Causes, symptoms and treatment of manic-depressive psychosis
Content:
- Reasons for the development of TIR
- Symptoms of manic-depressive psychosis
- Manic-depressive psychosis treatment
What is manic-depressive psychosis?
A psychosis of a manic-depressive nature is a complex mental illness that takes place in a two-phase form. One of them - the manic form has an increased-excited mood, the other - depressive is determined by the patient's low-oppressed mood. A time interval is formed between them, when the patient shows completely adequate behavior - mental disorders fade away, and the main personal qualities of the patient's psyche remain.
The states of mania and depression were known to doctors back in the days of the Roman Empire, but the sharp difference in phases from each other, for a long period, served as a basis for considering them to be different diseases. Only at the end of the nineteenth century, the German psychiatrist E. Kraepelin, as a result of observations of patients suffering from attacks of manicism and depression, made a conclusion about two phases of one disease, consisting of extremes - vigorous, agitated (manic) and melancholic, depressed (depressive).
Reasons for the development of TIR
This mental illness has hereditary constitutional origins. It is transmitted genetically, but only to those who have suitable anatomical and physiological qualities, that is, a suitable cyclothymic constitution. To date, a connection has been established between this disease and impaired transmission of nerve impulses in certain areas of the brain, and more specifically in the hypothalamus. Nerve impulses are responsible for the formation of feelings - the main reactions of the mental species. TIR in most cases develops in young people, while among women the percentage of cases is much higher.
Symptoms of manic-depressive psychosis
In most cases, the depressive phase prevails over the manic phase in frequency of manifestation. The state of depression is expressed by the presence of longing and a look at the world around us only in black. Not a single positive circumstance is capable of influencing the patient's psychological state. The patient's speech becomes quiet, slow, the mood prevails, in which he plunges into himself, his head is constantly bowed down. The patient's motor functions slow down, and the inhibition of movements at times reaches the level of depressive stupor.
Often, the feeling of longing develops into bodily sensations (pain in the chest region, heaviness in the heart). Highlighting ideas of guilt and sins can lead the patient to suicidal attempts. At the peak of depression, manifested by lethargy, the ability to commit suicide is hampered by the difficulty of translating thought into real action. For this phase, the characteristic physical indicators are an increased heartbeat, dilated pupils and constipation of a spastic type, the presence of which is due to spasms of the muscles of the gastrointestinal tract.
The signs of a manic phase are the exact opposite of a depressive phase. They are composed of three factors, which can be called the main ones: the presence of a manic affect (a pathologically elevated mood), arousal in speech and movements, the acceleration of mental-type processes (mental excitement). A clear manifestation of the phase is rare, as a rule, it has an erased form of flow. The patient's mood is at the peak of positive, ideas of greatness are born in him, all thoughts are filled with an optimistic mood.
The process of increasing this phase leads to confusion of the patient's thoughts and the appearance of frenzy in movements, sleep lasts a maximum of three hours a day, but this does not interfere with vigor and excitement. TIR can proceed against the background of mixed conditions, where any symptoms inherent in one phase are replaced by symptoms of another. The course of manic-depressive psychosis in a blurred form is observed much more often than the traditional course of the disease.
The appearance of TIR in a softened form is called cyclothymia. With her, the phases proceed in a smoothed version, and the patient can even remain able to work. Latent forms of depression are noted, the soil for which is long-term illness or exhaustion. The pitfall of erased forms in their inexpressiveness, when the depressive phase is left unattended, it can lead the patient to attempt suicide.
Manic-depressive psychosis treatment
Treatment of this psychosis consists in drug therapy, prescribed after examination by a psychiatrist. Depression with mental retardation and motor functions are treated with stimulants. With a depressive state of melancholy, psychotropic drugs are prescribed. Manic excitability can be stopped with chlorpromazine, haloperidol, tisercin, by injecting them into the muscle. These drugs reduce arousal, normalize sleep.
A large role in monitoring the patient's condition is assigned to people close to him, who can notice the initial heralds of depression in time and take the necessary measures. It is important in the treatment of psychosis to protect the patient from a variety of stresses that can trigger a relapse of the disease.
Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist
Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".
