According to researchers, neurotic disorders are almost the most common chronic disease, characteristic of our time, and inextricably linked with the development of technology and civilization. Over the past years, a large number of people have neurotic symptoms. However, they existed in ancient times, however, in a slightly different form, and were not considered as symptoms of the disease.
Neurosis is the collective name for a group of various functional psychogenic disorders that tend to be prolonged. Neurosis (neurotic disorders) is characterized by hysterical or obsessive manifestations, a short-term decrease in physical and mental performance. The very concept of “neurosis” was introduced into medicine by the Scottish physician William Cullen in 1776.
Any person, even the most stable, is capable of manifesting certain neurotic symptoms in difficult life situations. Life situations such as an exam, the need to speak in front of an audience, participating in an important event are often accompanied by sweating, stuttering, spasmolytic pain in the intestines, diarrhea, a feeling of ringing or emptiness in the head. However, no one considers them a neurosis.
The main neurogenic factors that play a significant role in the spread of neurosis are: constant rush, various negative emotions, prolonged mental experiences or internal struggles, failure to complete any task, the need to hide anger, the effects of infectious and endocrine diseases, a sense of competition, urbanization, noise, harmful chemical and physical phenomena, changes and crisis in the family, weakening of interpersonal contacts.
According to scientists, neurotic disorders account for 25% of the total number of mental illnesses. Neurotic disorders are not infrequently observed in children, which most often appear at school age and during puberty.
Common symptoms of neurosis include:
- a feeling of lethargy, weakness even in the morning, increased fatigue;
- instability of mood, irritability, sensitivity;
- deterioration of memory and attention, inability to concentrate, quick exhaustion and distraction, pessimistic thoughts, impaired vision and hearing;
- impaired appetite, decreased instinct for self-preservation, sexual dysfunction;
- sweating, nausea, unexplained vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, instability of blood pressure and pulse.
The current classification distinguishes three main types of neurosis: hysterical neurosis, neurasthenia and neurosis of obsessive states.
Hysterical neurosis is characterized by the presence of the following symptoms: aphonia - inability to speak loudly, communication with a mild whisper, paralysis, hysterical blindness, inability to stay on one's feet, staggering.
The most common type of neurosis is neurasthenia, which is characterized by a state of increased irritability and irritability, a tendency to conflict, along with asthenic syndrome, a tendency to overestimate difficulties, a feeling of weakness and incapacity. In addition, this condition is often accompanied by neurotic sleep disorders, palpitations, and loss of appetite.
A more serious condition is a neurosis of obsessive states, which is characterized by violent recall of fears, the emergence of thoughts, aspirations, actions, ideas. Also, patients have a tendency to observe various, independently invented, rituals supposedly designed to prevent something.
Most people suffering from an ailment such as neurotic disorders never seek medical help, and the symptoms when the environment changes significantly decrease and / or gradually disappear after rest and thanks to the support of loved ones.