Permanent exposure to patients with a diagnosis of "paranoid syndrome" is natural. Moreover, people with such a violation are divided into two types: those who can systematize their nonsense, and those who are not able to do this. In the first case, the patient clearly understands and can tell others when he has noticed that he is being followed; can name the date of the emergence of a stable sense of anxiety, in which it manifests itself, and moreover, even names a specific person from whom he feels danger.
Most patients, unfortunately, cannot systematize delirium. They understand their condition in general terms and create the conditions for saving life: they often change their place of residence, observe increased security measures in various situations, and lock doors to all locks.
The most famous violation of a person’s mental state is schizophrenia - a paranoid syndrome in which thinking is partially or completely disturbed, and emotional reactions do not correspond to natural ones.
The causes of the disease
Doctors find it difficult to name the exact cause or their complex, which can provoke a violation of the psychoemotional state of a person. The etiology can be completely different and is formed under the influence of genetics, stressful situations, congenital or acquired neurological pathologies, or due to changes in brain chemistry.
Some clinical cases of the development of paranoid syndrome still have a clearly established cause. To a greater extent, they arise under the influence on the body of psychotropic and narcotic substances, alcohol.
Classification and symptoms of the disorder
Doctors agree that paranoid and paranoid syndromes have similar symptoms:
- patients are more likely to be in a state of secondary delirium, which manifests itself in the form of the appearance of various images than in a state of primary delirium, when they do not understand what is happening to them;
- in each clinical case, the predominance of auditory hallucinations over visual phenomena was noted;
- the state of delirium is systematized, which allows the patient to tell the reason and name the date of origin of anxious feelings;
- in most cases, each patient clearly understands that someone is monitoring him or pursuing him;
- the patients associate the views, gestures and speech of strangers with hints and a desire to harm them;
- sensory disturbance.
Paranoid syndrome can develop in one of two directions: delusional or hallucinatory. The first case is more severe, because the patient does not make contact with the attending physician and loved ones, respectively, making an accurate diagnosis is impossible and is postponed indefinitely. Treatment of delusional paranoid syndrome takes more time and requires strength and perseverance.
Hallucinatory paranoid syndrome is considered a mild form of the disorder, due to the sociability of the patient. In this case, the prognosis for recovery looks more optimistic. The patient's condition may be acute or chronic.
Hallucinatory-paranoid syndrome
This syndrome is a complex disorder of the human psyche, in the state of which he feels the constant presence of strangers who are monitoring him and want to cause physical injury, up to the murder. It is accompanied by the frequent occurrence of hallucinations and pseudo-hallucinations.
In most clinical cases, the syndrome is preceded by severe affective disorders in the form of aggression and neurosis. Patients are in a constant sense of fear, and their delirium is so diverse that against its background the development of automatism of the psyche takes place.
The progression of the disease has three stable stages, one after the other:
- A lot of thoughts swarm in the patient’s head, which continually pops up over the ones that have just disappeared, but with all this it seems to him that every person who sees the patient clearly reads his thoughts and knows what he is thinking about. In some cases, it seems to the patient that the thoughts in his head are not of him, but of strangers, imposed by someone by the power of hypnosis or other influence.
- At the next stage, the patient feels an increase in the rhythm of heart contractions, the pulse becomes incredibly fast, the body begins to cramp and break, the temperature rises.
- The culmination of the condition is the patient's awareness that he is in the mental power of another creature and no longer belongs to himself. The patient is sure that someone controls him, having penetrated the subconscious.
Hallucinatory-paranoid syndrome is characterized by the frequent appearance of pictures or images, blurry or clear spots, while the patient cannot clearly describe what he sees, but only convinces others of the influence of an external force on his thoughts.
Depressive paranoid syndrome
The main reason for the occurrence of this form of the syndrome is the experienced complex traumatic factor. The patient feels depressed, is in a state of depression. If in the initial stage you do not overcome these feelings, then in the subsequent sleep disturbance develops, up to a complete absence, and the general condition is characterized by inhibition.
Patients with depressive-paranoid syndrome live four stages of disease progression:
- lack of joy in life, decreased self-esteem, impaired sleep and appetite, sexual desire;
- the emergence of suicidal thoughts due to a lack of meaning in life;
- the desire to commit suicide becomes steady, it is already impossible to convince the patient of the opposite;
- the last stage is nonsense in all its manifestations, the patient is sure that all the troubles in the world are his fault.
A paranoid syndrome of this form develops for a rather long period of time, about three months. Patients become skinny, blood pressure is impaired and heart function suffers.
Description of manic-paranoid syndrome
Manic-paranoid syndrome is characterized by increased mood for no good reason, patients are quite active and psychologically excited, they think very quickly and immediately reproduce everything they think. This condition is episodic and is caused by emotional outbursts of the subconscious. In some cases, it occurs under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Patients are dangerous for others because they are prone to persecuting the opposite sex for sexual purposes, with the possibility of causing physical injury.
Quite often, the syndrome develops against the background of extreme stress. Patients are confident that others are plotting criminal acts against them. Hence a constant state of aggression and mistrust arises, they become closed.
Diagnostic Methods
If you suspect a paranoid syndrome, you must take the person to the clinic, where you should undergo a thorough general medical examination. This is a differential diagnosis method and allows you to explicitly exclude mental disorders associated with stress.
When the examination is completed, but the reason remains unclear, the psychologist will appoint a personal consultation, during which a series of special tests will be performed.
Relatives should be prepared for the fact that after the first communication with the patient, the doctor will not be able to make a final diagnosis. This is due to reduced sociability of patients. It requires long-term monitoring of the patient and constant monitoring of symptomatic manifestations.
For the entire period of diagnosis, the patient will be placed in a special medical institution.
Treatment of patients diagnosed with paranoid syndrome
Depending on what symptoms the paranoid syndrome shows, in each clinical case, the treatment regimen is selected individually. In modern medicine, most mental disorders are treatable.
The attending physician will prescribe the necessary antipsychotics, which, when taken comprehensively, will help bring the patient to a stable mental state. The duration of therapy, depending on the severity of the syndrome, is from a week to one month.
In exceptional cases, if the form of the disease is mild, the patient can undergo therapy on an outpatient basis.
Drug therapy
The leading specialist in solving the problems of mental personality disorder is a therapist. In certain cases, if the disease is caused by exposure to narcotic or alcoholic substances, the specialist must work in tandem with a narcologist. Depending on the complexity of the syndrome, medications will be selected individually.
For the treatment of mild form, the following drugs are indicated:
- "Propazin".
- "Etaperazin".
- "Levomepromazine".
- "Aminazine".
- Sonapax.
The moderate syndrome is stopped by the following drugs:
- "Aminazine".
- Chlorprothixen.
- Haloperidol.
- "Levomepromazine".
- "Triftazine."
- Trifluperidol.
In difficult situations, doctors prescribe:
- Tizercin.
- Haloperidol.
- Moditen Depot.
- Leponex.
The attending physician determines which drugs to take, their dosage and regimen.
Prognosis for recovery
It is possible to achieve the stage of stable remission in a patient with a diagnosis of “paranoid syndrome” provided that the request for medical care was made in the first days of the detection of mental disorders. In this case, therapy will be aimed at preventing the development of the stage of exacerbation of the syndrome.
It is impossible to achieve an absolute cure for paranoid syndrome. Relatives of the patient should remember this, but with an adequate attitude to the situation, it is possible to prevent the aggravation of the disease.