A disease such as involutional psychosis affects people in old age. This ailment includes depression, melancholy, mental disorders. The causes of involutional psychosis are also unclear. But, as a rule, this ailment provokes endocrine disorders of the body and external factors that cause psychological trauma.
What signs of the disease exist?
The concept of "involutional psychosis" appeared at the beginning of the last century. It was introduced by E. Kraepelin. Involutional psychosis is understood as a complex of human mental disorders that occurs between the ages of 45-60. Patients suffering from this disease have a persecution mania. They also begin to think that they are doing any harm.
These obsessive thoughts are accompanied by depressive states and delirium. Involutional psychosis occurs in two forms. The first type is melancholy. The second type is an involutional paranoid. Now we will deal with each type individually.
Melancholy
Involutional melancholy develops slowly. Although there are exceptions. Usually they happen to those people who have experienced a trauma associated with external factors. In this case, the disease will progress rapidly. This condition can be of two types: normal age-related melancholy and malignant depression. The latter is called Kraepelin's disease. Involutional psychosis is a person’s condition associated with normal age-related melancholy, accompanied by anxiety.
Experiences can arise for any reason, for example, concern for oneself, loved ones, about money or health, and so on. As the disease progresses, anxiety becomes depressed. A feature of the condition is the absence of any one reason for the experience. That is, a person begins to worry about everything and for nothing specifically. Moreover, these experiences are blurred. The state of anxiety and depression increases in the evening and at night. There are factors that can trigger an exacerbation. For example, cleaning or the desire of relatives to get rid of unnecessary things. Or the appearance in the house of a new stranger. These factors can cause anxiety and worries of an elderly person.
Krepelin's disease, or involutional paranoid
Emil Kraepelin is the founder of the classification of human mental illness. All his medical activities were aimed at studying and ordering such disorders. Kraepelin tried to combine, according to certain signs, human mental illness . So that it is easier to understand them. Microbiology has made it possible to understand the causes of certain deviations of the psyche. Kraepelin was engaged in research and monitoring of patients with disorders.
He kept his own file cabinet, recorded and studied the medical histories of people. Analyzing the symptoms and course of diseases, he classified them into groups. His works have been published and published. In them, Kraepelin divided the mental changes of people into groups so that it is easier to understand the causes and development of diseases. For example, he singled out psychoses with a cyclic and periodic course, as well as progressive dementia and affective psychoses. Despite the fact that his works were first published at the end of the 19th century, scientists and doctors still use them in their works.
Signs of illness
What are the signs of psychosis? Kraepelin’s disease is a condition of a person with ongoing states of anxiety. At the same time, the patient has problems with sleep, speech is disturbed and distraction occurs, concentration of attention worsens. This disease is not so common. People over the age of 65 are at risk. This age period is characterized by a decrease in the efficiency of neurons in the brain. This property of the body leads to the susceptibility of various anxiety states and the appearance of depression.
Brain Training - Great Prevention of Mental Illness
In order to avoid this situation, people aged are recommended to train their brain. Giving him a certain load. It is necessary to do this, because as a result of such training, new neural connections will form that will ensure the normal functioning of the human body without any disturbances and occurrences of depressive states. Signs of psychosis will also go away. A great way to improve performance are a variety of crosswords or crosswords. Solving them makes the brain work, which is an excellent therapy. Also, a positive effect is achieved when studying poems.
Age paranoid
This disease is due to the fact that an age person begins to show aggression and inadequate mood towards close relatives or just familiar people. Often this condition is accompanied by delirium and chaotic thoughts of the patient.
Age-related psychosis. Symptoms and treatment of paranoid
The main symptom of this condition is that the person does not leave thoughts about doing him any harm. Namely, it seems that relatives want to enter his house or apartment in order to take possession of any personal belongings. Typically, these conditions occur in people after 60 years. They are called preschool psychoses. People who suffer from this disease can convince strangers of their innocence and find allies for themselves. Indeed, from the outside it may seem that relatives have an interest in the property of an elderly person. Relatives in this situation are advised not to leave things as they are. Often, close people attribute everything to age and do not pay attention to the patient's behavior. In fact, presenile psychoses can be cured. Therefore, if such symptoms are found in a close relative, you should consult a specialist. It should be said that if a person suffering from this ailment is not provided with timely medical care, then his condition may be aggravated by hallucinations.
It may begin to seem to the patient that someone is walking around his apartment, or that the neighbors are plotting some action against him, he may even begin to hear their negotiations outside the wall. There are also cases when an elderly person is sure that he is given poisoned food or drinks. It must be remembered that involutional and senile psychoses are psychic in nature. That is, physically a person can be absolutely healthy. If such a disorder occurred at the age of 60-65 years, then the patient can lead a still quite active lifestyle, take care of himself. But at the same time, his mental state needs treatment. There are external signs of a person’s inner experience of harming him. Namely, the patient may lose weight, his hair may begin to fall out, there may be problems with sleep. If these symptoms are noticed, this means that the man (or woman) is unwell and needs help.
If an elderly person complains that they want to poison him or take possession of his property, but in reality no one makes such attempts, you should carefully treat him and provide medical assistance. If you take all the necessary measures to treat this disease at an early stage, then there is a high probability of a full recovery.
How should this type of psychosis be treated?
First of all, you need to be trusted by a specialist. It is necessary to correctly explain to the elderly person that he should see a doctor. The therapist will evaluate the general condition of the patient and prescribe the necessary treatment for him, taking into account age-related characteristics. You should know that when a person is at a respectable age, not all medicines are shown to him.
Perhaps he will have to refuse to take any medications and drink only those that will not harm the work of other organs and systems of the body. The basis for the treatment of involutional psychosis is the use of certain drugs. Their dosage is determined by the doctor, taking into account the age of the patient. The doctor also prescribes antidepressants. They are needed in order to remove the state of anxiety in a person. Antidepressants can also replace antipsychotics. They also contribute to the exclusion of anxiety in the patient. If the patient's condition is accompanied by delirium, then he is prescribed antipsychotic medications with psychotropic effects.
The purpose of these drugs is to give a person clarity of consciousness. In conjunction with taking medications, a conversation between a doctor and a patient has a positive effect. This type of therapy helps the patient to establish normal communication skills and return to society in a healthy state.
Prevention
The preventive means for the development of this disease are measures aimed at improving the body. No need to give yourself a lot of time to relax, you should lead a healthy lifestyle. Namely, to observe the regimen, eat right, give up bad habits and so on.
Old age is accompanied by the fact that the circle of communication narrows. This is due to the fact that people retire, children are busy with their lives, friends also stop supporting relationships for various reasons. Despite the above factors, you should not lock yourself in and remain alone with your thoughts. A man is so arranged that he needs to communicate and develop. Therefore, people who are in old age and limited in communication, it is recommended to expand the circle of interests. To do what they had long dreamed of, but did not have enough time. For example, register on social networks, walk, get to know and discover something new.
Conclusion
Now you know what psychosis is. Symptoms and treatment are two important topics that we examined in detail in the article. We hope you find the information useful. We wish you good health and many years to come!