Mental disorders are a group of especially dangerous endogenous diseases. The best treatment outcomes are available to the patient who is accurately and timely diagnosed and treated appropriately. The current classification distinguishes several syndromes of schizophrenia, each of which requires an individual approach to correcting the situation.
Relevance of the issue
In recent years, the incidence of schizophrenia has increased significantly. The disease is dangerous, it harms not only a person, but also people close to him. Schizophrenia can destroy the patient's life, start irreversible processes, exclude a person from social life without a way back. You can prevent such consequences if you make a diagnosis in time, determine which schizophrenia syndrome is taking place, and also choose the appropriate treatment.
With schizophrenia, it is possible to save a person. This is not about temporary relief and slowing down progress, but long-term remission. True, it's achievableonly if you take the issue responsibly, contact a qualified doctor and carefully follow the treatment program developed by him.
Case history
For the first time, schizophrenia syndromes were discussed more than two millennia ago. From the records that have come down to us, it is known that even then patients were observed whose behavior deviated from the norm, occasionally accompanied by external symptoms. Since the patients behaved inappropriately, they were called insane - such an unofficial name for the disease has survived to this day. Official medicine first described it in the nineteenth century. Doctor Kraepelin noticed that more often inappropriate behavior is observed in adolescents and young people. Since then, "juvenile dementia" has been diagnosed. And in the next century, the doctor Bleuler was able to fully describe the disease, reflect the clinical picture, determine the syndromes of schizophrenia and highlight its symptoms.
It was in the twentieth century that the term "schizophrenia" became widespread. It is formed from two Latin words: splitting and mind. Thus, the name reflects the essence of the disease, that is, the splitting of the human mind.
About classification
Different negative syndromes in schizophrenia are known, and their manifestations may overlap, which creates certain difficulties in making a diagnosis. For some, the disease flows sluggishly and it is very difficult to notice it, only the person himself knows about the oddities inherent in him, often considering them the result of the influence of stress factors ordepressed mood.
Currently, it is customary to divide all cases into negative, productive ones. The second option expresses itself with hallucinations and delusions, and with a negative one, the patient is apathetic, does not respond to stimuli, shows indifference, and often slurs his thoughts.
Negative schizophrenia
This form of illness manifests itself as a split state, in which hatred and love simultaneously arise for some object without obvious reasons. There is a tendency to see symbols in everything, parology, torn consciousness, apathy, isolation. The patient avoids contacts in society, limits the inner world, loses activity, is not capable of volitional actions.
Productive manifestations are secondary factors. These are hallucinations, delusions, effects, catatonia.
Possible syndromes
Currently known quite a lot of different syndromes. Some of them are observed even in he althy people. One of the severe cases is a neurosis-like syndrome. His hallmarks are hysteria, obsessiveness, spontaneous attacks that are not preceded by some obvious external factor.
Schizoeffective syndrome is a form of the disease in which the patient is characterized by depression and delusions, mania and hallucinations. Febrile - a severe disorder in which there is a fever, the patient sees phantasmagoric visions. The patient tends to perform inexplicable, strange, unnatural movements, throwing, increased heart rate, manifestation of hematomas.
Possiblea form of schizophrenia is a paranoid syndrome. She expresses herself in hallucinations and delusions, but the patient can think coherently. Productive signs are gradually expanding, the development of the disease to the state of the Kandinsky-Clerambault syndrome is possible. Gradually, disturbances in the emotional sphere are observed, a person loses his will.
About types and forms
Catatonic syndrome in schizophrenia is another fairly common condition. When it is observed dysfunction of the motor apparatus. The patient is characterized by stupor, which at times turns into a specific excitation. Patients are characterized by mutism. Schizophrenia can be suspected by observing a person from the side: at times he freezes in an unnatural position, maintaining it for a long time. Often, patients avoid hygiene procedures, refuse food. Perhaps a delusional state, hallucinations.
Sometimes schizophrenia is characterized by the "hebephrenic" syndrome. For him, negative symptoms are more characteristic, and the most pronounced ones are associated with the ability to think, as well as the emotional sphere. You can identify the patient by their goofy behavior, mannerisms and tendency to chatter, frequent mood swings.
Some patients are diagnosed with simple schizophrenia. This is a form of the disease in which there are no positive symptoms at all or it appears very rarely. Negative signs are active, isolation and emptiness come to the fore. A person cannot name the purpose of his existence, his activity is close to zero, his state is usually apathetic, his speech is poor, and his thinking is poor.
Continuing consideration
Possible undifferentiated form of the disease. It is characterized by manifestations characteristic of catatonic, hebephrenic types, at the same time, according to the symptoms, it is schizophrenia with a paranoid syndrome.
The residual form of the disease is a condition in which the patient has productive symptoms, but such symptoms appear quite rarely and do not disrupt adequate life and social activity.
Possible schizophrenia and depressive disorder leading to post-schizophrenic depressive disorder. This term describes the condition of the patient, appearing after some long period of remission.
Manias and schizophrenia
Doctors are especially interested in schizophrenia with manic syndrome. Patients with this form are characterized by excessive excitability, which unpredictably changes to deep depression. Delusional states or hallucinations are possible, but these are rated as moderate. Excessively high activity, this applies to both movements and speech.
It is customary to say that schizophrenia with manic syndrome is the opposite of a relatively simple form. The currently practiced medical approach involves the allocation of the disease "manic-depressive syndrome" as an independent one, requiring specific consideration and treatment.
About types: what else is there?
In some cases, schizophrenia is characterized by paroxysmal-progredient syndrome. This is a form of illness in which psychosis periodically manifests itself.acute attacks, followed by remission, with each new episode becoming more difficult and difficult, and its consequences lead to a change in personality.
Possible ongoing schizophrenia. This is a syndrome that is characterized by constant progress. Mostly the symptoms are negative, there is no temporary remission in principle. Gradually, positive symptoms completely disappear, only negative ones can be detected. This deforms the personality, making it defective.
Possible latent, sluggish schizophrenia. With it, neurotic disorders are observed without productive symptoms. The disease lasts for years and decades, while the degradation of the personality does not occur, the patient's condition does not worsen.
What is the most common?
Kandinsky-Clerambault syndrome in schizophrenia, as doctors have established, is currently the most common manifestation of the disease. As a rule, it is observed with hallucinatory-paranoid syndrome. In the majority of cases, the prognosis is negative. Perhaps a state with secondary psychosis caused by alcohol poisoning, hypoxia, trauma, infectious disease and pathology of the vascular system. In addition to the above name, in the special literature it appears under the term "mental automatism syndrome".
This form of the disease got its name in honor of Kandinsky, the second cousin of the artist with the same surname. Feeling the signs of illness, Kandinsky decided to study this issue in more detail, which allowed him to compile the work “Onpseudo hallucinations. Kandinsky is currently considered the founder of forensic psychiatry in our country.
The second part of the name of the disease, Clerambo, is taken from the name of a person who suffered from this form of the disease in France. He also described his symptoms, and did so independently of a Russian psychiatrist.
Nuances of the case
Studying schizophrenia, manic syndrome, delusions of grandeur, themes of patients' hallucinations, it should be noted that each form of the disease has its own characteristics of the patient's thinking. In particular, in the form of Kandinsky-Clerambault, there are three typical productive symptoms: pseudo-hallucinations, mental automatism and mania of influence from outside.
Pseudo-hallucinations is a term that refers to visions within the subjective world (music playing in the head, voices in the head). The idea of influence is the feeling that someone is acting on a person from the outside, forcibly putting thoughts into his head, speaking through his mouth or using his legs to move. Such an influence can be from some third party or, say, from outer space, from otherworldly forces. Mental automatism is expressed in the feeling of the perfect unnatural, alienated. In medicine, this is called violent thinking. Patients describe their condition as if someone from outside forces them to think.
Hallucinatory-paranoid form
Hallucinatory-paranoid syndrome in schizophrenia is a condition in which the patient is worried about delusions of persecution, feelings of extraneous influence,pseudohallucinations and mental automatism. The content of delusions can vary significantly from case to case. Some are convinced of the influence of witchcraft, others of atomic energy.
Psychic automatisms in schizophrenia with hallucinatory-paranoid syndrome are not necessarily observed all at the same time. Perhaps the development of new and new as the condition worsens. Initially, associative automatisms usually arise as a result of the alleged external influence on the human thought process and other activities. Thoughts flow quickly, anxiety is felt, mentism is diagnosed. It seems to the patient that others know his thoughts, and everything he thinks about sounds loud and clear in his head. Perhaps a mental echo, when others suddenly repeat what the person thought. This leads to new symptoms, a sense of thoughts taken away, thoughts made, memories unwound.
The next step in state progress is sensory automatism. It is characterized by unpleasant sensations, due to some extraneous force that supposedly affects a person. The sensations made vary quite a lot. They can express themselves with heat and cold, soreness, throbbing, twisting.
Mental and eating disorders
One of the possible forms of schizophrenia is apathetic-abulic syndrome. This term is used to denote mental illness, in which a person loses emotionality, becomes indifferent to others. Gradually, depression is complemented by slovenliness and lack of attention, and other negative manifestations. Often thisform is diagnosed in adolescents. The lack of adequate treatment can cause a person to lose his personality, a complete loss of motivation, goals, which makes development and social adaptation impossible.
Currently, doctors share weakness of will associated with the mistakes of education, emotional inactivity, due to problems in the functioning of the brain. There are several types of abulia, divided by severity.
About categories and classes
Mild form of abulia - deviations from the norm on a small scale. These are usually short-lived, soon after the acute phase the person returns to normal. In this case, he practically does not receive damage.
Severe form of illness - refusal to act in principle. Attention becomes distracted, depression is quite severe, which prevents the performance of daily tasks. The patient refuses to eat, brush his teeth and wash, clean up.
To assess the patient's condition, it is important to describe the duration of the acute period and its features. The short-term stage is characterized by insignificant neuroses and depression. Periodic repetitions indicate advanced schizophrenia or may be a marker of drug addiction. Constant apathy leads to schizotypal disorder.
Nuances of the disease
The peculiarity of aboulia is that a person is isolated from society, ignoring the generally accepted standards of behavior. Life turns into a monotonous set of identical actions, and the disease progresses. The prerequisites for the formation of pathology are different. Doctors believe that most cases are due to trauma to the skull, brain. Mental deviations are possible due to a tumor, cerebral hemorrhage. In some cases, the disease is provoked by hormonal disruptions or poisoning with toxic compounds. A genetic factor may play a role.
In a mild form, abulia is not uncommon in people who can hardly cope with the influence of stressful situations. This is a borderline condition in which nervousness is mild, but can gradually turn into a stable disorder.
Diagnosis of abulia is possible after a detailed examination of the patient's condition. From the side it is noticeable that it is difficult for a person to make decisions, even those related to everyday trifles, a confused formulation of thoughts, prolonged reflection and lack of activity are characteristic. Such a person tries to isolate, is not motivated, is surrounded by disorder in everyday life, and the appearance is affected by the lack of regular hygiene procedures.
Wrapping Up
In conclusion, it is worth briefly considering schizophrenia with delusional syndrome as an organic disorder. This usually accompanies partial convulsive deviations. The frequency of occurrence of this form among women is higher. In most cases, it is due to organic disorders. With a greater degree of probability, the cause is in the right hemisphere of the brain, in the parietal, temporal lobes.
The patient's delusions are fixed without disturbance of consciousness, but in some cases there is the appearance of a cognitive deficit. Possible rudimentary delusions or ideas that develop intocomplex system. They differ significantly in content, but the most common theme is persecution. There may be a connection with personal problems, which only exacerbates the disease. Often, the patient has incoherent speech, and movements vary from too active to complete apathy. The mood fluctuates, its jumps are unpredictable.
The course of the disease largely depends on the factors that caused it. To make a diagnosis, it is necessary to assess the clinical picture, to clarify the absence of impaired memory, consciousness.
