Very often, people call each other "schizophrenics" simply for emotional restraint, some impulsiveness or untimely brain response. Often people are called so inconsistent and easily changing their decisions. How little we invest in this concept and how much we don’t know about what this actually is a disease, how it manifests itself and what are the stages of schizophrenia.
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a whole group of mental disorders that are associated with impaired emotional reactions, disorders of perception of the world, oneself in it and thinking. Schizophrenia can be recognized by a number of distinguishing features:
- Inappropriate behavior.
- Sudden and unreasonable mood swings.
- Unreasonable aggression.
- Disorganization of thinking.
- Speech and motor impairment.
- Auditory hallucinations.
- Rave.
Due to the extensive list of symptoms, discussions are still ongoing on whether schizophrenia can be considered a separate disease, or is this the diagnosis behind which there are a variety of syndromes and mental disorders.
Who can get sick
Studies show that on the planet, approximately 0.5 percent of the total population is at one stage or another of the disease. Most often, the disorder begins to manifest itself at a young age, in the region of 20-30 years. Both men and women suffer equally often.
Causes
It is known that people living in the city suffer from schizophrenia much more often than rural residents. Someone associates the risks of getting sick with a genetic predisposition. It is proved that if in a family one of close relatives (mother, father, brother or sister) suffers from this ailment, the probability of starting to go through the stage of schizophrenia step by step is much higher.
Alcohol and narcotic substances increase the risks of becoming schizophrenic. Although there is also a theory that, on the contrary, connects drug dependence and alcohol dependence with the desire to prevent unpleasant sensations and fears associated with mental illness.
An interesting dependence of the risk of developing the disease can be observed by studying statistics. According to the figures, people born in spring and winter get sick much more often. Also, infections in the womb increase the psyche's susceptibility to this disease.
The most popular cause of schizophrenia is dopamine theory. In healthy people, the hormone dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for the psycho-emotional state of a person, is produced in a certain amount. Reduced or elevated levels of this hormone cause hallucinations, mania, delirium - the main symptoms of schizophrenia.
Symptoms
There are three main groups of symptoms:
- Productive (positive) - hallucinations, delirium.
- Negative (deficit) - apathy, lack of will, weakness, silence.
- Cognitive - disorders of perception of the world, impaired mental activity, attention, disorganization of speech.
Prodromal stage
Like many diseases, schizophrenia has a prodromal period. This is the earliest stage of schizophrenia. This is the period when the disease has not yet begun to develop, but some features and the very first symptoms of the disease can already tell the doctor and patient about the upcoming disease. It has been proven that in the case of schizophrenia, such symptoms can be noticed about thirty months before the onset of overt symptoms.
Symptoms of the prodrome:
- irritability;
- social exclusion;
- painfully low mood;
- feeling of hostility towards others;
- mild manifestations of aggression.
Schizophrenia stages
1. The initial period is the initial stage of schizophrenia. Symptoms after the prodromal period intensify and become more pronounced. This stage lasts until aggravation. Characteristic:
- Irritability.
- Anger.
- Increased energy and physical activity.
- Reactive or neurotic subdepression.
- Disorder of perceiving oneself in the world.
2. Active, acute phase. This period of the illness usually lasts from a month to two. Symptoms characteristic of this stage of schizophrenia:
- Mental breakdown.
- Strong hallucinations.
- Inability to distinguish reality from delirium.
- The confusion of speech and thoughts.
3. The final stage is characterized by deficient symptoms (apathy, indifference, frightening calm). It occurs after the acute phase and is especially severe if appropriate therapy has not been carried out.
4. Remissions. When the first stages of schizophrenia pass, life is getting better and seems to be returning to its previous course.
5. Relapses. Most often, schizophrenia returns, and the patient (and his relatives) have to go through all the hardships of a mental illness again. All stages of the disease can be repeated in turn over many years. Often you can notice the patterns and characteristics of the course of the disease in a particular person. With age, the number of relapses usually increases, but there are also cases of complete recovery.
These stages of schizophrenia are divided very conditionally. But each disease is cyclical, and these cycles throughout life are repeated one after another. Schizophrenics most often constantly live in some kind of their own world. And it starts around the teens. Manifestations of the disease are quite individual. Someone during exacerbations simply ceases to perceive the world around him and closes in on himself. Some suffer from severe seizures with complete loss of self, requiring immediate hospitalization.
Many patients in remission live a normal life and hope for a full recovery. But most often they try to spend as much time as possible alone, they are not interested in the opposite sex and are in constant fear of relapse.
Drug treatment positively affects the manifestations of the disease. Relieves symptoms and improves overall well-being of patients.
Treatment
The treatment of schizophrenia is more symptomatic, consists of medications (tranquilizers) and various ways of social and psychological support.
In the acute / active phase of schizophrenia, it is recommended to undergo treatment within the walls of the hospital. This will protect the patient from suicide in a state of passion, help the patient’s relatives, since caring for such a patient is very difficult and individual (most often they lose the opportunity to take care of themselves, and their behavior is characterized as socially unacceptable). In addition, hospital treatment methods lead to the early onset of remission.
Most often, patients with schizophrenia after a period of exacerbation remain legally capable and, with the support of medications and a psychotherapist, can lead a normal lifestyle and work.