Schizophrenia: symptoms, first signs, test for schizophrenia
Schizophrenia belongs to the class of mental illnesses that are associated with the disintegration of mental processes and emotional perception.
The disease is characterized by a whole range of symptoms. Their diversity even became the reason for the version according to which schizophrenia is not a disease, but a set of different syndromes.
Schizophrenia can take many forms, but in most cases it introduces difficulties in the social adaptation of the patient. As a rule, the course of the disease is chronic, but with appropriate treatment and a favorable environment, you can achieve a stable remission, and sometimes a recovery.
Modern medicine identifies several forms of schizophrenia, namely:
Paranoid schizophrenia is one of the most common forms of this disease. It is diagnosed in 70% of cases. Distinctive features of paranoid schizophrenia are a tendency to hallucinations, as well as obsessive ideas( see obsessive-compulsive disorder neurosis).But violations of the willed or emotional sphere in this case are less pronounced. In paranoid form, the so-called self-healing occurs most often.
With the catatonic form of schizophrenia, the most striking feature is psychomotor disorders. The patient has an alternation of mental arousal with periods of stupor and stupor. As a rule, the disease becomes visible to others in the active phase, as a person behaves aggressively and can be dangerous.
Gebefrenic schizophrenia in most cases makes itself felt in the adolescent period. Most of all, it manifests itself in the emotional-volitional sphere: the patient becomes inadequate and overly active. But the processes of thinking and memory with this form of schizophrenia are almost completely preserved.
The first signs of schizophrenia, like most mental disorders, are extremely diverse. They depend on the stage of the disease, as well as on its form.
The development of schizophrenia can be both paroxysmal and continuous. Most often this disease is diagnosed in young people under 30 years, mainly in women. Heredity plays a great role in this, so people who have relatives with schizophrenia should be extremely attentive to the slightest manifestations of the disease.
One of the brightest symptoms of schizophrenia is the presence of hallucinations, especially auditory ones. Initially, they greatly frighten the patient, but eventually he begins to take them for granted. Delusions are added to hallucinations. A person becomes obsessed with some ideas, tries to subordinate to her the whole habitual way of his life.
So, for example, he can be sure that he communicates with aliens, or that he is being pursued by foreign special services. Also often there is a so-called Kandinsky-Clerambo syndrome, when the patient claims that his body and thoughts are controlled by someone from outside. Such conditions make social communication difficult, and in many cases a person is a threat to the people around him.
Patients with schizophrenia often have attacks of extreme activity and excitability. At such times they become very sociable, they can talk for hours. Often an ignorant listener of a patient may even seem to be an interesting interlocutor, a creative, non-ordinary person.
Such emotional ups are followed by periods of apathy. The patient seems to be disconnected from the outside world, his face is numb, and his gaze rushes to one point. And although this state does not last long, it is almost impossible to get a person out of it.
An important criterion in the diagnosis of schizophrenia is psychological tests that are designed specifically to detect pathology in people with psychological abnormalities.
Tests for schizophrenia contain a number of questions on the basis of which the attending physician can draw some conclusions and call a diagnosis or continue the search for the disease. With their help, the specifics and nature of the violation of a function of the human brain are determined. Tests provide an opportunity to get a complete picture, as they evaluate different data only in their totality.
Tests are conducted exclusively in a medical institution by a competent psychiatrist. Only a professional approach can guarantee the adequacy of the conclusions drawn from such tests. That's why you should not trust the so-called on-line tests, which not only do not differ in scientific approach, but they can cause anxious experiences in individuals with a tendency to hypochondria.
The bulk of healthy people do not notice the obvious signs of playing shadow and light, and see a three-dimensional image on the video. For a schizophrenic, the picture will be concave.
Treatment of patients with schizophrenia, depending on their condition, can be carried out both permanently and at home. To obtain consistent results, it is recommended to combine medical treatment with social and psychological therapy.
The leading role in the treatment of schizophrenia disorder is treated with antipsychotics. Drugs of this class have an effect on the circulation of neurotransmitters. Modern medicine recommends the use of typical antipsychotics, which, unlike atypical, do not cause serious side effects, such as impotence or dementia.
Therapy with typical antipsychotics is quite expensive and requires long-term treatment, but in most cases these drugs cause persistent remission or, in combination with other treatments, lead to complete recovery.
For the treatment of schizophrenia, it is important to use psychotherapeutic techniques. In particular, conductive behavior therapy is recommended. This method helps to mitigate the symptoms, improve the socialization of the patient, help him to realize his condition.
If severe attacks of aggression, serious personality disorders, which often occur in schizophrenia, can also be carried out shock therapy. It includes the use of electroshock and the artificial triggering of seizures. But brain operations, which are often used in schizophrenia in the past decades, today are called unproductive and do not apply.
The disease is characterized by a whole range of symptoms. Their diversity even became the reason for the version according to which schizophrenia is not a disease, but a set of different syndromes.
Schizophrenia can take many forms, but in most cases it introduces difficulties in the social adaptation of the patient. As a rule, the course of the disease is chronic, but with appropriate treatment and a favorable environment, you can achieve a stable remission, and sometimes a recovery.
Forms of schizophrenia
Modern medicine identifies several forms of schizophrenia, namely:
- paranoid
- simple
- catatonic
- gebefrenic
Paranoid schizophrenia is one of the most common forms of this disease. It is diagnosed in 70% of cases. Distinctive features of paranoid schizophrenia are a tendency to hallucinations, as well as obsessive ideas( see obsessive-compulsive disorder neurosis).But violations of the willed or emotional sphere in this case are less pronounced. In paranoid form, the so-called self-healing occurs most often.
With the catatonic form of schizophrenia, the most striking feature is psychomotor disorders. The patient has an alternation of mental arousal with periods of stupor and stupor. As a rule, the disease becomes visible to others in the active phase, as a person behaves aggressively and can be dangerous.
Gebefrenic schizophrenia in most cases makes itself felt in the adolescent period. Most of all, it manifests itself in the emotional-volitional sphere: the patient becomes inadequate and overly active. But the processes of thinking and memory with this form of schizophrenia are almost completely preserved.
Signs and symptoms of schizophrenia
The first signs of schizophrenia, like most mental disorders, are extremely diverse. They depend on the stage of the disease, as well as on its form.
The development of schizophrenia can be both paroxysmal and continuous. Most often this disease is diagnosed in young people under 30 years, mainly in women. Heredity plays a great role in this, so people who have relatives with schizophrenia should be extremely attentive to the slightest manifestations of the disease.
One of the brightest symptoms of schizophrenia is the presence of hallucinations, especially auditory ones. Initially, they greatly frighten the patient, but eventually he begins to take them for granted. Delusions are added to hallucinations. A person becomes obsessed with some ideas, tries to subordinate to her the whole habitual way of his life.
So, for example, he can be sure that he communicates with aliens, or that he is being pursued by foreign special services. Also often there is a so-called Kandinsky-Clerambo syndrome, when the patient claims that his body and thoughts are controlled by someone from outside. Such conditions make social communication difficult, and in many cases a person is a threat to the people around him.
Patients with schizophrenia often have attacks of extreme activity and excitability. At such times they become very sociable, they can talk for hours. Often an ignorant listener of a patient may even seem to be an interesting interlocutor, a creative, non-ordinary person.
Such emotional ups are followed by periods of apathy. The patient seems to be disconnected from the outside world, his face is numb, and his gaze rushes to one point. And although this state does not last long, it is almost impossible to get a person out of it.
Tests for schizophrenia
An important criterion in the diagnosis of schizophrenia is psychological tests that are designed specifically to detect pathology in people with psychological abnormalities.
Tests for schizophrenia contain a number of questions on the basis of which the attending physician can draw some conclusions and call a diagnosis or continue the search for the disease. With their help, the specifics and nature of the violation of a function of the human brain are determined. Tests provide an opportunity to get a complete picture, as they evaluate different data only in their totality.
Tests are conducted exclusively in a medical institution by a competent psychiatrist. Only a professional approach can guarantee the adequacy of the conclusions drawn from such tests. That's why you should not trust the so-called on-line tests, which not only do not differ in scientific approach, but they can cause anxious experiences in individuals with a tendency to hypochondria.
The bulk of healthy people do not notice the obvious signs of playing shadow and light, and see a three-dimensional image on the video. For a schizophrenic, the picture will be concave.
Treatment of schizophrenia
Treatment of patients with schizophrenia, depending on their condition, can be carried out both permanently and at home. To obtain consistent results, it is recommended to combine medical treatment with social and psychological therapy.
The leading role in the treatment of schizophrenia disorder is treated with antipsychotics. Drugs of this class have an effect on the circulation of neurotransmitters. Modern medicine recommends the use of typical antipsychotics, which, unlike atypical, do not cause serious side effects, such as impotence or dementia.
Therapy with typical antipsychotics is quite expensive and requires long-term treatment, but in most cases these drugs cause persistent remission or, in combination with other treatments, lead to complete recovery.
For the treatment of schizophrenia, it is important to use psychotherapeutic techniques. In particular, conductive behavior therapy is recommended. This method helps to mitigate the symptoms, improve the socialization of the patient, help him to realize his condition.
If severe attacks of aggression, serious personality disorders, which often occur in schizophrenia, can also be carried out shock therapy. It includes the use of electroshock and the artificial triggering of seizures. But brain operations, which are often used in schizophrenia in the past decades, today are called unproductive and do not apply.