Psychosis, neurosis, neurasthenia. How is the treatment of psychoses and neuroses of varying severity? Why neurosis does not turn into psychosis

And psychoses. The pathological conditions in which people with such diagnoses are found differ greatly, and they require individual treatment and a special approach. The main difference between neurosis and psychosis lies in the form of damage to the human nervous system. Often one ailment disguises itself as another, and this is important to know, since at present both neurosis and psychosis are not uncommon.

Neurosis: symptoms and forms of the disease

People can suffer from reactive psychoses. This condition occurs after suffering a serious stressful situation, which, most likely, was aggravated by the danger to life or the loss of a loved one. The occurrence of reactive disorder depends on the severity of the injury. Analysis of the patient's appearance is one of the stages of the diagnostic process.

The person becomes indifferent, depressed, facial expressions are disturbed. Among reactive psychoses there are reactive-depressive, hysterical, paranoid and affective-shock reactions.

Treatment of psychoses and neuroses

Having disassembled the basic essence of mental ailments, having learned how neurosis differs from psychosis, it is not difficult to understand why each disease is treated differently. Experienced neurologists do not immediately carry out drug treatment of neuroses, Gestalt therapy is initially carried out or psychodrama methods are used. In especially difficult cases are required.

Psychosis is basically treated with medication. This requires an individual approach: age, gender, the degree of neglect of the problem and the presence of other diseases are taken into account.

When a person develops a neurosis or psychosis, it becomes noticeable to others. Some manifestations of such states may even coincide. Meanwhile, there are serious reasons to separate these mental disorders from each other.

Definition

Neurosis- a concept common to a group of psychogenic disorders characterized by a long course. Patients with such disorders have obsessive states, asthenic or hysterical manifestations, as well as a general decrease in working capacity.

Psychosis- a cardinal mental disorder, which is expressed in inadequate mental reactions to real life situations and in the disorganization of behavior.

Comparison

Causes

Neurosis most often occurs under the influence of psychogenic factors. The nervous system can malfunction after prolonged overexertion, prolonged stress, or a situation that traumatizes the psyche. In some cases, the characteristics of a person's character, his living conditions, mistakes in upbringing, and heredity play a role.

The causes leading to psychosis are most often organic. These include congenital pathologies and brain injuries, tumors. Psychosis can also develop on the background of alcohol dependence or an infectious disease. Sometimes the reasons are psychosocial: disharmony in family relationships, conflicts, negative events.

Symptoms

With neurosis, a person psychologically feels very uncomfortable. Irritability and mood instability appear. Sensitivity increases: minor stress can provoke despair, a loud sound or flash of light is too frightening. There is unjustified anxiety and phobias develop. Even with a light load, overwork occurs. Self-esteem may drop sharply, or, on the contrary, it becomes overestimated.

Neurosis also has physiological manifestations: it is a nervous trembling of the limbs, muscle malaise, often fever or chills, excessive sweating, problems with sleep. However, despite such serious symptoms, the difference between neurosis and psychosis is that psychosis is an even more dangerous condition.

In this case, perception and thinking suffer greatly. The patient may be haunted by hallucinations that he takes for reality. The person is delusional, often overexcited. Sometimes, on the contrary, there is depression and lethargy. The patient is not able to adequately assess the situation. There is no self-control. A person suffering from such a disorder often has a speech disorder, a senseless repetition of movements, and the performance of rituals that are understandable only to the patient. The predominant symptomatology allows you to determine the form of psychosis: manic, paranoid, depressive or otherwise.

Self-criticism, personality change

The patient with neurosis retains the ability to control his actions. He is aware of his condition, worries about it, tries to cope with it on his own or turns to specialists. The personality of a person as a whole is not destroyed.

Psychosis is insidious in that the suffering person does not recognize himself as sick. His actions, which can be aggressive, he considers absolutely correct. However, the patient does not always pose a danger to others. Often he is tormented by fear and anxiety, and he, immersed in his own world, moves away from other people. Psychosis changes and destroys the personality, so such a state should not be left to chance.

Chances of a cure

What is the difference between neurosis and psychosis regarding the possibility of getting rid of them? The fact that a neurosis, even a long one, is successfully treated. This is a reversible disorder. Psychosis is much more difficult to treat. The possibility of a cure here depends on many factors, and in some cases there is a chance of success.

Neurotic sufferers sometimes fear that their condition may turn into psychosis. In this case, you should calm down. The mechanisms of appearance and development of the described disorders are so different that neurosis does not turn into a form of psychosis.

The main purpose of psychiatry is the treatment of neurosis and psychosis. These pathologies are increasingly common in the modern world, and the terms have become very common in the practice of psychologists. The human nervous system is subject to such negative factors as genetic predisposition and the negative influence of the environment. At first glance, the symptoms of these diseases are similar to each other. The main difference between neurosis and psychosis lies in the nature of the damage to the nervous system. Neurosis is considered as a mild stage of the disorder. Psychosis is characterized by a severe degree of the disease.

Symptoms and forms of neurosis

Neurosis is a human condition caused by psychological trauma or a prolonged stressful situation. Neurotic disorders deplete the nervous system and are accompanied by vegetative disorders (increased heartbeat, excessive sweating, indigestion). This condition is characterized by irritability, fatigue, anxious feelings, tearfulness and resentment, despair and aggressive manifestations, sleep disorders. With neurosis, a person is able to think clearly, give an account of his actions and independently try to cope with the disease.

Frequent causes of the manifestation of neurosis are traumatic events, prolonged overstrain of the nervous system, internal and external conflicts. The occurrence of the disease is also facilitated by biological and hereditary factors, features in the nature of the individual, conditions and lifestyle, and improper upbringing. Violations in the nervous system come from continuous emotional and physical stress, which lead to chronic stress. The causes of neurosis include diseases that deplete the body.

When diagnosing neurotic disorders, there are several main forms:

1. Neurasthenia, or chronic fatigue syndrome, of a person, accompanied by irritability, headache, overwork, sleep disturbance.
2. Hysteria is expressed in a disorder of the motor system (convulsive seizures), in sensory and speech disorders, as well as in emotional reactions (laughter, screaming, crying).
3. Fear is a dominant syndrome that is characterized by a general anxiety or phobia.
4. An obsessive state manifests itself in people with suspicious and anxious features. The main signs for this form of neurosis are obsessive actions, thoughts and memories.

Psychosis and its manifestations

Psychosis occurs against the background of sudden negative events that entail serious mental disorders and loss of a sense of reality.

In psychotic disorders, there are significant changes in a person's behavior and appearance. This disease is characterized by the occurrence of hallucinations, delusions. The patient becomes depressed and indifferent to the world around him, he is inadequate, inhibited, his facial expressions are disturbed.

Psychoses are classified according to the causes of occurrence:

• endogenous disorders occur against the background of internal neuroendocrine factors; this type includes manic-depressive psychosis and schizophrenia;
• exogenous psychoses are manifested due to the influence of external factors: severe mental trauma, infectious diseases, alcohol and drug addiction;
• organic psychoses are caused by brain disorders (congenital pathology, tumor, traumatic brain injury, etc.).

The symptoms of psychosis are quite extensive. In addition to hallucinations and delusions, this disease is accompanied by disturbances in perception and sensations, emotional instability and mood swings. The patient moves chaotically, speaks indistinctly and abruptly, is in a state similar to sleep. All these symptoms do not occur immediately in one patient. According to the manifestation of certain symptoms, the form of psychosis is determined: depressive, hypochondriacal, affective and others.

Treatment of psychoses and neuroses

Psychoses and neuroses can and should be treated. In order not to succumb to neurotic and psychotic disorders, one should lead an active and healthy lifestyle, play sports, not overwork, avoid stressful situations and undergo regular medical examinations. Any neuroses and reactive psychoses can be cured if you turn to a specialist in a timely manner.

Treatment of neurosis of any form takes place on an individual basis. For therapy to be effective, it is necessary to immediately identify the factors contributing to the development of the disease. Neurosis is treated with medications and with the use of psychotherapy. Depending on the type of neurotic disorder, the doctor may prescribe antidepressants, vitamins, drugs that affect the brain. To completely eliminate a neurosis, you need to eliminate the cause of its appearance or change your view of the situation that led to the disorder.

Regardless of the form of psychosis, the patient is hospitalized, as he is in an inadequate state and can unknowingly harm both people around him and himself. While in the hospital, the patient is treated with psychotropic drugs under the constant supervision of doctors. It is very difficult to cure psychotic disorders, but still possible. Any changes and disorders that have arisen against the background of psychosis have different stability. Some may disappear without a trace in a short period of time, others last longer and may be resistant to treatment.

The question of how neurosis differs from psychosis is good only on paper or on Internet forums. In reality, these are two types of mental problems. If they are small, then they call neurosis, and when they are completely - psychosis. In practice, they have much in common. At least, the bearer of problems is one - a person.

Psychosis and neurosis are similar in many ways, although there are certain differences.

The concept of "neurosis" appeared in the medical literature due to the impact on the mass consciousness of the ideology of the Enlightenment.. It is believed that it was introduced by the Scottish physician William Cullen. Currently, neuroses are understood as any mental deviations, disorders and disorders. reversible character. Reversibility itself is determined only by the expected success of the treatment. For someone, banal depression will never go away at all, but for someone in a couple of days. It is not possible to give an absolute guarantee.

Also, neuroses are understood as states that it would be more appropriate to call psychoses that are not associated with a loss of sanity. There are no delusions, hallucinations, and possible euphoria does not turn into violent insanity, then it politely calls it neurosis.

Neurosis. There is no unique definition of state. The term "sticks" in all cases where the patient leaves ground for hope. For example, if a person suffering from bipolar disorder comes to a psychotherapist and talks about his problems, then all this can be called neurosis already on the fact of his voluntary appearance by specialists. If he was caught in a bad shape, and he resisted the employees of the trapping authorities, then with a high degree of probability all this will be called psychosis.

Psychosis. He has a definition. These are obvious, specific, clearly demonstrable disorders in mental activity, which most often are not treated.

Those who like to see something scientific behind everything, and understand the definite and understandable by scientific, here one significant disappointment awaits. Neurosis and psychosis received a distinction due to jurisprudence and the need to somehow attribute people's actions to punishable and not very punishable, or punishable only by the fact of treatment itself in institutions isolated from other members of society.

Neurosis is considered as a mild stage of the disorder of the nervous system, while psychosis is considered a severe form of the disease.

How so? Why is there no definition?

Try to create it. Define the soul. Yes, because we have already outgrown the period when the slogan "All diseases from nerves" covered not only the masses, but also specialists. Modern science has already outgrown the level when the soul is recognized as either uniquely existing, or rejected as such.

The term "psychosis" contains two Greek words ψυχ - soul, mind, and -ωσις - disturbed state. It turns out that we have not yet known the soul, we are convinced that it is impossible to do this unequivocally, but violations and disorders, due to their existence, which do not need to be proved, have already been “attached” to it ...

Very often an attempt to explain the nature that psychoses and neuroses have is mistaken for an attempt to explain them at the level of "cause - effect". So, Sigmund Freud first said that psychosis is a kind of mental disorder and put them on a par with neuroses and perversions, but a little later he said that psychosis is the result of the conflict “I am the outside world”, and neurosis called the consequence of the conflict "I - It". Note that even then, in the first half of the 20s of the 20th century, paranoid schizophrenia was considered an endogenous disorder. How this fits in with the conflict with the outside world is difficult to understand. Carl Jung called psychoses the result of flooding consciousness archetypes of the unconscious. According to this logic, what is a neurosis? Small strait, as from a forgotten sloppy owner for 10 minutes in the open state of the tap?

The division into this and that has always been much more arbitrary than it might seem. The very reason why it is done is in the presence of forensic medicine, and not in science as such.

From the word "psychosis" breathes evil fate, the inability to change something, therefore, for reasons of correctness, it is sometimes replaced by neurosis. It is easy to do this, because sometimes the very negative states that people experience are not clear what to refer to and how to describe in words. This is very well confirmed by the so-called reactive psychoses, which are no different from neuroses, because they are reversible. At the same time, neuroses and reactive psychoses can occur in people suffering from paranoid psychopathy, which is irreversible.

Both neuroses and psychoses cannot be ignored.

On the example of OKR

The question of whether neurosis can turn into psychosis in this context is incorrect. A person suffering from psychopathy may have symptoms of what is referred to as neurosis and psychosis at the same time. What will go where? So, obsessive-compulsive disorder is often called obsessive-compulsive disorder, although in practice it is a real psychosis. It is more appropriate to say that this is a syndrome, and it is better to attribute it to an anancaste personality disorder. This is an obsession, and the Yale-Brown scale will help determine the severity. Its high validity is ensured by the fact that it allows you to track the clinical dynamics of changes in the level of symptoms. We can talk about the exacerbation of OCD based on two criteria:

• the frequency of occurrence of obsessive thoughts;
• the intensity of their experiences.

To some extent, obsessive thoughts are inherent in all people in general, only in patients they take precedence. It is not at all the fact that they are committing some terrible crimes.

A certain technical college student was unable to attend lectures because he suffered from OCD. What happened to him? Obsession instilled in him the desire to create safe conditions for people. If he sees a stone, he takes it somewhere where no one will trip over this stone. Sometimes additional obsessions came to mind, then he thought with horror that someone would stumble there. Then he blamed himself for having carried the stone so unsuccessfully and rushed to carry it to the third place. The number of stones and places was enough to calm down only for dinner.

Of course, a psychologist can only identify obsessive-compulsive disorder. The case with the student is perceived as quite good. Therefore, he is compassionately called obsessive-compulsive disorder. If the student could not calm down until he sent a couple of old women to the next world, then the very word would seem out of place and the hero of the example would be called a maniac, and the disorder itself would be psychosis, an acute form of clouding of reason. Although from a medical point of view - there is no difference in this. It's just a disorder that may or may not be treatable.

The treatment of psychosis and neurosis can have a variety of schemes, but it is always aimed at relieving symptoms. If an OCD sufferer is able to resist their obsessive thoughts and the desires they cause, then it is considered successful. To set yourself the task of ensuring that thoughts do not come - it would be too bold and even the wrong approach.

People become free from evil not when it is not in them, but when it cannot do anything with them. On the example of OCD, psychology appears in all its glory. First, all attempts to establish the cause of the occurrence yielded nothing. Secondly, in the very term obsession there is a hint of the devil, although the concept of "obsession" is taken away from the religious field into the scientific one, which is why it is said about obsession. Thirdly, there is no general scheme. Everything is always very individual. Ordinary cognitive therapy may be enough for someone, although the case seemed very difficult, and someone finds himself in captivity of addiction all his life.

Only a specialist can figure out what you really have - psychosis or neurosis.

Intervene only when necessary

There is a hypothesis of early intervention in psychosis. Its supporters argue that if treatment is started even at the moment when psychosis gave only the first signs, then it will be most effective. True, the programs focus mainly on the prodromal period and are aimed at preventing the onset of the disease in people at risk. Everything is very logical only in words. The risk group can safely be attributed to all the poor segments of the population, since the paranoid forms of schizoid psychosis belong to them. Poor people become paranoid twice as often as rich people. Clinics for the first psychotic episode have not shown any significant effectiveness, and the criteria for identifying psychosis in the early stages are highly controversial.

So, the difference between psychosis and neurosis is conditional, and the very assignment of a violation to one or another type does not say anything specifically. The violation itself cannot be diagnosed just so that from idleness you can read the conspiracies of a Siberian healer from psychoses and neuroses. If there is a diagnosis, then there should be a treatment regimen. By definition, it does not give any guarantees and pursues only the task of improving the quality of life of the patient.

In our age of an overabundance of information, stress and crazy speeds, the problem of mental health, or rather, ill health, is becoming almost the most important.

As you know, mental health, the very “healthy spirit” that ancient healers liked to talk about, is an integral part of health in general. Alas, the features of modern life make us extremely vulnerable to various mental disorders. And the disease does not make out whether a young or old person is in front of her, a man or a woman.

In terms of the prevalence of mental health disorders, today they are among the leaders after cardiovascular and oncological diseases. According to WHO, more than 560 million people on the planet already suffer from various mental illnesses. And almost every second person is in danger of getting mental illness during his life.

Very often, the companions of a modern person are such serious neuropsychiatric diseases as neurosis And psychosis .

What lies behind the terms neurosis and psychosis

We are so used to throwing around the words “hysterical”, “neurasthenic”, “psychopath” that we often forget that we use medical terms as curses or even ridicule. Meanwhile, there is nothing funny in these words.

Neurosis

Briefly, neurosis can be described as follows:

• This is nervous exhaustion, a long-term chronic disorder that can develop in a person against the background of stress or a traumatic event.
• The personality of a patient suffering from a neurosis usually does not undergo major changes. A person retains a critical attitude towards the disease; he can control his behavior.
• As a rule, neurosis is manifested by vegetative, somatic and affective disorders.
• It is a reversible (curable) disease.

The most common types of this disease are:

• neurasthenia (asthenic neurosis, fatigue syndrome);
• hysteria (hysterical neurosis);
• various phobias (fears, panic attacks) and obsessive-compulsive disorders (obsessive-compulsive disorder).

One of the main reasons for the formation of neurosis is stress in the broadest sense of the word, whether it is childhood trauma, an unfavorable family climate, a crisis at work, nervous strain, interpersonal conflict or emotional shock.

According to medical statistics, the state of neurosis is firsthand familiar to 10-20% of the population of our planet, and about 5% of the inhabitants of the Earth suffer from various types of psychosis.

Psychosis

Speaking about psychosis, the following should be noted:

• This is a mental disorder characterized by inadequate human behavior, an atypical reaction to events and phenomena.
• It is manifested by mental disorders, in particular, violations of the perception of reality (hallucinations, delusions).
• It develops imperceptibly for the patient, may be the result of pathologies of the endocrine and nervous systems.
• Able to completely change the personality of the patient.
• This is an incurable disease.

Psychoses according to their origin are usually divided into:

• Endogenous , that is, associated with internal causes (somatic diseases, hereditary mental disorders, age);
• exoorganic caused by external factors (infections, intoxications, etc.) or directly related to a violation of the structure of the brain (injuries, hemorrhages, neoplasms, etc.).

The first group includes:

• affective insanity;
• senile (senile);
• affective;
• schizophrenic;
• epileptic;
• symptomatic psychosis, etc.

The exogenous group includes:

• reactive acute psychosis;
• intoxication;
• infectious;
• alcoholic psychosis, etc.

Signs of psychosis and neurosis

Symptoms of psychosis

Recognizing alarming signals is sometimes not easy, but you should carefully consider any changes that have appeared in the character and habits of a loved one.

The characteristic symptoms of psychosis are:

• decreased performance or febrile activity;
• mood swings;
• irritability, suspicion;
• the desire for self-isolation;
• inexplicable change of interests;
• sleep disturbances, decreased appetite;
• careless attitude to their appearance;
• increased vulnerability and other atypical reactions to events, phenomena;
• impaired coordination of movements;
• incoherent speech;
• hallucinations, delusions.

Symptoms of neurosis

It is quite difficult for a non-specialist to identify a nervous breakdown. And yet the clinic of neurosis has characteristic features.

Neurosis may indicate:

• cognitive decline;
• depressed mood, tearfulness;
• self-doubt, low self-esteem;
• irritability, discontent;
• frequent mood swings;
• intrusive thoughts;
• obsession with bad news and events;
• unmotivated anxiety states;
• poor appetite, ;/li>
• violations in the sexual sphere;
• increased sensitivity to noise, light, vibrations, etc.

Childhood fears and facial tics are also symptoms of neurosis.

Very often in everyday life people confuse the concepts of "neurosis" and "neurasthenia". We repeat once again: neurasthenia is a type of neurosis, one of its most common forms.

The characteristic symptoms of neurasthenia are:

• decrease in intellectual abilities;
• dizziness, (the so-called helmet of a neurasthenic);
• increased fatigue;
• chest pain;
• mood swings;
• low self-esteem;

Treatment of neurosis and psychosis

Only (a neuropsychiatrist, psychotherapist, psychiatrist) who has received appropriate training and has sufficient practical experience in helping patients with neurological and mental disorders can conduct a competent diagnosis of the disease, identify the causes that provoked it and offer adequate treatment.

The treatment of psychoses and neuroses (including the treatment of neurasthenia) is, as a rule, a whole complex of measures that includes many stages.

So, a combination of the following methods helps to achieve a good result:

• drug therapy;
• phytotherapy;
• psychotherapy;
• hardware treatment;
• water procedures;
• special gymnastics;
• medical diet, etc.