Does psychotherapy help with neuroses? This is a common question. Let's look into it in more detail.
Neurosis is a mental illness characterized by psychogenic vegetosomatic disorders. In simple terms, neurosis is a somatic and mental disorder that develops against the background of any experiences. Compared with psychosis, the patient is always aware of a neurosis that greatly interferes with his life. That is why neurotics often believe that they are crazy, while the psyche is he althy.
Reasons for the development of mental neuroses
Undoubtedly, neurosis is an ambiguous diagnosis and develops under the influence of a combination of factors. However, experts identify a number of the most likely causes that contribute to the development of neurosis:
- Stress. As a rule, onThe development of any mental disorder is influenced by two main factors: the intensity of stress, its duration. Undoubtedly, stressful situations harden the psyche, but only if their number is moderate. If the amount of stress increases, distress may occur, projecting neurosis, and in some cases psychosis.
- Problems that a person cannot solve for a long time. So that difficult situations do not provoke a disease, psychotherapists recommend that they be perceived as simple tasks that require a solution, in the absence of which nothing terrible will happen. It is important to always believe in your own strength and ability to find a way out even from difficult situations.
- Chronic fatigue. It occurs when a person works a lot and practically does not rest. There is an accumulation of tension imperceptibly and for a long time. When tension crosses a certain level, an ailment develops. It is worth noting that some people believe that a job that gives pleasure will not cause neurosis. This opinion is erroneous - any activity of a monotonous nature can tire, so you definitely need to rest.
Usually, experts differentiate more causes, but the main one still remains a strong and prolonged overvoltage.
What is the origin of childhood neuroses? Psychotherapy will be discussed below.
Children with congenital or acquired physical disabilities often experience pathological mental changes in personality development. Also amid the delaymental development, neurotic reactions can be observed.
All this is accompanied by increased excitability of the child, the growth of internal conflicts, nervousness of character, increased demands on oneself, the formation of self-esteem.
Pathogenesis of neurosis
The mechanism of neurosis development is quite simple. There is an accumulation of negative interpretations of real events and their binding into a single system. Over time, a person develops the habit of reacting with stress to any irritating factor. Mental overstrain increases, accumulates, a person begins to get used to it. Thus, the physiological basis of neurosis is formed. When the last event occurs, certain symptoms are formed.
How psychotherapy treats neurosis, consider below.
Manifestations of neuroses
Neurosis can manifest itself in a variety of ways, sometimes the disease is difficult to distinguish from the normal state. However, there are a number of signs that indicate mental he alth problems:
- Fatigue, which can be both a cause and a consequence of pathology.
- Overreacting to stressful situations. A person begins to fearfully, tearfully, aggressively react even to minor events.
- Reducing the level of mental abilities. The reasons for such violations are simple - a person begins to constantly focus on psycho-traumatic factors, as a result of which he loses the ability to solve other problems.
- Decrease in self-confidence. This point is related to the previous one. With an increased level of anxiety, there are always negative thoughts that do not allow the brain to function productively. As a result, self-confidence, which is already undermined by anxiety, decreases. A person begins to dwell on his negative thoughts, which only worsens the situation. The danger of reducing self-confidence lies in the fact that a person abandons all attempts to solve a complex problem, and over time begins to perceive both complex and simple tasks in this way.
- Psychosomatics. Neurosis can lead to hypertension, diabetes mellitus, stomach ulcers. There is a decrease in the overall level of immunity, a person develops a tendency to infectious diseases. Often, neuroses are manifested by phobias, obsessive thoughts, panic attacks. Scientists have proved the cause of psychosomatic manifestations - any emotion is reflected in a certain organ of the body. With excessive stress, which accumulates for a long time, a disease develops.
The difference between neuroses and neurosis-like states
Neurosis-like states are mental disorders that outwardly resemble neuroses, but they develop under the influence of organic factors, which include various diseases, abnormal development of the fetus inside the womb. Such conditions are provoked by disturbances in the activity of some brain regions.
Varieties of neuroses
Psychotherapists distinguish between the followingtypes of neuroses:
- Neurasthenia. This disease is characterized by an increased level of fatigue. Neurasthenia can be hypersthenic and hyposthenic type. With hypersthenic neurasthenia, increased irritability is observed, with hyposthenic - low emotionality, apathy, inability for long-term social contacts.
- Phobias. They are obsessive fears. Phobias differ from ordinary fears in that they completely occupy the brain, and a person, even if desired, is not able to switch to something else. Often, phobias are combined with ritual actions to get rid of them. In this case, we are talking about obsessive-compulsive disorders of a neurotic nature.
- Obsessive states. This type of neurosis is close to phobias. Some experts classify phobias as obsessive states. Psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder helps a lot.
- Dependencies. As a rule, addictions do not belong to neuroses, but their neurotic nature can be traced quite simply. With addiction, obsessive thoughts arise to use some substance that allows you to temporarily get rid of the obsessive thought. It is also important that such thoughts intensify in a stressful situation.
- Hysterical neurosis. It develops only in people with hysteroid accentuation. The characteristic features of hysteria include emotional instability, egocentrism, demonstrativeness, theatricality. Hysterical neurosis always occurs only in the presence of spectators.
- Transference neurosis. Is inthat a person seeks to transfer his former experience to a person who reminded him of a past situation.
Diagnosis of neuroses
Many psychological questionnaires also allow you to determine the neurotic state of a person (obsessive thoughts, anxiety). However, they are all integral (exploring several different features of the psyche), and therefore their passage takes a lot of time. Therefore, specialists in the field of psychotherapy developed a special method for diagnosing Hess and Heck neuroses, in which a person will need to answer 40 questions.
In children
Diagnosis of neurosis in childhood is a more difficult task, since in children the disease can be expressed by other signs, and the consequences of neurotic manifestations are much more dangerous. One of the manifestations of neurosis at an early age is the regression of mental functions, in which the child loses the acquired skills and rolls back in development. Projective methods are used to diagnose a disease in a child.
Psychotherapy for neuroses
As a rule, psychotherapists use meditation practices and cognitive behavioral therapy in treatment. Behavioral therapy allows the patient to deal with himself, his inner world, and meditative practices in psychotherapy sessions for neuroses reduce anxiety, create a foundation for instilling new beliefs in oneself. Meditations can be of the most diverse nature, but they are all united by concentration on one process, thoughts.
For example, the simplest meditation is to focus your attention on your own breathing, sensations. Meditation techniques also include auto-training, which involves focusing on the feeling of relaxation and warmth in the body. Affirmations are also related to meditation and allow you to focus on certain thoughts.
Any meditation techniques can be combined to enhance their effect. For example, you can say affirmations in a state of trance, which is achieved through meditation. In such a state, criticism of oneself decreases, new attitudes are perceived more easily.
Very effective group psychotherapy of neuroses. The specialist gathers groups according to certain criteria, such as age, cause of the disorder and gender. A person can look at similar situations from the outside and share their problems. In the classroom, people discuss ways out of existing situations and support each other.
What is the psychotherapy of childhood neuroses?
Treatment consists in diagnosing psychological disorders in loved ones and in psychotherapeutic work with a sick child and people around him. At this age, distraction therapy is predominantly used to switch the child's attention to other factors.
Person-Oriented Psychotherapy for Neuroses
The goal of therapy is to work with a person who must learn to solve external andinternal conflicts by reorganizing the system of its relations. Therefore, such psychotherapy is called reconstructive.
The doctor tries to expand the area of the patient's awareness in order to help clarify the cause-and-effect relationships that led to the mental disorder, verbalize his vague experiences and clarify those relationships that the patient himself did not connect before in his mind.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
The essence of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy for neurosis is to form a person's optimistic outlook on life. Everyone knows that optimists are not neurotic, as they tend to consider any problem solvable. Our behavior is a set of reactions to certain events, that is, the human brain works reflexively. All events are refracted by the prism of our thinking. If it is negative, then neurosis is formed. That is why experts recommend looking at life easier. It is important to remember that only the person himself can influence his thinking, and the psychotherapist only helps him in this.
Methods of psychotherapy for panic attacks are the same as for other types of neurosis - meditation and cognitive-behavioral correction, allowing a person to get rid of sudden disorders.
Thus, neuroses are complex but interesting phenomena that can and should be treated. Successful psychotherapy for neurosis will allow you to easily achieve your goals, acquire calmness and a stable psyche.
