Many of us know the serious psychiatric diagnosis of schizophrenia. Moreover, people often use this term to define something that does not fit into the usual reasonable framework. But what exactly is this disease? How does it arise and develop?
I would like to note right away that the generally accepted opinion about the greater susceptibility of men to this disease in the medical environment is perceived as very controversial. There are many representatives of the weaker sex among patients with this diagnosis, and in this article we will consider how schizophrenia manifests itself in women, how its symptoms differ from the signs of the same mental pathology in the stronger sex.
At what age does schizophrenia appear
The development of this pathology takes place in men and women in different ways. So, the representatives of the stronger sex, as a rule, begin to get sick earlier than the ladies (from about the age of 20). By the age of 30, their pathology is already actively manifesting itself. In addition, even in adolescence, these boys show signs of increased aggressiveness and asociality.
When diagnosed with schizophreniasymptoms in women usually appear 5 years later and are usually less pronounced. The disease takes a sluggish form, complicated by periodic exacerbations.
Features of symptoms in women
Already at an early stage of development, the disease manifests itself in the form of delusions and hallucinations. True, schizophrenia in women usually takes place on a more difficult emotional background and is more often accompanied by depression. By the way, these signs can come and go for years before productive symptoms appear.
Even in a sluggish situation, sick ladies show less aggression, but become very irritable, unfriendly, avoid social contacts, which can lead to bewilderment of their environment.
Is schizophrenia a hereditary disease
Recent studies have shown that schizophrenia in adults and children is still a hereditary disease transmitted through the maternal line. If earlier scientists only mentioned statistical data saying that children of sick parents also become patients in psychiatric clinics in 40% of cases, now these data have been confirmed by geneticists.
Predisposition to schizophrenia suggests the presence of a set of defective genes. But, surprisingly, the set of patients is usually different. True, all these genes, as a rule, have common features - their functions relate to the regulation of the process of brain development. So, the more of them, the higher the likelihood of the onset of the disease.
Although, unfortunately, there is still no waydetermine unequivocally the genetic profile of a patient diagnosed with schizophrenia, which means that it is impossible to test a carrier of a predisposition to this pathology in order to clearly say whether he will get sick or not.
How not to miss the first signs of illness?
It is very important to notice the first symptoms of schizophrenia in women, as the disease in the early stages of development is better treated than in men.
1. The patient's manner of speaking changes. She may begin to communicate in short phrases, and sometimes she is not at all able to intelligibly explain anything. In order to speak, she chooses words for a long time.
2. Everything that previously gave pleasure becomes uninteresting to such a lady.
3. The facial expressions of the woman are impoverished, she avoids direct looks.
4. The things she has begun are not brought to an end by her, since this woman can no longer perceive any goals. Because of this attitude, as a rule, work or study suffers greatly.
5. The patient cannot concentrate on anything, constantly loses her thoughts, becomes confusedly silent.
Any of the signs of a disorder that appear should be alarming and become a reason to urgently consult a psychiatrist.
The main symptom of schizophrenia is impaired thinking
If a disease is suspected, in order to make a diagnosis, the doctor needs to determine the presence of a thinking disorder and make sure that this indicator corresponds to other manifestations of the overall clinical picture.
Thanks to simple tests, nowtime, both women and men can detect symptoms of schizophrenia. The onset of the disease is diagnosed if:
- patient uses his language filled with neologisms;
- there is little relationship between the concepts of the patient and the blurring of the boundaries is obvious;
- such a person loses the ability to think abstractly;
- in chronic forms of the disease, the patient demonstrates verbigeration (mechanical repetition of any words or phrases);
- the patient's logic is often difficult to explain;
- the ability to separate the main and the secondary is violated;
- concepts, phenomena and objects are combined according to insignificant features;
- it is difficult for the patient to understand the similarity or difference between something;
- blockage of thinking he often finds next to the loss of control over the flow of thoughts.
Features of delusions and hallucinations
Symptoms of schizophrenia in women, men and children are similar to the features of delusional ideas that completely take over the mind of the patient and cannot be corrected, that is, the patient cannot be dissuaded from the fallacy of his ideas about anything.
The most typical for patients with this diagnosis is the so-called delirium of physical impact. It seems to the patient that he is being affected by hypnosis or some kind of radiation emanating from both terrestrial and space installations. At the same time, he clearly hears the voices of those beings that influence him at the moment, controlling his thoughts, emotions and even movements.
The patient can also see pictures or "movies" that these creatures supposedly show him. There are frequent sensations of odors (mostly unpleasant), as well as sensations of drilling, burning, transfusion and shooting in the head.
Schizophrenia: emotional symptoms in women
At the beginning of development, the disease is characterized by a loss of feelings of affection and sympathy for parents, relatives or friends. Family, children - all this loses its value in the eyes of a woman. The patient loses interest in study or work, becomes closed and fenced off. Such a woman can begin to call her parents by their first and middle names, treating them like strangers.
Women are especially prone to reflection and an endless search for the meaning of life or the underlying causes of any, even the most ordinary events.
Sometimes the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia in women take on a cardinal character, manifesting itself in rudeness, spitefulness and aggression towards others. The patient loses interest in her appearance (does not wash, does not change clothes, does not comb her hair) and duties. She develops a passion for wandering, she does many ridiculous, inexplicable acts. In some cases, women with schizophrenia exhibit excessive sexual activity without realizing it.
Along with the above deficit symptoms in women diagnosed with schizophrenia, the signs of the manifestation of pathology more often than in men are expressed in a depressed (depressive) mood. The patient has observedlethargy, apathy, lack of will, needs, attention, motivation and initiative (all these symptoms in medicine are called apato-abulic syndrome).
Features of women's perception of their disease
Schizophrenia in women, the symptoms and first signs of which we are considering, is distinguished by the critical attitude of women to the manifestations of their illness, especially at the initial stage. And this, by the way, often leads to the appearance of psychomotor reactions, which are supposedly aimed at expelling the evil spirits that have settled in the body of the sufferer. By the way, men in such a situation usually believe that what is happening to them does not go beyond the normal limits.
Due to their psychological characteristics, women have a penchant for magic and the occult sciences, so changes in their condition are sometimes perceived as a sign of their own exclusivity, confirmation of magical abilities, etc. And men like that, as a rule, are not typical.
Schizophrenia: symptoms in women with different forms of the disease
Depending on how the disease manifests itself, it is divided into 4 forms: simple, paranoid (delusional), hebephrenic (disorganized) and catatonic.
The paranoid form is the most common. It is diagnosed in most patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Symptoms in women with this form of the disease are manifested by baseless judgments that cannot be corrected. Most often, this is the delusion of persecution, the delusions of jealousy, grandeur, etc., are less common. Comparedwith other forms, this is the most dangerous for society, since the patient can begin to defend himself from imaginary dangers and harm the people around him.
Hebephrenic form most often appears in adolescence. At first, it is perceived as a penchant for pranks: the child grimace, mischief, constantly active. But over time, parents become wary, as the teenager's speech becomes very fast and incomprehensible, and the behavior becomes more and more strange. His jokes no longer cause laughter, but, on the contrary, they scare, making one suspect a mental disorder. Unfortunately, the prognosis of this form of the disease is most often unfavorable.
Catonic and simple forms
In the catatonic form of the disease, the patient freezes for a long time in complete immobility, even if the position is uncomfortable. In some cases, there may be extreme excitement, even violence. Sometimes it alternates with numbness. Patients, as a rule, do not feel hunger and fatigue either during the period of inhibition or during the period of excitation. They have to be force-fed or else they may become malnourished.
Simple schizophrenia in women is actually not that simple. She, unlike other forms of the disease, does not have vivid symptoms in the form of hallucinations, motor disorders or delusions. It is characterized by a gradual increase in the main signs of the disease: isolation, impaired thinking.
The patient is no longer worried about her own fate, she has emotional dullness and other signs of personality decay. This form of the disease develops slowly and imperceptibly,which is the reason for the late visit to a psychiatrist and, accordingly, worsens the prognosis.
What can be the course of the disease
Schizophrenia, the forms and causes of which we consider in this article, depending on the characteristics of the course, is divided into continuous, paroxysmal and sluggish.
Continuously flowing form has a progressive steady flow, leading to the complete disintegration of the personality. There is also a malignant form, which leads to such consequences in a very short time.
During the paroxysmal course of the disease, periods of exacerbation of symptoms are replaced by light intervals of remission.
The sluggish form is not perceived by all specialists as schizophrenia itself. The manifestations of the disease are not so pronounced. This form of schizophrenia does not lead to asociality. Often the disease recedes on its own even without treatment.
