Hypochondriacal disorder is a very common mental disorder, which is accompanied by an extreme concern of a person with his own state of health. A patient with a similar problem is sure that he is suffering from some serious illness, even if some objective symptoms of the disease are absent. Sometimes a personās conviction is so strong that the body begins to simulate certain signs.
Statistical studies confirm that anxiety-hypochondria disorders are very common. That is why people are looking for more information. Why is there a problem? What are the symptoms associated with? What methods of therapy can modern medicine offer? What complications can pathology lead to? Is it possible to deal with it yourself? The answers to these questions interest many.
Hypochondria Disorder: ICD-10 and General Information
Of course, first you need to get acquainted with the basic information about this disease. According to ICD-10, this pathology belongs to the group of psychotic disorders of the somatoform type - it is assigned the code F45.2.
This disease is accompanied by increased anxiety about their own health, a constant search for certain symptoms, which is often accompanied by the development of psychosomatic disorders. For example, if a patient is convinced that he has heart problems, then from time to time he feels quite physical pain in his chest, which, however, is associated not with a violation of the myocardium, but with the psychological state of a person. Senesto-hypochondriacal disorder is completely reversible - you can get rid of the symptoms with the right approach to treatment.
According to statistics, pathologies are equally affected by both women and men. The disease proceeds in waves - periods of exacerbation are replaced by weeks, months, and even years of relative well-being. Hypochondriacal disorder is usually activated after 50 years. Although cases of its development in younger patients are also known.
Most often, hypochondriacal disorder is an independent mental pathology. Nevertheless, sometimes too scrupulous attitude to the state of oneās own health is one of the signs of schizophrenia. The same problem is often found in patients with clinical forms of depression.
Are the causes of the development of the disease known?
Why do hypochondriacal disorders develop? In fact, today there is no single answer to this question. Nevertheless, scientists put forward some hypotheses:
- A certain role is played by a genetic predisposition.
- Some experts attribute the development of hypochondriacal disorders to impaired perception of certain stimuli by internal organs. As a result of such ādistortionsā, a person interprets the usual physiological reactions (for example, accelerated heartbeat, skin sensitivity, etc.) as pathological.
- Of course, you should not discount the education and conditions in which a person grew up. For example, a child may adopt a hypochondriacal model of behavior from parents. Children very quickly realize that imitation of the disease gives them an advantage, in particular, additional attention, release from daily duties, etc.
In any case, it should be understood that activation of the disorder in almost all cases is associated with stress, psychoemotional trauma, some cardinal changes in the lifestyle, etc.
Hypochondria Disorder: Symptoms
You can make a very characteristic portrait of a man suffering from a similar problem. Such individuals, as a rule, are egocentric - in society they can spend hours talking about their imaginary illness, with little or no interest in the needs of those around them. Since loved ones rarely support a personās ideas about his state of health, the patient feels depressed, abandoned, lonely.
Hypochondriacal disorders are accompanied by other symptoms. A person is holy convinced that he has one or another disease. Of course, he immediately turns to the doctor, describing the symptoms.
Based on the alleged violations, the patient independently diagnoses himself, even if this is contrary to the doctorās decision. If specialists do not agree with the diagnosis, the person continues to convince them that the disease is real, that there is a need to conduct additional examinations.
The patient often consults doctors of various profiles. Sometimes a person himself understands the absurdity of his assumptions about the disease, but can not control either his behavior or the level of anxiety.
Hypochondria somatoform disorders are characterized by impaired perception of reactions from the body. Bloating, an accelerated pulse - all this only confirms the patient's suspicions about the presence of a serious pathology.
A negative reaction to assumptions can easily anger a person, provoke an outbreak of anger and aggression. The patient is almost always in a depressed mood. Anxiety disorder is often accompanied by emotional instability, insomnia and other not very pleasant symptoms.
Despite the fact that imaginary diseases can concern any organ systems, in most cases, patients with hypochondria suspect pathologies from the heart or digestive tract.
If the patient, despite all efforts, does not receive support from doctors (confirming the diagnosis), he can turn to traditional healers or even self-medicate, which is fraught with the appearance of real health problems.
All the patient's attention is directed to an imaginary disease. Along with this, a person persistently ignores the signs of some real illness (for example, a common cold or other infection), without perceiving them as something serious.
What can a disease lead to without therapy?
Hypochondriacal personality disorder cannot be ignored. In the absence of appropriate therapy, an ailment can lead to dangerous complications:
- People with a similar disease often have problems communicating with others, even their closest friends and relatives.
- Continuous health concerns can lead to a depressive disorder.
- Perhaps the development of anxiety syndrome, anxiety, increased nervousness. Patients become too nervous, often show aggression.
- People with this problem often endanger their health. In this case, we are talking about dangerous (and often completely unnecessary) diagnostic procedures, taking medications, especially those that the doctor did not prescribe. Unauthorized drug treatment can cause quite real harm to the body.
- Many patients for one reason or another begin to abuse alcohol, take drugs.
- Some people develop suicidal tendencies. For example, there are cases when patients were asserted that their illness was incurable, as a result of which they became depressed and committed suicide.
As you can see, the list of possible complications is very large, and there is a likelihood of death.
Hypochondria Health: What Does It Mean?
Hypochondriacal personality disorders, as already mentioned, are often associated with a person's belief in the presence of a non-existent disease. Nevertheless, a completely opposite situation is also possible. Some people deny the presence of certain diseases, even in the presence of dangerous symptoms. Belief in excellent health can be dangerous, because a sick person does not consult a doctor on time, refuses to diagnose, ignores recommendations regarding treatment, which often leads to dangerous, sometimes even fatal consequences.
Diagnostic measures
In fact, diagnosis is rarely fraught with difficulties. An experienced specialist just needs to get acquainted with the patientās medical record - it will surely contain a huge amount of information about the tests and diagnostic procedures performed, during which no physical abnormalities were detected.
Of course, sometimes you need to re-diagnose in order to verify the absence of a disease. Next, the patient is referred to a psychotherapist. In this case, it is very important to differentiate hypochondria from a depressive state, schizophrenia and other disorders. Only then can a treatment plan be drawn up.
Drug therapy
Fortunately, hypochondriacal disorders quite successfully respond to therapy. Forecasts for patients who agreed in time to accept the help of a specialist are quite favorable.
Immediately it is worth noting that the treatment in this case should be comprehensive - it includes taking medications, and regular appointments with a psychotherapist, and constant work on yourself at home.
Drug therapy helps to cope with mood swings, increased anxiety and other symptoms that prevent a person from thinking and reacting adequately to the situation. The treatment regimen depends on the characteristics of the clinical picture.
- Quite often, patients are prescribed antidepressants. Not only do these medications help manage mood swings and depression, they also alleviate other symptoms of hypochondriacal disorder, such as obsessive thoughts and behavior. This medicine is also effective if hypochondria is associated with depressive states.
- In anxiety-hypochondriac disorders, sedative drugs and more powerful tranquilizers are used to help patients calm down, cope with constant anxiety and insomnia.
- Unfortunately, hypochondria is often one of the symptoms of schizophrenia. With such disorders, it is simply impossible to do without antipsychotics.
Naturally, you canāt use such medicines on your own in any case, since they have a huge number of restrictions and, if used incorrectly, can lead to various side effects. With such therapy, the doctor should constantly monitor the patient, adjusting the dose and schedule if necessary.
How will a psychologist help?
Drug treatment of hypochondriacal disorder must necessarily be supplemented by psychotherapy. Methods and treatment in this case are selected individually - this may be psychoanalysis, suggestive psychotherapy , etc.
In any case, during therapy it is very important to understand what exactly caused the activation of hypochondriacal disorder, whether it be severe emotional shock or mental complexes, pathological behavioral patterns acquired in childhood. Only then can you work with the problem.
If we are talking about obsessive hypochondriacal disorder, then at some point group therapy is also included in the treatment regimen. During meetings, patients can share their stories, feelings, problems, and effective solutions. But the most important function of group meetings is to have ongoing support from people with the same problems.
What can you do yourself?
Is it possible to defeat ailment on my own? In fact, it is difficult to cope with hypochondria with willpower alone, which is why patients are advised to seek qualified help. Nevertheless, some things can be done independently:
- There are no magic pills and decoctions of medicinal herbs that can deal with hypochondria in one day. The treatment of any psychological disorder is constant work on oneself. And first of all, it is necessary to determine what caused the development of the disease. It is necessary to recall childhood, stressful situations, certain events in life, after which hypochondriacal disorder worsened.
- Experts recommend bringing together and carefully inspecting all of your medical certificates, studying the results of tests and diagnostic procedures. Surely the documents confirm that no disease exists - you need to hold on to this thought, scroll it again and again.
- Do not forget that your thoughts and beliefs affect the body. Negative emotions trigger various hormonal reactions, which affects the functioning of each organ, including the immune system. Constant stress in the end can lead to the development of a very real disease.
Do not be ashamed of the problem and refuse to consult a specialist - an experienced psychotherapist will help to deal with the causes of the disease much faster.
Are there preventative measures?
Unfortunately, there is no specific prophylaxis of hypochondriacal disorder - the prerequisites for the activation of the syndrome are difficult to notice. If the attacks occurred and with the help of medications and psychotherapy they managed to cope with the problem, then the person needs to provide the most comfortable atmosphere and peace. Strong stresses, emotional overstrain, a sharp change in living conditions - all this can trigger a new wave of the disease.
When the first symptoms of exacerbation appear, you need to contact a therapist. The sooner treatment is started, the more likely it is to deal with the problem as quickly as possible.