A fairly large percentage of the population in our country suffers from mental illness. They can develop against the background of congenital pathologies or be acquired. The severity of such diseases can be different, from mild to cases in which isolation of the patient from others is required. In our article, we will try to figure out what a fur-like schizophrenia is. Symptoms, course, treatment and prognosis for this pathology will also be considered.
The essence of the disease
This type of disease is also called paroxysmal-progressive schizophrenia. It is characterized by alternating acute attacks with light intervals. The effects of seizures may not be observed, and in some cases some personality changes are noticeable.
With such a disease, there are also this type of exacerbation, which are called fur coats, hence the name of the pathology. They necessarily have an impact on the human psyche, carrying out a certain “shift”. The result is the appearancepronounced mental defect.
Clinical manifestations of fur-like schizophrenia
For all types of schizophrenia, negative personality changes are characteristic; with this type of disease, they begin to manifest themselves gradually, increasing after each attack. Fur-like schizophrenia symptoms may initially have the following:
- Obsessions appear.
- The patient begins to consider all his actions as if from the outside, he believes that he cannot manage and control them.
- Paranoid ideas arise that lead to excessive suspicion, a person is looking for his enemies everywhere, delusions of grandeur appear.
Subsequent symptoms appear as qualitatively new manifestations of a mental disorder. Attacks of this disease have a different clinical picture. Most often it is:
- Depressive-hallucinatory states.
- Sharp paranoid.
- Katatono-depressive.
- Depressive-obsessive states.
This is only a small part, in fact, the manifestations of the disease are much wider.
Coat-like schizophrenia can have varying degrees of depth of emerging mental defects. They differ not only in variations, but also in the degree of progression.
In some cases, this form of the disease is close to malignant and can result in schizophrenic dementia. In other situations, progredient tendencies are weakly expressed, and the disease proceeds in a sluggish form, defectsminor personalities.
It often happens when fur-like schizophrenia occupies an intermediate position between the two variants of the course. If you ask a doctor about how often seizures occur in such patients, he will answer that almost a third of all patients with this disease can suffer an exacerbation only once, while in others the pathology reminds of itself once every few years.
Personality changes do not directly depend on the number of seizures. Even numerous exacerbations may not result in pronounced manifestations of mental defects.
Various manifestations of the disease
And yet, what is fur coat schizophrenia? The form of the disease may be different. The following options are distinguished:
- Schizoaffective psychosis.
- A paroxysmal-progredient form that resembles a paranoid variety of pathology.
- Periodic.
- Malignant form.
Let's take a closer look at each one.
Schizoaffective form of schizophrenia
In anticipation of the development of this form of pathology, periodic mood changes can be observed, which gradually appear more often and become more pronounced. Psychotic symptoms, mania and depression develop.
In the intervals between such bursts, obsessions, hypochondriacal and hysterical disorders may appear. If we talk about pronounced personality changes, then fur-like schizophrenia of this form, as a rule, does not have any. The mental defect is more noticeable when during the period of exacerbations there are not mood disorders, but psychotic symptoms.
Practical-progredient form
Vivid development of the clinical picture of this form is preceded by a visible change in the nature of the patient. The circle of interests becomes narrower, emotional reactions to surrounding events are flattened. The person becomes suspicious, may express paranoid ideas.
The disease can be continuous or paroxysmal. In the first scenario, in the intervals between attacks, the patient retains delirium and mental disorders. If the pathology proceeds paroxysmal, then during the period of remission, psychotic symptoms are practically absent, and during exacerbations, hallucinations and delusions can be observed.
Attacks can have different duration, it can be a month, and in some patients they drag on for several years. There may be three or more such periods during a lifetime. During exacerbations, the symptoms are determined not only by the form of the disease, but also by the stage of its development.
You can observe the following:
- Severe hallucinations.
- Interpretive nonsense.
- Kandinsky-Clerambault Syndrome.
- Paraphrenia.
Even during the remission of the disease, residual mental disorders can be observed in the form of fragmentary hallucinations, delusional ideas. Patients do not tend to be critical of seizures.
This form of schizophrenia is characterized by more or less pronounced personality disorders, starting withminor changes in character and ending with the complete inability of a person to exist in society.
Malignant form of the disease
Unfortunately, quite often this form of a terrible disease develops in adolescent children. How does fur-like schizophrenia progress in a teenager? The medical history, as a rule, contains information about exacerbations that can be observed for a year or more. At this time, there is a pronounced psychotic symptomatology. During a lifetime, there may be 3 or 4 such exacerbations, the duration of remission is gradually reduced, and the disease may acquire a continuous course.
Manifestations of this form of the disease are sometimes quite diverse and changeable. Various symptoms may appear, ranging from catatonia to senestopathy. In the period between attacks, a pronounced mental defect remains.
Periodic or circular form
Characterized by solitary depressive and manic episodes. It happens that there are double attacks, that is, one type of flow replaces another.
If there is schizophrenia, the coat-like course in this form resembles depressive psychosis. The very first attacks are practically indistinguishable from it. Subsequent ones are already proceeding with the following symptoms:
- Ideas of persecution emerge.
- Fantastic nonsense.
- Catonic disorders.
- Cheerful mood can be replaced by stupid behavior and foolishness, and the desire to work -disinhibition.
Therapy of the disease may vary depending on the form of pathology, so only a doctor should make any decision on this matter.
Causes of fur-like schizophrenia
At present, it is still not fully understood what reasons lead to the development of fur-like schizophrenia. The pathological genesis has not been elucidated, but developmental factors are thought to include:
- Genetic features.
- Features of the human constitution.
- Belonging to a certain gender and age.
It is difficult to recognize the main cause of schizophrenia, but most often it is:
- Anomalies in the development of the brain.
- Hereditary predisposition.
- The exhaustion of the female body during pregnancy.
Whatever factor caused the development of this pathology, therapy should always be carried out. A competent specialist will help improve the patient's quality of life and return him to a normal existence as much as possible.
Symptoms of disease
The more frequent schizophrenic attacks occur, the more noticeable endogenization becomes. The patient's condition is aggravated by the following conditions:
- sadness;
- motor retardation;
- ideas of guilt.
If adequate therapy is not started already at this stage, then depression worsens, a person develops illusions, the desire to attribute his thoughts to others. With manicstates, expansive delusions predominate:
- transformation;
- greatness;
- inventions.
Exacerbations can last up to three years, negative symptoms are complicated by emotional decline up to autism. But it should be noted that gross mental defects may not manifest themselves. In some cases, against the background of paranoid changes, affective-delusional attacks develop. Many patients with fur coat schizophrenia have the following symptoms:
- hallucinations;
- nonsense poisoning, intoxication;
- depressive states that are aggravated by the idea of persecution.
Between attacks, disorders may be present in a reduced form, mental changes in personality gradually become more noticeable. If the disease is not treated, it can become continuous.
If you mean children's coat-like schizophrenia, the case history of such patients contains information that children become inactive, constantly irritated, alienated. They go into opposition in relation to others, their mental activity is significantly reduced. Hallucinations are most often visual, and delusional fantasies appear instead of delusional ideas. Such children often show discontent, they are capricious, motor disinhibition appears when the mood rises.
How a schizophrenia attack develops
Most often, attacks with this form of the disease pass one by onepattern:
- The initial stage of the disease is characterized by emotional disturbances. Periods of high spirits are replaced by indifference and a negative attitude towards everything around.
- The next stage is accompanied by delirium. It seems to the patient that he is a participant in the film, and there are actors around him who direct his actions. He also believes that the thoughts do not belong to him, they are put into his head by others.
- Progressing, the disease is complicated by antagonistic delirium. The patient divides all people into two opposing camps. Delusions and megalomania develop.
- The peak of the pathology is manifested by catanonic disorders. The patient may not respond to comments at all, freezes in one position for a long time. In such cases, clouding of consciousness occurs, a person begins to see fantastic visions that do not correspond to reality.
- When a regressive state sets in, the symptoms of emotional disorders reappear.
It should be noted that attacks do not always go in this order. Development may end at one of the stages, while others will appear in short periods of time. The duration of an attack can range from several days to several months.
Features of schizophrenia
If we take into account the many studies conducted, we can conclude that in most patients who suffer from fur-like schizophrenia, even periods of remission are accompanied by chronic disorders that only gradually develop. The degree of the disease and the depthmental damage can vary.
A feature of the disease are mood swings, which are most often observed before the development of the first attack. Over time, such changes become more noticeable, the patient may become severely depressed, manic and psychotic symptoms appear.
In the period between attacks, a sick person is characterized by tantrums, obsession. If we compare this type of schizophrenia with others, it can be noted that changes in the psyche are most often minor.
Therapy of disease
We found out what fur-shaped schizophrenia is. Symptoms, the course of the disease were also considered. It's time to stop treatment. Previously, it was believed that such a pathology is practically not amenable to therapy, but, given the current level of development of medicine, it can be argued that now it is quite realistic to achieve a long-term remission and improve the patient's quality of life.
Therapy is based on taking antipsychotics. They eliminate not only the signs of psychosis, but also the characteristic clinical manifestations of the disease.
Most often, doctors prefer monotherapy, that is, the use of one drug, usually a new generation. These include:
- "Solian".
- "Serokvyal".
- Rispolept.
These medicines slow down the progression of symptoms, prevent hallucinations and delusions. A significant disadvantage of such drugs is their high cost, and treatment must be carried out for a long time.and systematically.
Types of fur-like schizophrenia are different, so the choice of drugs is also not the same. For example, in the paranoid form, the following drugs are preferred:
- Triftazin.
- Rispolept.
- "Azaleptin".
Treatment of a malignant form is usually accompanied by a reception:
- Aminazina.
- Klopiksol.
- Rispolepta.
In the presence of mild forms, Truxal, Sonapax, Neuleptil are prescribed.
The patient's relatives should understand that the treatment of fur-like schizophrenia should be carried out only by a specialist, it is unacceptable to purchase medicines at the pharmacy on your own - this can only aggravate the person's condition.
Not only drugs are important in the treatment of schizophrenia, psychotherapy is also required. It is important that the patient is supported by doctors and relatives: irritability and skepticism lead only to the appearance of aggressiveness and detachment. Only with complex therapy, fur-like schizophrenia will have a favorable prognosis.
Treatment can be carried out not only in a hospital, it all depends on the degree of the disease and the patient's condition. If the patient does not pose a danger to himself and others, therapy is possible at home.
Which doctor does therapy?
A neurologist and a psychiatrist can help overcome this disease. It is best if these two specialists work together. The task of doctors is as follows:
- Study how pathology manifests itself during and between attacks.
- Analyze the patient's life history.
- Talk to the patient's loved ones.
Only after the diagnosis is confirmed and the form of the disease is determined, treatment tactics are chosen.
With the current level of development of medicine, even the most severe mental disorders can be treated. It may not be a 100% recovery, but the patient's quality of life can improve significantly, remissions will have a longer period. At the slightest suspicion of a mental pathology, be sure to visit a specialist, this is the only way to prevent the aggravation of the disease.
