Mental diseases. The overwhelming majority of people believe that their problem will not be affected. However, near us lives a huge number of people suffering from these or other mental illnesses. And not always these diseases are pronounced - often, such people are absolutely adequate in appearance. When receiving the necessary treatment, such people are quite able to lead a full-fledged way of life, work and even have a family and children. However, relatives of such people should remember that for normal existence and prevention of exacerbation of the disease, it is necessary to create the most comfortable psychological conditions and a favorable microclimate in the family for the sick people suffering from these or other diseases. Stresses are extremely detrimental to the psyche of a sick person, therefore such people should be as much as possible shielded from them. 
Manic depression: causes of development
What is manic-depressive syndrome? Or, as it is called, manic expression? Doctors - psychotherapists characterize this disease as follows: a mental disorder that occurs against the background of wavy psychoemotional states: depressive (low mood) and manic (overly excited mood). Between these phases, mental disorders can disappear completely, the person does not suffer from this. Manic-depressive psychosis is a genetically determined disease. Genetic studies of manic depressive psychoses have confirmed this fact. Simply put, predisposition to the development of this disease can be inherited. However, note that it is not a matter of the disease itself, but only a predisposition to it. And it is absolutely not necessary that manic depression will make itself felt - it is quite possible that a person will never face this disease. Much depends on the environment in which a child grows and develops - parents must remember this. Most often the disease makes itself felt after a person reaches the age of thirty. And the disease rarely begins immediately in acute form. As a rule, for some time the sick person or his close relatives begin to notice certain harbingers of the disease. First of all, the psychoemotional background of a person changes to a great extent - it becomes extremely unstable. A person can often be either in an overly depressed mood or, on the contrary, overly excited. After this, the pronounced phase nature of the current of precursors can be observed - the oppressed state is replaced by the excited one. And most often depressive phases last much longer than excited ones. This condition can last from six months to several years. And if the malaise is not timely revealed and the sick person does not receive the necessary help, the harbingers will smoothly pass directly into the disease itself - a manic-depressive psychosis. 
Depressive phase of the disease
Most of the disease occurs in the depressive phase. The depressive phase has the main three characteristics that clearly characterize it:
Thoughts of a sick person get extremelynegative shade. He has a feeling of 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 attempts to commit suicide. Depression is of two types - mental and physical. With mental depression, a person is in a depressed psychoemotional state. In the same case, if there is a bodily form of depression, problems are added to the depressed mood in the work of the cardiovascular system. In the event that the depressive state is not treated, the depression continues to progress: the psychological state of a person continues to deteriorate, speech and motor retardation increases, in particularly difficult situations it can reach the appearance of a real stupor - complete silence and immobility. A person stops eating, drinking, going to the toilet, understanding and responding to the speech addressed to him. On the part of the physical condition of a sick person, significant deterioration is also noticeable: there is a strong dilatation of the pupils, the development of violation of the heart rhythm - tachycardia, bradycardia, arrhythmia. Also, in such patients, spastic constipation, which appears due to spasmodic musculature of the gastrointestinal tract, is often noted.
Manic phase of the disease
As already mentioned above, in the event thatman suffers manic - depressive syndrome, the depressive phase is replaced by manic. 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 specificfeatures. If the depressive phase is clearly pronounced, then the manic phase, most often, proceeds fairly smoothly, is not so pronounced. Sometimes it is only an experienced physician, a psychotherapist, that can detect an outbreak. However, as the disease progresses, the manifestations of the manic phase become more pronounced. The mood of a person becomes too optimistic, an assessment of reality - too iridescent, not corresponding to reality. At the sick person absolutely delusional ideas can arise. In addition, motor activity is greatly increased, and the flow of speech becomes almost inexhaustible.
Other features of the course of manic - depressive syndrome
The most common is the classical currentmanic - depressive syndrome. However, it is much rarer, but still sometimes doctors - psychotherapists face atypical forms of the disease. And sometimes this fact can significantly complicate the correct and timely diagnosis of manic - depressive syndrome. So, for example, there is a mixed form of flow, in which manic-depressive psychosis makes itself felt differently. In the mixed form of the course of the disease, some symptoms of the same phase are replaced by certain symptoms of the second phase. So, for example, a depressive mood can accompany unnecessarily nervous excitability, but a typical retardation for depression, both mental and physical, may be absent altogether. The manic stage of the disease can be expressed by an increased emotional uplift, but with a pronounced mental and intellectual inhibition. The behavior of a sick person can be absolutely normal, and maybe even inadequate. Also often enough, doctors - psychotherapists have to face the so-called erased forms of manic-depressive syndrome. Most often there is such a form of an erased course of the disease as cyclothymia. By the way, according to some doctors - psychotherapists, this form of manic - depressive syndrome is present to some extent in 80% of all adults! How much truthful information is difficult to judge, but there is still something to think about. With this form of the disease, all the symptoms of manic - depressive syndrome are so blurred that the sick person can maintain full working capacity. And his family and colleagues do not even know that something is wrong with him. The depressive and manic phases are so worn out that, in addition to the periodic bad mood, they are not allowed to know about themselves in any way. In addition, sometimes with an erased form of manic-depressive syndrome, the disease occurs with a hidden form of depression. It is also practically impossible to detect it. Even the sick person may not be aware of the reasons for his bad mood, and therefore carefully hide it from others. A very big danger of such hidden forms of manic - depressive syndrome is that the phase of depression goes unnoticed, and as a result, the likelihood of committing suicide increases at times. 
Symptoms of classic manic - depressive syndrome
This disease has its own characteristicsThe currents that distinguish it from other diseases of the psyche. It is about the typical symptoms of manic-depressive syndrome and will be discussed below. Strictly speaking, the totality of all these symptoms is characterized by a single concept - an anxious - depressive state. A sick person can experience a strong sense of anxiety. And most often this alarm has no basis under itself. Either there are grounds, but the anxiety is too hypertrophied. And most often patients are worried about the sense of anxiety for their future and the future of their loved ones. They are afraid that something may happen: someone close or they themselves will fall under the car, lose their jobs, and the like. Such sick people, the psychiatrist immediately distinguishes from those who are in a state of melancholy. They even express a face of constant anxiety: the face is tense, unblinking eyes. His whole appearance expresses a feeling of great strain. And in a conversation with a doctor, people suffering from heightened anxiety will not be particularly frank - they will rather take a wait-and-see attitude. The slightest careless word can contribute to the fact that a person simply simply closes in himself. Relatives of such a sick person should remember the basic rules of behavior, designed to establish contact and ease the patient's morale. First, you first need to make sure that you are dealing with a case of heightened anxiety. To do this, it's enough to start the most straightforward conversation with a person - take a pause. And not necessarily too long pause - just about ten seconds. In the event that a person is in a simple depression state, he will remain silent for as long as he likes. If a person does have a disturbing symptom, he will not take a long pause, necessarily the first will start a conversation. During the conversation, observe the behavior of the sick person. As a rule, his look is running, restless, he has a so-called "restless arm syndrome" - a sick person is constantly pulling something: the edge of clothes, sheets. As a rule, it is very difficult for such people to stay in the same position for a long time - they get up, walk around the room. In especially severe cases, a person with an anxiety symptom almost completely loses control of himself. There are two extremes in which a similar patient can fall. The first extreme is the stage of numbness. At this stage, the patient's anxiety reaches a stage where a person is only able to look at one point in front of him, practically not reacting to any external stimuli. There is also another extreme, which is less common, only in especially severe cases. A person begins feverishly rushing around the room, refusing to eat, shouting or crying ceaselessly. In such a case it is highly recommended to place the sick person in a specialized medical institution. Do not torment yourself with a sense of guilt because you have shifted the care of your close person to the shoulders of doctors. Believe me, this must be done in the first place for his own safety, since in such a state impulsive attempts to commit suicide are very, very likely.
Treatment of manic depression
Manic-depressive syndrome in no waycase can not be left without attention and appropriate treatment. And it should be noted that manic - depressive psychosis is not an easy violation of sleep, when you can knock out sleeping pills and sleep peacefully until the morning. Treatment of manic - depressive syndrome should be occupied only by doctors - psychotherapists. Treatment is carried out in several stages. A patient is prescribed a course of treatment with pharmacological drugs. The drugs are selected strictly individually, depending on the state of the sick person - in this case, if a person has physical or mental retardation, he is given stimulating activity drugs. In the same case, if a sick person is dominated by increased excitability, he will be prescribed sedatives.
Prognosis of this disease
Very many people who have encountered one way or another withgiven ailment, is interested in - and what is the prognosis of doctors? As a rule, if the manic-depressive syndrome is not burdened by any concomitant disease, the predictions are quite favorable - a person is able to return to a normal way of life. 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 treatment begins, the more irreversible changes occur in the personality of the sick person. So it is better to be safe and consult a doctor with normal depression, than not to notice the real trouble. We advise you to read:
