Mental illnesses.The vast majority of people believe that this problem will not affect them. However, there are a huge number of people living next to us who suffer from one or another mental illness. And these illnesses are not always clearly expressed - often, such people are completely adequate in appearance. When receiving the necessary treatment, such people are quite capable of leading a full life, working and even having a family and children. However, relatives of such people should remember that in order to have a normal existence and prevent exacerbation of the disease, it is necessary to create the most comfortable psychological conditions and a favorable microclimate in the family for sick people suffering from one or another illness. Stress has an extremely detrimental effect on the psyche of a sick person, so such people should be protected from it as much as possible.
Manic depression: causes of development
What is manic-depressive syndrome?Or, as it is also called, manic expression? Psychotherapists characterize this disease as follows: a mental disorder occurring against the background of wave-like psychoemotional states: depressive (low mood) and manic (overly excited mood). Between these phases, mental disorders can disappear completely, the person’s personality does not suffer. Manic-depressive psychosis is a genetically determined disease. Genetic studies of manic-depressive psychoses have confirmed this fact. Simply put, a predisposition to the development of this disease can be inherited. However, please note that we are not talking about the disease itself, but only about a predisposition to it. And it is not at all necessary that manic-depressive syndrome will make itself known - it is quite possible that a person will never encounter this disease. Much depends on the environment in which the child grows and develops - parents must remember this. Most often, the disease makes itself known after a person reaches the age of thirty. Moreover, the disease very rarely begins immediately in an acute form. As a rule, over a period of time, the sick person or his close relatives begin to notice certain precursors of this disease. First of all, the psycho-emotional background of a person changes significantly - it becomes extremely unstable. A person can often be either in an excessively depressed or, on the contrary, excessively excited mood. After this, a pronounced phase of the course of precursors can be observed - a depressed state is replaced by an excited one. Moreover, most often, depressive phases last much longer than excited ones. Such a state can last from six months to several years. And if the malaise is not detected in time and the sick person does not receive the necessary help, the precursors will smoothly turn directly into the disease itself - manic-depressive psychosis.
Depressive phase of the disease
Most of the disease occurs in the depressive phase. The depressive phase has three main signs that clearly characterize it:
The thoughts of a sick person become extremelynegative connotation. He develops a feeling of his own guilt, often completely groundless, self-abasement and self-flagellation become his favorite pastime. All these depressive moods, unfortunately, very often lead to the fact that a person makes suicide attempts. There are two types of depression - mental and physical. With mental depression, a person is in a depressed psycho-emotional state. In the same case, if there is a physical form of depression, problems in the work of the cardiovascular system are added to the depressed mood. If the depressive state is not treated, depression continues to progress: the psychological state of the person continues to worsen, speech and motor retardation increases, in especially difficult situations it can reach the emergence of a real stupor - complete silence and immobility. The person stops eating, drinking, going to the toilet, understanding and reacting to speech addressed to him. Significant deterioration is also noticeable in the physical condition of the sick person: there is a strong dilation of the pupils, the development of heart rhythm disturbances - tachycardia, bradycardia, arrhythmia. Also, such patients often experience the development of spastic constipation, which appears as a result of spasms of the muscles of the gastrointestinal tract.
Manic phase of the disease
As mentioned above, ifa person suffers from manic-depressive syndrome, the depressive phase is replaced by a manic one. The manic-depressive phase includes the following disorders:
- A pathological increase in mood is the same manic affect.
- Excessive speech and motor excitement, often without cause.
- Significant activation of all intellectual processes, a temporary increase in efficiency.
The manic phase has a number of specific featuresfeatures. If the depressive phase is pronounced, then the manic phase, most often, proceeds quite smoothly, not so pronounced. Sometimes only an experienced doctor - a psychotherapist can notice something wrong. However, as the disease progresses, the manifestations of the manic phase become more and more pronounced. The person's mood becomes overly optimistic, the assessment of reality - overly rosy, not corresponding to reality. A sick person may have completely delusional ideas. In addition, motor activity increases significantly, and the flow of speech becomes almost inexhaustible.
Other features of the course of manic - depressive syndrome
The most common course is the classical one.manic-depressive syndrome. However, much less often, but still sometimes doctors-psychotherapists encounter atypical forms of the disease. And sometimes this fact can significantly complicate the correct and timely diagnosis of manic-depressive syndrome. For example, there is a mixed form of the course, in which manic-depressive psychosis makes itself known differently. With a mixed form of the disease, some symptoms of one phase are replaced by certain symptoms of the second phase. For example, a depressive mood can be accompanied by excessive nervous excitability, but the typical inhibition of depression, both mental and physical, may be absent altogether. The manic stage of the disease can be expressed by increased emotional upsurge, but at the same time with pronounced mental and intellectual inhibition. The behavior of a sick person can be absolutely normal, or it can be completely inadequate. Also, quite often, doctors - psychotherapists have to deal with the so-called erased forms of manic-depressive syndrome. The most common form of erased course of the disease is cyclothymia. By the way, according to some doctors - psychotherapists, this form of manic-depressive syndrome in varying degrees of severity is present in as many as 80% of all adults! It is difficult to judge how true this information is, but there is still something to think about. With this form of the disease, all the symptoms of manic-depressive syndrome are blurred so much that the sick person can maintain full working capacity. And his relatives and colleagues do not even suspect that something is wrong with him. The depressive and manic phases are so erased that, apart from periodic bad mood, they do not make themselves known in any way. In addition, sometimes with an erased form of manic-depressive syndrome, the disease occurs with a latent form of depression. It is also almost impossible to detect. Even the sick person himself may not be aware of the reasons for his bad mood, and therefore carefully hide it from others. The great danger of such hidden forms of manic-depressive syndrome is that the depression phase remains unnoticed, and as a result the probability of committing suicide increases many times over.
Symptoms of classic manic - depressive syndrome
This disease has its own characteristics.течения, отличающие его от прочих заболеваний психики. Именно о типичных симптомах маниакально – депрессивного синдрома и пойдет речь ниже. Собственно говоря, совокупность всех этих симптомов характеризуется одним понятием – тревожно – депрессивное состояние. Больной человек может испытывать сильнейшее чувство тревоги. Причем чаще всего эта тревога не имеет под собой никаких оснований. Либо основания все же есть, однако тревога носит слишком гипертрофированный характер. Причем чаще всего больных беспокоит чувство тревоги за свое будущее и будущее своих близких. Они опасаются, что может что-то произойти: кто-то из близких или они сами попадут под машину, потеряют работу, и тому подобное. Подобных больных людей врач – психиатр сразу же отличает от тех, кто находится в состоянии меланхолии. У них даже по выражению лица заметна постоянная тревога: лицо напряжено, немигающий взгляд. Весь его облик выражает чувство сильнейшего напряжения. Да и в беседе с врачом люди, страдающие повышенной тревожностью, не станут особо откровенничать – скорее, они займут выжидательную позицию. Малейшее неосторожное слово может способствовать тому, что человек просто напросто замкнется в себе. Родственники подобного больного человека должны помнить основные правила поведения, призванные установить контакт и облегчить моральное состояние пациента. Во – первых, для начала необходимо убедиться, что вы имеете дело именно с случаем повышенной тревожности. Для этого достаточно правильно начать самый простой разговор с человеком – выдержите некоторую паузу. Причем не обязательно слишком длинную паузу – достаточно примерно десяти секунд. В том случае, если человек находится в простом депрессионном состоянии, он будет молчать сколько угодно долго. Если же у человека действительно имеется тревожный симптом, он не вынесет длительной паузы, обязательно первый начнет разговор. Во время разговора понаблюдайте за поведением больного человека. Как правило, его взгляд бегающий, беспокойный, у него наблюдается так называемый «синдром беспокойных рук» – больной человек постоянно что – то теребит: край одежды, простынь. Как правило, подобным людям очень тяжело длительное время находиться в одной и той же позе – они встают, ходят по комнате. В особо тяжелых случаях человек с тревожным симптомом практически полностью теряет контроль над собой. Существуют две крайности, в которые может впасть подобный больной. Первая крайность – это стадия оцепенения. В этой стадии тревога больного достигает такой стадии, когда человек способен только смотреть в одну точку перед собой, практически не реагируя на какие – либо внешние раздражители. Существует также другая крайность, которая встречается реже, только в особо тяжелых случаях. Человек начинает лихорадочно метаться по помещению, отказываться от еды, безостановочно кричать или рыдать. В подобном случае крайне рекомендуется поместить больного человека в специализированное медицинское учреждение. Не стоит терзать себя чувством вины за то, что вы переложили заботу о своем близком человеке на плечи медиков. Поверьте, это необходимо сделать в первую же очередь для его собственной безопасности, так как в подобном состоянии импульсивные попытки совершить суицид очень и очень вероятны.
Treatment of manic depression
Manic-depressive syndrome in no waycase should not be left without attention and appropriate treatment. It should be noted that manic-depressive psychosis is not a mild sleep disorder, when you can knock out a sleeping pill and sleep peacefully until the morning. Only doctors - psychotherapists should treat manic-depressive syndrome. Treatment is carried out in several stages. The patient is prescribed a course of treatment with pharmacological drugs. Drugs are selected strictly individually, depending on the condition of the patient - so, if a person has physical or mental inhibition, he is prescribed stimulating drugs. In the same case, if the patient is predominantly overexcitable, he will be prescribed sedatives.
Prognosis of this disease
A lot of people who have encountered each other in one way or anotherwith this disease, I wonder - what is the prognosis of doctors? As a rule, if the manic-depressive syndrome itself is not burdened by any concomitant disease, the prognosis is quite favorable - the person is able to return to a normal lifestyle. However, relatives of a sick person should remember that successful treatment of the disease is possible only if it is detected in a timely manner. The later the treatment begins, the more irreversible changes occur in the personality of the sick person. So it is better to play it safe and consult a doctor with ordinary depression than not to notice a real problem. We recommend reading:
