Today there are a huge number of reasons that lead to. Most of them are individual and difficult to recognize. Therefore, such people have to seek help from a psychotherapist.

The most typical manifestations include: irritability, changeable mood, panic attacks, problems with sleep, digestion, headaches, and so on.

Neurotics - who are they?

Neurotics are people who suffer from a specific psychological disorder. Most often, the reasons lie in childhood. This state can safely be considered protective function body.

The term “neuroticism” refers to a certain deviation from established norms. This is why neurotics are considered disadvantaged individuals who have a very difficult time adapting to their environment.

The appearance of such an incomprehensible defensive reaction leads to: aggression, feelings of anger and other emotional outbursts.

How they become

The basis of all problems is not only the current circumstances, but also the obvious inaction of a person, his incorrect reaction to current events.

For modern people grievances and claims have become like air, without which it is difficult to live. We ourselves provoke those around us to negative emotions in order to become offended as a result and make ourselves a victim. But for sensible individuals this fact is incomprehensible. In fact, mentally healthy people really don't do this. These habits are typical only for those who have behavioral problems. This cannot be called a mental illness, rather just a constant habit. They get so caught up in the rhythm of life that they don’t even think that they have any problems.

A neurotic is a person who, even in early childhood, had to feel psychological pressure on himself, and for some reason he was unable to cope with it. In this way he tries to protect himself from similar situations in the future.

Due to great pressure and internal pain, he has lost the ability to react normally to external factors and is now guided only by instincts and emotions. In his subconscious, an incorrect concept of love, friendship, relationships with people and himself was formed.

For example, in childhood, parents did not give the baby the love that he so needed. His mother or father did not pay attention to his interests and were very rude. As a result, the young man will believe that all girls are as cold as his mother and that they need to be obeyed all the time. Girls will begin to pay attention only to those men who dominate and humiliate others.

The main reason is that such children have never seen other behavior. They are convinced that suffering helps them achieve love, fame, and self-respect.

But the human psyche consists of completely different attitudes that are aimed at love, so such incorrect behavior leads to the appearance of internal imbalance and tension.

Even when such people understand their mistakes and try to change everything, start new life, their soul still requires a return to the same emotions.

Such a calm life seems simple and boring to them.

This will happen until the guy or girl realizes their problem, stops looking for partners and thinks about changing their behavior. They will have to make every effort to break the vicious circle.

Absolutely everyone experiences emotions, but there is a tangible difference here: a healthy person will not tolerate such an attitude towards himself and will try to change his life. But a neurotic person, on the contrary, will do everything to continue communicating with people who bring him torment, suffering, and receive negative emotions at the same time.

Main symptoms

Neurotic conditions have the following hidden symptoms:

1. Problems in sexual relationships.
2. Severe headaches and dizziness.
3. Blood pressure surges.
4. Fear of getting sick, strong concern about the health of all family members.
5. The occurrence of constant physical fatigue due to the fear of missing something.

There are also other symptoms that require special attention:

• A person gets irritated by any strong sounds and therefore tries to run away from it and find solitude.
• People who are characterized by neuroticism do not have a “golden mean”.
• A neurasthenic person constantly waits for rejection from the people around him, which leads to stress.
• They have low self-esteem, and because of this they cannot succeed in relationships.

Basic conditions

Neurosis

This term means a certain pathological condition, causing disruption of the nervous system, manifested by a variety of symptoms and varying degrees of severity.

An important criterion is the absence of areas of brain damage. There are a huge number of signs of neurosis that are very opposite in nature, for example, drowsiness or depression, activity. This also includes fears, depression, obsessive states, thoughts, obsession.

Today, specialists have begun to use this term less; Wikipedia says that over time it will completely disappear from medical terminology. International classifiers have already gotten rid of this concept and identified a group of similar diseases called “Disorders associated with stress, as well as neurotic and somatoform.”

Neuroticism

A certain type of personality, which is characterized by emotional instability, guilt, and low self-esteem.

Such a neurotic person is prone to worry and constantly finds himself in inappropriate situations. Outwardly, everything seems to be fine, but inside there is obvious mental discomfort.

How does inadequate anxiety manifest itself? For example, after leaving home, such a person will constantly think about whether he turned off the light, closed the door, gas, or water. Or the presence of strong feelings about the appearance, health, fidelity of the other half.

Positive traits

• Such people are loyal and attentive.

Neurotics never forget about important dates, events, and holidays. They always rush to congratulate their friend on his birthday.

• Sometimes being neurotic is good.

Experts have proven that responsibility combined with neurasthenia has its advantages, for example, excessive anxiety about one’s health allows one to avoid many problems and serious illnesses.

• They find peace in the faces of their loved ones.

As practice shows, a neurotic person who is highly stressed can calm down when surrounded by loved ones and people close to him.

• All decisions are fateful.

A person characterized by neurotic behavior is always faced with a large choice. There are no small things for him, he takes everything to heart, as if for the last time.

• Neuroticism can help increase the speed of the thinking process.

Scientists from Downstate Medical Center in New York have been studying this issue for a long time. Based on their experiments, they came to the conclusion that people who are constantly in doubt and fear show excellent results in specially designed IQ tests.

This happens because their head is constantly in tension throughout their lives, while their brain thinks faster. But this opinion continues to remain controversial, since in practice there were many such individuals who got lost when they found themselves in unforeseen situations.

Attitude towards love

Mentally unbalanced people very often inadequately assess what is happening around them, putting their desires above logic. The following methods of winning love are distinguished:

Bribe

IN in this case people are guided by the fact that they can bribe with their actions a certain person. And this is far from romantic. But who will tolerate constant irritability and mental imbalance? Of course, no one, so soon a hard refusal comes.

A pity

When a neurotic realizes that money cannot buy love, he switches to pitiful motives. This method is quite effective, especially for the fair sex, who spontaneously respond to the tears and requests of their neighbors. But here it is important to know the limits so as not to overdo it.

Threats

A very tough method, which a neurosthenic person switches to after all previous tests. Threats begin, even to the point that I will commit suicide, you and this whole world. This option is considered the saddest. A person dooms himself to loneliness.

Problems at work

Most often, problems in the workplace arise due to lack of self-confidence. At the same time, a person can be a real specialist and regularly receive praise and awards.

But if he cannot get rid of neurosis, he will constantly believe that:

• Impossible tasks are set before him;
• everyone wants to trip him up and fire him;
• colleagues are unsure of his skills;
• everyone is against him and wants to get rid of him quickly.

The worst thing is that all these thoughts are based on. Any idea, like neuroticism itself, arises spontaneously. One wrong look is enough for a neurotic to conclude that they want to fire him. And for him it will no longer be at all important that the employees were simply discussing the weather, and the boss looked somewhere into the distance, running his eyes over all the employees. It is simply unrealistic to convince people suffering from neuroses.

Rules of communication

Neurotics surround us on all sides. However, they do not admit it. They lead a secluded lifestyle and try to stay at home more, since any movement of theirs can destroy their business and family.

It is important to remember that treating and teaching neurotics without their consent is a futile exercise. Psychoneurosis does not allow such a person to work normally and effectively.

Even if a neurotic has many achievements, he continues to have pain and a clear neurasthenic syndrome in his soul. The tightness and complexes of such a person result in periodic hysterics. He redirects all the negative things that happen around him to himself.

There is absolutely no use in trying to prove anything here. He simply will not understand, and a number of reproaches will fall on you.

A person with mental trauma will not be able to stop thinking in his own way, just as he will not change his attitude towards the world as a whole.

When communicating with such people, you need to immediately remove all pity and learn to make decisions instantly. Remember that when you prove that you are right, you will encounter intense irritation.

By the concept of “relationship” we are accustomed to understand the dedication of two people. But, unfortunately, neurotics are not used to giving anything, but they are ready to receive. Then a normal person gets angry, because he wanted to see the return. Such relationships are doomed from the start. The person is naive in his hopes, because he should have known what to expect from communication and not create illusions.

Defensive reactions

Neurotic syndrome involves the use of basic methods of protection:

• Search for love and understanding;
• The desire to dominate others.

Very often, the second option leads to the fact that a neurotic grows into a leader capable of leading even great wars. In this way, he tries to prove to himself that he can easily lead people.

There is another reaction - defensive, when people become withdrawn and lose interest in the world. They simply gradually move away from society, turning into hermits.

Psychological balance is the main element of personal mental health.

At the same time, a significant role in the formation of this process is played by a stable state of mind and character traits individuals predisposing to maintaining or destabilizing this balance.

The description and characteristics of a mentally ill person are in ours.

What is mental balance?

Mental balance is harmony in a person’s state of mind.

This process is dynamic, that is, it is constantly on the verge of balancing between stability and chaos in the inner world.

From the point of view not of psychology, but of physiology, mental balance is achieved balance of excitatory and inhibitory systems of the body.

The human psyche is under the control of the brain, that is, higher nervous activity, within the framework of which the processes of excitation and inhibition are formed as the main psychoneurological phenomena.

The stimulating effect is exerted by the sympathetic nervous system, which forms activating impulses and is a key element of protection against aggressive influences.

Such activity manifests itself in mental processes concentration, seriousness, speed of movements and decisions, swiftness.

The predominance of activation in a person’s inner world is sometimes accompanied by a tendency to, as a manifestation of a tendency to protect one’s own interests.

When inhibitory processes predominate internal balance shifts in the opposite direction. At the level of nervous regulation, this effect is exerted by the parasympathetic nervous system, which causes relaxation of spasmodic organs, inhibition of reactions, and relief of anxiety and anxiety.

At the same time, a person is more easily attuned to a calm, restful sleep, is able to make informed decisions slowly, and is not prone to quarrels and anger.

Both of these systems are vegetative, that is, they not controlled by consciousness, however, their role in maintaining internal balance is very great.

More high level maintaining mental balance is located in the cerebral cortex. There, certain behavior patterns are formed based on life experience, learning and conditioned reflex activity.

Plays an important role in mental balance the type of these mental processes, which determines the speed and nature of their occurrence. These features are described within the framework of dividing people into.

The most mentally balanced are considered. They are and are prone to positive attitude And average speed reactions and mental activity.

They are also stable. They have a lower speed and intensity of reactions, but are also more prone to maintaining mental harmony.

But they are a prime example of mental imbalance aside hyperactivation, while on the contrary they reflect slowness mental activity.

Mental balance is manifested not only in characteristic behavior and appearance, but also in social and professional stability.

When inner harmony a person avoids conflicts in the family and at work and strives for a gentle and calm resolution of controversial situations.

How can you unbalance a person?

To disturb mental balance it is necessary influence a person with a force exceeding the usual threshold.

Each mentally stable person is characterized by a certain level of stability of ongoing processes. They are expressed in the mechanisms of mental defense and adaptation.

With a sharp and strong impact on these mechanisms, they may not work or start late, when the processes of destabilization have already begun.

This is the so-called threshold of acceptable irritation. It varies within individuals depending on the area of ​​influence: resistance to stress at work can be high, while conflicts within the family are perceived more acutely.

This trait of mental influence is called selectivity. To destroy a person’s harmony, one must also influence a certain “weak” place in his psyche.

A special position is occupied by people with the so-called vulnerable mental status.

In this case, the following negative events can occur in a person’s life:

• death of a loved one;
• serious illness of a relative or your own health problems;
• layoffs at work;
• threats from someone else;
• long-term depression;
• being treated in a psychiatric department;
• women after childbirth;
• divorce;
• cheating spouse;
• difficult political situation (war, natural disasters).

All these events create unreliable background increased mental readiness to react.

On the one hand, this is a normal defense mechanism, on the other hand, it can lead to a sharp disturbance in mental balance due to the great mobility of all intrapersonal processes.

To throw a person off balance, it is enough to:

• increase stress at work or in the family;
• call a person to an unpleasant conversation at particularly sensitive moments;
• not to give in to a conflict if you are wrong;
• raise your voice at your opponent;
• create additional difficulties at work and in everyday life;
• misinform a person on any issue.

The list of these points can be continued, since disruption of internal balance is a simple task in conditions modern stressful life.

What does an unbalanced person mean: an example

The imbalance of mental processes means their sharp variability under external influence.

It is easy to piss off such a person and turn a dialogue with him into a scandal or quarrel.

The following signs are typical for an unbalanced person:

• increased emotionality;
• emotional lability;
• hyperanxiety;
• inappropriate response to stimuli;
• the desire to prove to everyone that he is right in any situation;
• paradoxical stubbornness, followed by a sharp depression of activity;
• difficulty in communicating at the everyday level (“flashes like a match”).

A striking example of an unbalanced personality and the conflict that follows its activity is development of quarrels between spouses due to domestic problems, for example, unironed linen, in a difficult work environment and problems with superiors.

Due to extreme fatigue and difficulties at work, a woman is not always able to have time to do all the household chores; if her husband considers such neglect in his opinion unacceptable, he will express his complaint about this.

In a state of severe fatigue, the female psyche is imbalanced, and the response to this may be a quarrel, scandal or mutual claim.

In the case of mental balance, the conflict would be settled by the promise to deal with things when possible. But when both spouses are under the influence of stressful circumstances, the severity of the reaction increases, and the psyche begins to react to habitual problems in an exaggerated manner.

It should be noted that people who have fewer negative aspects in their work activities have calmer and more balanced family relationships, which is not accidental, because this situation contributes to the creation of a mental imbalance among individuals.

How to behave with such people?

With people like this have to be encountered everywhere and constantly.

Imbalance of mental manifestations is a constant companion to great success at work, as well as the current rhythm of life.

To minimize unpleasant consequences Communication with such individuals should:

1. Be patient with complaints.
2. Do not respond to raising your voice or otherwise engaging in a conflict situation.
3. Whenever possible, agree with your opponent without violating your own principles.
4. Try to smooth out the conflict with goodwill and friendliness.
5. Do not try to point out to a person the solution to his problems or their cause.
6. Do not use loud speech, but speak confidently and clearly.
7. Avoid manipulation by an unbalanced person.
8. Use affirmative language in communication in the present and future tense.

When communicating with such a person, you should show him your helpfulness if necessary and respect for his difficulties by default.

It is important to empathize if this person is important and close to you, but not to turn to pity.

You should not allow the personality to disturb your space and current state, but you should try not to get involved in direct conflict. The best strategy in this case is ignoring or avoiding.

An unbalanced person strives subconsciously assert one's position at the expense of others to feel your own worth in solving the problem. This transfer of behavior from an exciting subject to others is typical for unbalanced people.

In this case, you can directly indicate to the person his intention, using phrases such as “don’t try to take it out on me,” “don’t use me as a lightning rod.”

It is important that these words do not sound harsh or pretentious, causing retaliatory anger. First you need to convince the person that you understand that he has severe oppressive conditions, but at the same time he cannot show disrespect for others.

How to become balanced?

To bring your state of the inner world to balance, you should soberly assess the current state and turn to the search for the reasons for its occurrence.

The main problem of unbalanced people is their confidence in their own “normality” and ignoring the changes that are taking place.

At a certain stage, the imbalance can develop into hysterical character, which very difficult to correct and often without visible effects. In order to stop the developing condition it is necessary:

1. Record all conflict episodes with loved ones and acquaintances.
2. Notice interruptions in daily activities.
3. Observe the behavior of other people in relation to your actions.
4. Do not neglect the help of a specialist in resolving issues of psychological imbalance.
5. Talk with loved ones and trusted people about problems that worry you.

To maintain a state of balance you need to make great efforts regularly. Imbalance quickly becomes a habit of behavior and can subtly replace certain aspects of the personality.

To prevent such phenomena it is necessary:

An unbalanced psyche leads a person to conflict situations and difficulty solving current problems. This manifests itself in a sharp change in mood, motives and actions of the individual, as well as a violent manifestation of emotions to previously neutral stimuli.

When communicating with such an individual, you should not show emotionality or aggression in response. It is necessary to clearly convey your independence, but also empathy for other people's difficulties.

To maintain mental balance, you should realistically assess your capabilities and increase your body’s resistance to stress.

How to stay calm:

Psychiatry has traditionally dealt with the recognition and treatment of mental illnesses and disorders. We study those disorders of human mental activity that manifest themselves in thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions, and behavior in general. These violations may be obvious, strongly expressed, or may not be so obvious as to speak of “abnormality.” Unbalanced people are not always mentally ill.

The line where pathology begins behind the norm is quite blurry and has not yet been clearly defined either in psychiatry or psychology. Therefore, mental illnesses are difficult to unambiguously interpret and evaluate. If signs of mental disorder are observed in women, they may be the same in men. Obvious gender differences in the nature of the manifestation of mental illness are sometimes difficult to notice. In any case, with obvious mental disorders. But the prevalence rate by gender may vary. Signs of mental disorders in men appear with no less force, although they are not without their originality.

If a person believes, for example, that he is Napoleon or has superpowers, or he has sudden mood swings for no reason, or melancholy begins or he falls into despair because of the most trivial everyday problems, then we can assume that he has signs of mental illness. diseases. There may also be perverted attractions or his actions will be clearly different from normal. Manifestations of painful mental states are very different. But what will be common is that, first of all, a person’s personality and his perception of the world will undergo change.

Personality is the totality of a person’s mental and spiritual properties, his way of thinking and responding to changes environment, his character. Personality traits different people have the same differences as bodily, physical - the shape of the nose, lips, eye color, height, etc. That is, personal individuality has the same meaning as physical individuality.

By the manifestations of personality traits, we can recognize a person. Personality traits do not exist separately from each other. They are closely interconnected, both in their functions and in the nature of their manifestation. That is, they are organized into a kind of integral system, just as all our organs, tissues, muscles, bones form the bodily shell, the body.

Just as the body undergoes changes with age or under the influence of external factors, personality does not remain unchanged, it develops and changes. Personality changes can be physiological, normal (especially with age) and pathological. Personality changes (normal) with age, under the influence of external and internal factors, occur gradually. The mental appearance of a person gradually also changes. At the same time, personality properties change so that the harmony and integrity of the personality are not violated.

What happens when there is a sharp change in personality traits?

But sometimes, personality can change dramatically (or at least it will seem so to others). People I know suddenly turn from modest to boastful, too harsh in their judgments; they were calm and balanced, but they became aggressive and hot-tempered. They turn from being thorough into frivolous and superficial. Such changes are hard to miss. Personal harmony has already been disrupted. Such changes are already obvious pathological, are mental disorders. It is obvious that mental illness can cause such changes. Both doctors and psychologists talk about this. After all, mentally ill people often behave inappropriately to the situation. And this becomes obvious to others over time.

Factors provoking the emergence and development of mental illness:

• Traumatic injuries to the head and brain. At the same time, mental activity changes dramatically, clearly not in better side. Sometimes it stops altogether when a person falls into an unconscious state.
• Organic diseases, congenital brain pathologies. In this case, both individual mental properties and the entire activity of the human psyche as a whole may be disrupted or “drop out.”
• General infectious diseases (typhoid, septecemia or blood poisoning, meningitis, encephalitis, etc.). They can cause irreversible changes in the psyche.
• Intoxication of the body under the influence of alcohol, drugs, gases, medicines, household chemicals (such as glue), poisonous plants. These substances can cause profound changes in the psyche and disruption of the central nervous system (CNS).
• Stress, psychological trauma. In this case, signs of mental abnormalities may be temporary.
• Burdened heredity. If a person has a history of close relatives with mental disorders chronic diseases, then the likelihood of such a disease occurring among subsequent generations increases (although this point is sometimes disputed).

There may be other reasons among the above factors. There may be many of them, but not all of them are known to medicine and science. Usually, a clearly mentally unbalanced person is immediately noticeable, even to ordinary people. And yet, the human psyche is perhaps the most poorly understood system of the human body. That is why its changes are so difficult to analyze clearly and unambiguously.

Each case of pathological changes in the psyche must be studied individually. Mental disorder or illness may be acquired or congenital. If they are acquired, it means that a certain moment has come in a person’s life when pathological personality traits came to the fore. Unfortunately, it is impossible to trace the moment of transition from normal to pathology, and it is difficult to know when the first signs appeared. As well as preventing this transition.

Where and when does the “abnormality” begin?

Where is the line beyond which mental illness immediately begins? If there was no obvious interference from the outside in the psyche (head injury, intoxication, illness, etc.), in any case, there was no, in the opinion of both the sick person himself and his environment, then why did he get sick or did mental disorders arise? even if not psychogenic? What went wrong, at what point? Doctors have not yet answered these questions. One can only make assumptions, carefully study the anamnesis, try to find at least something that could provoke the changes.

Talking about congenital, it is assumed that human spiritual properties have never been in harmony. A person was born with a damaged personality. Mental disorders in children and their symptoms represent a separate area for study. Children have their own mental characteristics that differ from adults. And it should be borne in mind that signs of a mental disorder can be obvious and obvious, or they can appear as if gradually and by chance, occasionally. Moreover, anatomical changes (most often this means changes in the brain, first of all) in diseases and mental disorders can be visible and obvious, but sometimes it is impossible to trace them. Or their changes are so subtle that they are this level the development of medicine cannot be traced. That is, from a purely physiological point of view, there are no violations, but the person is mentally ill and needs treatment.

The pathophysiological basis of mental illness should be considered, first of all, dysfunction of the central nervous system - a violation of the basic processes of higher nervous activity (according to I.P. Pavlov).

If we talk directly about the signs of mental disorders, then we should take into account the peculiarities of the classification of mental illnesses. In every historical period development of psychiatry, classifications underwent various changes. Over time, it became obvious that there is a need for consistent diagnosis of the same patients by different psychiatrists, regardless of their theoretical orientation and practical experience. Although even now this can be difficult to achieve, due to conceptual disagreements in understanding the essence of mental disorders and diseases.

Another difficulty is that there are different national taxonomies of diseases. They may differ from each other according to various criteria. On this moment from the point of view of the significance of reproducibility, international classification diseases 10 revision (ICD 10) and the American DSM-IV.

Types of mental pathology (according to the domestic classification) depending on the main causes that cause them:

• Endogenous (under the influence of external factors) mental illnesses, but with the participation of exogenous factors. These include schizophrenia, epilepsy, affective disorders, etc.
• Exogenous (under the influence of internal factors) mental illnesses, but with the participation of endogenous factors. These include somatogenic, infectious, traumatic diseases, etc.
• Diseases caused by developmental disorders, as well as due to dysfunctions or disruptions in the functioning of mature body systems. These types of diseases include various personality disorders, etc.
• Psychogenics. These are diseases with signs of psychosis, neuroses.

It is worth considering that all classifications not perfect and are open to criticism and improvement.

What is a mental disorder and how can it be diagnosed?

Patients with mental disorders may visit doctors frequently. They may be in the hospital many times and undergo numerous examinations. Although, first of all, mentally ill people more often complain about their physical condition.

The World Health Organization has identified the main signs of a mental disorder or illness:

1. Clearly expressed psychological discomfort.
2. Impaired ability to perform normal work or school responsibilities.
3. Increased risk of death. Suicidal thoughts, attempts to commit suicide. General disturbance of mental activity.

You should be wary if, even after a thorough examination, no somatic disorders are revealed (and the complaints do not stop), the patient has been “treated” for a long time and unsuccessfully by different doctors, and his condition does not improve. Mental illnesses or mental illnesses can be expressed not only by signs of mental disorders, but in the clinical picture of the disease there may also be somatic disorders.

Somatization symptoms caused by anxiety

Anxiety disorders occur 2 times more often in women than in men. With anxiety disorders, patients more often present somatic complaints than complaints about changes in general mental state. Often somatic disorders are observed when various types depression. It is also a very common mental disorder among women.

Somatization symptoms caused by depression

Anxiety and depressive disorders often occur together. ICD 10 even has a separate category for anxiety-depressive disorder.

Currently, in the practice of a psychiatrist, a comprehensive psychological examination is actively used, which includes a whole group of tests (but their results are not a sufficient basis for making a diagnosis, but only play a clarifying role).

When diagnosing a mental disorder, a comprehensive personality examination is carried out and various factors are taken into account:

• The level of development of higher mental functions (or their changes) - perception, memory, thinking, speech, imagination. What is the level of his thinking, how adequate are his judgments and conclusions? Are there any memory impairments, is attention depleted? How well do thoughts correspond to mood and behavior? For example, some people can tell sad stories and still laugh. They evaluate the pace of speech - whether it is slow or, on the contrary, the person speaks quickly and incoherently.
• They evaluate the general background of the mood (depressed or unreasonably high, for example). How adequate are his emotions to the surrounding environment, to changes in the world around him?
• They monitor his level of contact and willingness to discuss his condition.
• Assess the level of social and professional productivity.
• The nature of sleep, its duration,
• Eating behavior. Does a person suffer from overeating or, on the contrary, does he eat too little, rarely, unsystematically?
• The ability to experience pleasure and joy is assessed.
• Can the patient plan his activities, control his actions, behavior, are there any violations of volitional activity.
• The degree of adequacy of orientation in themselves, other people, in time, place - do patients know their name, do they recognize themselves as who they are (or consider themselves a superman, for example), do they recognize relatives, friends, can build a chronology of events in their lives and lives of loved ones.
• The presence or absence of interests, desires, inclinations.
• Level of sexual activity.
• The most important thing is how critical a person is of his condition.

These are just the most general criteria, the list is far from complete. In each specific case, age, social status, health status, individual characteristics personality. In fact, signs of mental disorders can be ordinary behavioral reactions, but in an exaggerated or distorted form. Of particular interest to many researchers is the creativity of mentally ill people and its influence on the course of the disease. Mental illness is not such a rare companion even for great people.

It is believed that “Mental illnesses have the ability to sometimes suddenly open up the springs of the creative process, the results of which are ahead of ordinary life, sometimes for a very long time.” Creativity can serve as a means of calm and have a beneficial effect on the patient. (P.I. Karpov, “Creativity of the mentally ill and its influence on the development of art, science and technology,” 1926). They also help the doctor penetrate deeper into the patient’s soul and understand him better. It is also believed that creators in the fields of science, technology and art often suffer from nervous imbalance. According to these views, the creativity of mentally ill people often has no less value than the creativity of healthy people. Then what should mentally healthy people be like? This is also an ambiguous wording and the signs are approximate.

Signs of mental health:

• Behavior and actions adequate to external and internal changes.
• Healthy self-esteem not only of yourself, but also of your capabilities.
• Normal orientation in one's personality, time, space.
• Ability to work normally (physically, mentally).
• Ability to think critically.

A mentally healthy person is a person who wants to live, develop, knows how to be happy or sad (shows a large number of emotions), does not threaten himself and others with his behavior, is generally balanced, in any case, this is how he should be assessed by the people around him. These characteristics are not exhaustive.

Mental disorders most common in women:

• Anxiety disorders
• Depressive disorders
• Anxiety and depressive disorders
• Panic disorders
• Eating disorders
• Phobias
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Adjustment disorder
• Histrionic personality disorder
• Dependent personality disorder
• Pain disorder, etc.

Often, signs of a mental disorder are observed in women after the birth of a child. Especially, signs of neuroses and depression of varying nature and severity may be observed.

In any case, the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders should be carried out by doctors. The success of treatment strongly depends on the timeliness of therapy. The support of loved ones and family is very important. In the treatment of mental disorders, combined methods of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are usually used.

Sometimes it seems that a loved one has gone crazy.

Or it starts to go away. How to determine that “the roof has gone crazy” and it’s not your imagination?

In this article, you will learn about the 10 main symptoms of mental disorders.

There is a joke among people: “There are no mentally healthy people, there are underexamined ones.” This means that individual signs of mental disorders can be found in the behavior of any person, and the main thing is not to fall into a manic search for corresponding symptoms in others.

And the point is not even that a person can become dangerous to society or himself. Some mental disorders arise as a consequence of organic brain damage, which requires immediate treatment. Delay can cost a person not only mental health, but also life.

Some symptoms, on the contrary, are sometimes regarded by others as manifestations bad character, promiscuity or laziness, when in fact they are manifestations of illness.

In particular, depression is not considered by many to be a disease requiring serious treatment. “Pull yourself together! Stop whining! You are a weakling, you should be ashamed! Stop digging into yourself and everything will pass!” - this is how relatives and friends exhort the patient. But he needs the help of a specialist and long-term treatment, otherwise he won’t get out.

The onset of senile dementia or early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease can also be mistaken for age-related decline in intelligence or bad character, but in fact it's time to start looking for a caregiver to look after the patient.

How can you determine whether you should worry about a relative, colleague, or friend?

Signs of a mental disorder

This condition can accompany any mental disorder and many somatic diseases. Asthenia is expressed in weakness, low performance, mood swings, hypersensitivity. A person begins to cry easily, becomes instantly irritated and loses self-control. Asthenia is often accompanied by sleep disturbances.

Obsessive states

IN wide range Obsessions include many manifestations: from constant doubts, fears that a person is not able to cope with, to an irresistible desire for cleanliness or performing certain actions.

Under the power of an obsessive state, a person may return home several times to check whether he has turned off the iron, gas, water, or whether he has locked the door. An obsessive fear of an accident may force the patient to perform certain rituals, which, according to the sufferer, can ward off trouble. If you notice that your friend or relative washes their hands for hours, has become overly squeamish and is always afraid of getting infected with something, this is also an obsession. The desire to avoid stepping on cracks in asphalt, tile joints, avoiding certain types of transport or people wearing clothes of a certain color or type is also an obsessive state.

Mood changes

Melancholy, depression, a desire for self-recrimination, talk about one’s own worthlessness or sinfulness, and about death can also be symptoms of the disease. You should also pay attention to other manifestations of inadequacy:

• Unnatural frivolity, carelessness.
• Foolishness, not typical of age and character.
• A euphoric state, optimism that has no basis.
• Fussiness, talkativeness, inability to concentrate, chaotic thinking.
• Heightened self-esteem.
• Projecting.
• Increased sexuality, extinction of natural shyness, inability to restrain sexual desires.

You have cause for concern if your loved one begins to complain of unusual sensations in the body. They can be extremely unpleasant or downright annoying. These are sensations of squeezing, burning, moving “something inside”, “rustling in the head”. Sometimes such sensations can be a consequence of very real somatic diseases, but often senestopathies indicate the presence of hypochondriacal syndrome.

Hypochondria

Expressed in manic preoccupation with the condition own health. Examinations and test results may indicate the absence of diseases, but the patient does not believe it and requires more and more examinations and serious treatment. A person talks almost exclusively about his well-being, does not leave clinics and demands to be treated as a patient. Hypochondria often goes hand in hand with depression.

Illusions

There is no need to confuse illusions and hallucinations. Illusions force a person to perceive real objects and phenomena in a distorted form, while with hallucinations a person perceives something that does not really exist.

Examples of illusions:

• the pattern on the wallpaper seems to be a tangle of snakes or worms;
• the size of objects is perceived in a distorted form;
• the patter of raindrops on the windowsill seems like the careful steps of someone scary;
• the shadows of the trees turn into terrible creatures creeping up with frightening intentions, etc.

If outsiders may not be aware of the presence of illusions, then the susceptibility to hallucinations may manifest itself more noticeably.

Hallucinations can affect all senses, that is, be visual and auditory, tactile and gustatory, olfactory and general, and also be combined in any combination. To the patient, everything he sees, hears and feels seems completely real. He may not believe that those around him do not feel, hear, or see all this. He may perceive their bewilderment as a conspiracy, deception, mockery, and become annoyed that he is not understood.

With auditory hallucinations, a person hears various kinds of noise, fragments of words or coherent phrases. “Voices” can give commands or comment on the patient’s every action, laugh at him or discuss his thoughts.

Gustatory and olfactory hallucinations often cause the sensation of an unpleasant property: a disgusting taste or smell.

With tactile hallucinations, the patient thinks that someone is biting, touching, strangling him, that insects are crawling on him, that some creatures are inserting themselves into his body and moving there or eating the body from the inside.

Externally, susceptibility to hallucinations is expressed in conversations with an invisible interlocutor, sudden laughter or constant intense listening to something. The patient may constantly shake something off himself, scream, look around himself with a worried look, or ask others if they see something on his body or in the surrounding space.

Rave

Delusional states often accompany psychosis. Delusion is based on erroneous judgments, and the patient stubbornly maintains his false belief, even if there are obvious contradictions with reality. Delusional ideas acquire super-value, significance that determines all behavior.

Delusional disorders can be expressed in erotic form, or in conviction of one's great mission, in descent from a noble family or aliens. The patient may feel that someone is trying to kill or poison him, rob or kidnap him. Sometimes the development of a delusional state is preceded by a feeling of unreality of the surrounding world or one’s own personality.

Hoarding or excessive generosity

Yes, any collector can be under suspicion. Especially in cases where collecting becomes an obsession and subjugates a person’s entire life. This can be expressed in the desire to drag things found in garbage dumps into the house, hoard food without paying attention to expiration dates, or pick up stray animals in quantities that exceed the ability to provide them with normal care and proper maintenance.

The desire to give away all your property and excessive spending can also be regarded as a suspicious symptom. Especially in the case when a person has not previously been distinguished by generosity or altruism.

There are people who are unsociable and unsociable due to their character. This is normal and should not raise suspicions of schizophrenia or other mental disorders. But if a born cheerful person, the life of the party, a family man and a good friend suddenly begins to destroy social ties, becomes unsociable, shows coldness towards those who were recently dear to him - this is a reason to worry about his mental health.

A person becomes sloppy, stops taking care of himself, and in society can begin to behave shockingly - commit acts that are considered indecent and unacceptable.

What to do?

It is very difficult to make the right decision when there are suspicions of a mental disorder in someone close to you. Perhaps the person is simply going through a difficult period in his life, and that is why his behavior has changed. Things will get better - and everything will return to normal.

But it may turn out that the symptoms you notice are a manifestation of a serious illness that needs to be treated. In particular, brain cancer in most cases leads to certain mental disorders. Delay in starting treatment can be fatal in this case.

Other diseases also need to be treated in a timely manner, but the patient himself may not notice the changes happening to him, and only those close to him will be able to influence the state of affairs.

However, there is another option: the tendency to see everyone around as potential patients of a psychiatric clinic may also turn out to be a mental disorder. Before calling emergency psychiatric help for a neighbor or relative, try to analyze your own condition. What if you have to start with yourself? Remember the joke about the under-examined?

“Every joke has some humor in it” ©