decompose …
Depersonalization
Naturally, there are violations in self-identification. It seems that the world has become unreal, that everything around is happening as if “for fun”, and the personality itself is losing its “I”.
Attributing their thoughts, emotions to others, feeling as if they are just a shell without a soul, or a representative of the opposite sex. That is why people who want to change it must be examined by a psychiatrist to exclude the presence of schizophrenia.
Also, at times, phenomena occurring outside are considered manifestations of their natural processes. If it started to rain, then he went to the toilet.
Hysteria and affects
Falls into a hysterical state, being exposed to delusional ideas. Either in the affective, suddenly becoming rude and harsh, or vice versa, apathetic.
obsessive thoughts
Thoughts that are completely divorced from reality predominate, which cause anxiety, anxiety, and panic. For example, these are fantasies known to many that aliens are trying to kidnap such a person, that he is constantly being watched and, in general, relatives are plotting a bloody, possibly ritual murder.
Perceptual disturbance
Becomes unable to perceive and interpret information coming from outside. It comes to him in the form of some fragments and incomprehensible elements. Let’s say if he watches TV, then he simply turns out to be unable to hear and see at the same time.
Hallucinations
He hears voices and sees people, objects that in fact do not exist in reality. He claims that he is constantly ordered by a voice in his head to do something or simply comments on current events, up to a humiliating discussion of his personality.
It seems to him that some kind of manipulation is being done with the body, other people’s organs, thoughts are being put in, or vice versa, they are taking it away. By the way, broken sentences and an inability to concentrate on the subject of conversation sometimes arise due to the fact that he is distracted by auditory hallucinations.
Stages of development
Initial (initial)
It occurs:
- Acute. Symptoms appear suddenly and in just a few days take terrible forms. Up to catatonic stupor, affects and hallucinations so vivid that they plunge the patient into panic or rage. The state is changeable, one symptom replaces another like an attack, which then subsides, then again intensifies.
- Subacute. This stage is said to occur if the disease develops over several weeks or months. A person gradually loses touch with reality, as well as the ability to think critically and behave accordingly to the situation.
- Slowly. With a slow stage of development, it is sometimes quite difficult to diagnose schizophrenia for a whole year of its presence. Changes occur so imperceptibly that they seem to be felt, but they do not give reason to doubt their adequacy. Personality simply changes tastes and preferences, which is quite a natural process for any of us. The circle of acquaintances is gradually narrowing, the intensity of living emotions subsides …
Final (last)
- Apathy, dementia and the rise of autism
- Delusions of grandeur, obsessive delusions
- Dementia along with manifestations of speech arousal (a person mumbles something to himself)
Special forms
Sluggish
It develops slowly and it happens that ailments and other difficulties go away without treatment. Symptoms are mild, which is why it is rarely diagnosed.
- Neurosis-like. The symptoms are more like obsessive-compulsive disorder. The patient may perform lengthy, inappropriate rituals to reduce anxiety levels, and, if necessary, force others around him to follow his example. For example, until he pulls all the doors in the apartment by the handle, he will not go to bed. And this rule also applies to family members. Fears can seem ridiculous for a healthy person, they can be talked about completely without emotion. But at the same time, if an attack occurs, they “reach” such a state that they prefer to commit suicide in order to stop suffering. Hypochondria, senestopathy and depersonalization make themselves felt, in the form of a desire to change. The most common sign of this depersonalization in men is anorexia, a complete refusal to eat due to the idea that the body has enough energy from the sun, space, and so on.
- Psychopathic. Uncontrolled aggression is characteristic, directed both at others and at oneself. A person conducts various experiments on his own body, abuses alcohol, drugs. He begins to communicate with antisocial strata of the population, participates in hooligan robberies and shows cruelty and violence. Sexually aggressive, even towards their own parents. The most common cases are cases of rape by sons of their own mothers, inflicting injuries on them. Some unusual hobby appears, he forgets about work or study.
paranoid
In the international classification of diseases (ICD 10), it is listed as a delusional disorder. Accordingly, as you understand, he is characterized by various crazy ideas, for example, delusions of persecution or grandeur.
They trust their ideas so much that they are able to commit murder, defending themselves from a made-up enemy or punishing an unfaithful partner who just came home a couple of minutes late.
Diagnosis is complicated by the fact that most ideas are at least a little, but connected with reality. Although part of it is completely contrary to common sense.
Febrile
This form is deadly, as it develops rapidly, in just a few days. The patient falls into a stupor, which is replaced by motor excitability. Body temperature exceeds 40°C in the morning, dropping slightly in the evening.
There is a frequent but weak pulse, nosebleeds, bruising all over the body, redness of the face, dry lips, up to cracks. The brain swells, may fall into a coma, but most often dies of heart failure.
Paroxysmal
Appears in 1-2 days and lasts for about a few weeks. The most characteristic is emotional instability. The patient is either in ecstasy, or suddenly “falls out” into fear and anxiety.
He hears voices and it seems to him that his thoughts are available to everyone who is next to him. There are hallucinations, mostly olfactory, somewhat similar to synesthesia. He smells like the number 9, red, and so on. He suspects everyone of conspiracy, considering doctors and family members to be aliens or FSB officers.
Schizoaffective psychoses
Experts consider them as a form of manifestation of either schizophrenia or atypical psychosis.
- Atypical manic phases — completely ridiculous delusions of persecution, excessive excitability, hallucinations. They think that they are “in the movies”, they have magical powers, they are able to perform miracles…
- Atypical depressive phases — plunge into melancholy, anxiety. Because they are in constant expectation that something terrible is bound to happen, right up to the end of the world. They tend to “fall out” into self-accusation, it seems to them that for disobedience, some kind of force will certainly harm his loved ones.
- Mixed — when both of the above phases are present at the same time, alternately replacing each other.
Causes
Until now, the exact causes of this mental disorder have not been established. It is more about the multifactorial influence on its development.
- Heredity. If one of the blood relatives suffers from this disease, then the risk of acquiring it is quite high, but it is not an absolute indicator.
- Infections — can provoke a sluggish form of the disease, which is actively manifested under other adverse circumstances, such as a change of residence, work, breakup, death of a loved one, and so on. Infections provocateurs — Born virus, herpes, chlamydophylls, toxoplasmosis, endogenous retrovirus W and so on. If any of the above infections were diagnosed in a woman during pregnancy, then the likelihood of this disease in a child increases significantly.
- Injuries — both mental and craniocerebral. There is a large percentage of patients among patients who have experienced violence, whether it was an episodic or a single case.
- Addictions — alcohol addiction, drug addiction, especially the abuse of substances such as amphetamine, hashish.
- autoimmune disorders. When the immune system attacks its own cells, confusing them with viral ones. And if the proteins of the brain cells are affected, this provokes mental disorders.
- biochemical disorders. An excess of dopamine leads to delusional states, and a lack of dopamine leads to apathy. A large amount of kynurenic acid reduces glutamatergic signaling activity, as a result of which schizophrenia begins to develop actively. Auditory hallucinations are the result of excessive functioning of the glutamate system.
- Personality features. It is believed that those people who are not able to cope with stress, communicate, open up and trust others are more likely to get sick. This also applies to passive, suspicious and sloppy personalities.
- social factor. Family, immediate environment, social status and living conditions also affect mental health. For example, it is difficult to remain stable if there is no support from loved ones, there is always no money and it is difficult to find a job.
Treatment
Basically, an integrated approach is used, individual characteristics and symptoms are taken into account. It is impossible to cure this disease completely, you can only get rid of any of its manifestations and take them under control.
Such people can lead a full life, only for this they need to constantly take prescribed medications and other types of treatment.
It happens that it is difficult to find drugs, they can cause a number of side effects. For example, dizziness, rash, drowsiness, overweight and so on. In this case, you have to try different medicines until you find the most suitable one.
Basically, the treatment is long and consists of:
- biological therapy. These are psychotropic drugs, shock, efferent therapy (to normalize blood composition)
- Psychotherapy. It is used for the social adaptation of the patient. Yes, and it helps to prevent relapses, especially if they were accompanied by an attempt to commit suicide.
- Psychopharmacotherapy. Medications are prescribed depending on the symptoms, mainly antipsychotics, tranquilizers, mood stabilizers and antidepressants.
Diagnostics
There is no specific method for diagnosing this disorder; a conversation with a psychiatrist just helps to identify it. He analyzes complaints and compares them with other types of mental disorders.
In the case of a criminally punishable crime, a forensic psychiatric examination is appointed. It determines whether a person was sane at the time of the commission of unlawful acts. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the court sends him for compulsory treatment in a specialized clinic.
It is quite possible to work with such a disease if the form of the disease is not severe. That is, when a person is completely out of control of himself and can harm others.
If it is necessary to issue a disability, a labor examination is appointed. And if you deregister in the military registration and enlistment office — then the military.
Patients are prohibited from driving any type of transport, only if they have a permit after passing psychological and psychiatric examinations.
Completion
And finally, I want to recommend that you read the article on infantile personality disorder, you can find it by clicking on this link.
Take care of yourself and be happy!
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina