Today, doctors consider this disease a mental pathology. Manic psychosis proceeds paroxysmal, with the manifestation of both manic and depressive character.
Between attacks, there are noticeable intervals in which a person seems completely he althy and adequate. The appearance of symptoms is primarily related to the constitutional conditions of the person. In addition, heredity should also be taken into account, since depressive-manic psychosis is a hereditary disease.
Symptoms are expressed in mood swings. Depressive-manic psychosis is revealed as depression, slowness of movements and general intellectual processes. Perhaps a state of sadness, hopelessness, longing, constant unreasonable tension, indifference to loved ones, detachment from previously interesting, pleasurable things.
In this phase, the patient is often motionless (or inactive),gives vague short answers or is silent at all. Life during this period seems to him unpromising, unnecessary, aimless and stupid. Signs of such psychosis can also manifest themselves in self-abasement. All this is explained by the patient's own uselessness and insolvency.
During a depressive episode, there may be a loss of interest in food, which becomes as unnecessary and uninteresting as life in general. There is the possibility of developing suicidal tendencies and attempts to implement them. In women in this phase of the disease, the menstrual cycle may stop (or fail). Manic psychosis of a superficial nature is expressed, first of all, in a sharp mood swing.
For example, in the morning a person wakes up in a terrible mood, feels depressed and tired from life, and by lunchtime suddenly there is cheerfulness, attention to others, a desire to communicate. The patient is cheerful, jokes, feels a sharp surge of cheerfulness, takes on some business, but usually does not complete it. By evening, the mood changes again. Anxiety, worry, unreasonable premonition of something bad appears. This is a manic psychosis, in which reality differs from the patient's inner vision of the world.
In the manic phase, the patient is confident in his specialness, in his superpowers, in the glory that awaits him, etc. That is why he may even quit his "inappropriate" job. Even with an appetite, a person still continues to lose weight, spending a lot of energy. Nighttime sleep may be interrupted or not at alllimited to three or four hours. Moreover, during this time a person feels sleepy.
Manic-depressive psychosis in most cases has only one phase, punctuated by recovery intervals, but the risk of developing another phase always remains. Depressive episodes very often coincide with the change of season or weather. There are more women in the percentage of patients (although not significantly, the difference is about 10-15%).
Treatment is prescribed only by a doctor. As a rule, we are talking not only about a wide range of medicines, but also about the help of psychotherapists and psychologists. The participation of relatives who are nearby, who are able to protect the person suffering from psychosis from suicide attempts and seek specialist help if necessary, is also very important. The main thing to remember is that a complete cure is possible.
