Endogenous psychosis is included in the list of severe mental illnesses. An endogenous mental disorder is formed by the action of a provoking factor that has an internal genesis. In the article we will consider the causes of this pathology and its symptoms.
Foundations of endogenous psychosis
It should be noted that the specific reason for which the patient may experience the named psychosis has not been found. But experts identify factors that, to a certain extent, contribute to the formation of the disease.
Thus, endogenous psychosis can be formed under the influence of external factors. This mental disorder can be caused by excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs. Experts note that the basis of endogenous psychosis is a disorder of the endocrine balance and the central nervous system. Sometimes the disease is determined by atherosclerosis of the vessels of the brain, hypertension or schizophrenia. The course of such a disease is distinguished by the duration and frequency of manifestation.
Symptomatics
Signs of the disease can be expressed in a simpleform before the onset of the pathological condition. But, according to experts, it can be relatively difficult to determine them.
Early symptoms include:
- irritability;
- periodic anxiety;
- nervousness;
- increased susceptibility.
As a rule, patients have a sleep disorder, there are interruptions in appetite, a person becomes lethargic. At the same time, the ability to work decreases, there is a violation of attention, and any, even minor, trouble is the basis for stress. Endogenous psychosis also affects the formation of individual modifications of sensations. This, in turn, leads to feelings of fear, depression or mood swings.
Endogenous psychosis directly affects personality changes. This is manifested in the fact that the patient sees a changed world, the patient is haunted by the feeling that he is being watched. As a rule, illogical statements slip through the patient's speech, which turn into delirium.
Such patients have deep thinking disorders, which are accompanied by hallucinations. For no apparent reason, such a person can sink into depression. And the basis of such modifications is the loss of a normal perception of the world. As a rule, the patient is not aware of what is happening to him at the moment, and cannot appreciate how difficult his mental modifications are.
Children's and adolescent psychoses
Endogenous psychoses in children and adolescents do not have a clearindicated symptoms, and therefore may have different configurations. Experts rank the occurrence of illusions as obvious symptoms. This is, first of all, the ability of the baby to see, feel, hear what is not in reality. At the same time, the child has a behavioral disorder, which is expressed, for example, by laughter at annoying things, nervousness and irritability for no reason. The writing of unusual words by the child is also noticed.
It is the presence of hallucinations and delusions that are the starting symptoms for diagnosing psychosis in children.
In the case of psychosis in adolescents, the risk of suicide increases significantly, since these patients have poor self-control. For this reason, such patients must be hospitalized.
Causes of childhood psychosis
The reasons for the formation of psychosis in childhood are varied. But the main factors that provoke pathology are:
- long-term medication;
- transferred high body temperature;
- hormonal imbalance.
Sometimes, childhood psychosis can develop without accompanying diseases. Children born with serious anomalies of the constitutional type are subject to psychosis, which spontaneously manifest itself at an early age. In most cases, these patients remain disabled throughout their lives.
Acute psychosis
This type of illness is considered a difficult mental illness, which is expressed by the presence of illusions, delusions andsensations of fantasticness of everything proceeding. It is quite difficult to determine the immediate cause of the formation of an ailment. Experts distinguish 3 groups of acute hallucinatory psychosis:
- Acute endogenous psychoses. They are mostly caused by internal causes.
- Acute exogenous psychoses. Appear due to the impact of external traumatic causes. But, according to experts, alcohol occupies a special place among the provoking factors.
- Organic acute psychosis. The provoking factor of the disease can be a tumor or brain injury.
Forms of acute psychosis
In addition, there are a huge number of forms of the disease, which can be determined by a number of signs. There are the following forms of the disease:
- Acute manic-depressive psychosis. This type of disease is considered the most difficult. With this form of the disease, the patient experiences an alternation of a severe depressive state with stages of excessive emotionality.
- Acute manic psychosis. The peculiarity of the disease is that the person is in a protracted excited state.
- Acute reactive psychosis. The appearance of the disease is associated with a direct reaction of the body to a strong stressful situation. According to experts, this form of the disease has the most favorable prognosis, and in most cases it is eliminated after the elimination of the stressful situation.
Most often, for the direct treatment of the disease, the patient should be hospitalized. Suchmanipulations are primarily related to the fact that the patient is in a state of perverted perception of the world, therefore, he can harm both himself and others without realizing it.
Prolonged type of psychosis
Chronic endogenous psychosis is schizophrenia characterized by mental disorders that last for a long time and are accompanied by a progressive change in personality.
It is necessary to distinguish between 2 concepts - symptoms and signs of an illness, since they have some differences. So, chronic endogenous psychosis has certain features, which include:
- Alogia. It is characterized by the lack of logical thinking in the patient. This sign is explained by the scarcity of vocabulary.
- Autism. This symptom is characterized by the patient's distancing from the outside world, immersion in oneself. Such a person lives in his own world. As a rule, his interests are limited, and his actions are monotonous. Such a patient is characterized by a complete lack of humor, therefore, everything said by the patient is taken literally.
- Ambivalence. Splitting consciousness, dual attitude to something.
- Associative thinking.
Symptoms of pathology include:
- hallucinations;
- illusions;
- nonsense;
- inappropriate behavior;
- disorder of speech and thinking;
- obsessions.
Treatmentpsychosis
The treatment of these ailments is carried out only under the supervision of specialists, since strong drugs for the treatment of endogenous psychosis are prescribed depending on the patient's age, complexity and type of illness. A special place in therapy is given to psychotropic drugs, antidepressants (Pyrazidol, Amitriptyline, Gerfonal), tranquilizers (Seduxen) and neuroleptics (Triftazin, Stelazin, Aminazin). No less important is the psychological correction of the patient's social behavior. Treatment requires round-the-clock monitoring and can take a long time, as the body is exhausted not only emotionally, but also physically.
But the duration of the course of therapy with timely treatment takes, as a rule, no more than 2 months. In advanced cases, the course may be delayed indefinitely. Therefore, if symptoms of the development of the disease are detected, it is necessary to consult a doctor as soon as possible.
