Psychiatry has traditionally dealt with the recognition and treatment of mental illnesses and disorders. We study those disorders of human mental activity that manifest themselves in thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions, and behavior in general. These violations may be obvious, strongly expressed, or may not be so obvious as to speak of “abnormality.” Unbalanced people are not always mentally ill.

The line where pathology begins behind the norm is quite blurry and has not yet been clearly defined either in psychiatry or psychology. Therefore, mental illnesses are difficult to unambiguously interpret and evaluate. If signs of mental disorder are observed in women, they may be the same in men. Obvious gender differences in the nature of the manifestation of mental illness are sometimes difficult to notice. In any case, with obvious mental disorders. But the prevalence rate by gender may vary. Signs of mental disorders in men appear with no less force, although they are not without their originality.

If a person believes, for example, that he is Napoleon or has superpowers, or he experiences sudden mood swings for no reason, or begins to feel melancholy or falls into despair because of the most trivial everyday problems, then we can assume that he is exhibiting signs of mental illness. diseases. There may also be perverted attractions or his actions will be clearly different from normal. Manifestations of painful mental states are very different. But what will be common is that, first of all, a person’s personality and his perception of the world will undergo change.

Personality is the totality of a person’s mental and spiritual properties, his way of thinking, responding to changes in the environment, and his character. The personality traits of different people have the same differences as physical ones - the shape of the nose, lips, eye color, height, etc. That is, the individuality of a person has the same meaning as physical individuality.

By the manifestations of personality traits, we can recognize a person. Personality traits do not exist separately from each other. They are closely interconnected, both in their functions and in the nature of their manifestation. That is, they are organized into a certain integral system, just as all our organs, tissues, muscles, bones form the bodily shell, the body.

Just as the body undergoes changes with age or under the influence of external factors, personality does not remain unchanged, it develops and changes. Personality changes can be physiological, normal (especially with age) and pathological. Personality changes (normal) with age, under the influence of external and internal factors, occur gradually. The mental appearance of a person gradually also changes. At the same time, personality properties change so that the harmony and integrity of the personality are not violated.

What happens when there is a sharp change in personality traits?

But sometimes, personality can change dramatically (or at least it will seem so to others). People I know suddenly turn from modest to boastful, too harsh in their judgments; they were calm and balanced, but they became aggressive and hot-tempered. They turn from being thorough into frivolous and superficial. Such changes are hard to miss. Personal harmony has already been disrupted. Such changes are already obvious pathological, are mental disorders. It is obvious that mental illness can cause such changes. Both doctors and psychologists talk about this. After all, mentally ill people often behave inappropriately to the situation. And this becomes obvious to others over time.

Factors provoking the emergence and development of mental illness:

• Traumatic injuries to the head and brain. At the same time, mental activity changes dramatically, obviously not for the better. Sometimes it stops altogether when a person falls into an unconscious state.
• Organic diseases, congenital brain pathologies. In this case, both individual mental properties and the entire activity of the human psyche as a whole may be disrupted or “drop out.”
• General infectious diseases (typhoid, septecemia or blood poisoning, meningitis, encephalitis, etc.). They can cause irreversible changes in the psyche.
• Intoxication of the body under the influence of alcohol, drugs, gases, medicines, household chemicals (such as glue), poisonous plants. These substances can cause profound changes in the psyche and disruption of the central nervous system (CNS).
• Stress, psychological trauma. In this case, signs of mental abnormalities may be temporary.
• Burdened heredity. If a person has a history of close relatives with chronic mental illnesses, then the likelihood of manifestation of such a disease among subsequent generations increases (although this point is sometimes disputed).

There may be other reasons among the above factors. There may be many of them, but not all of them are known to medicine and science. Usually, a clearly mentally unbalanced person is immediately noticeable, even to ordinary people. And yet, the human psyche is perhaps the most poorly understood system of the human body. That is why its changes are so difficult to analyze clearly and unambiguously.

Each case of pathological changes in the psyche must be studied individually. Mental disorder or illness may be acquired or congenital. If they are acquired, it means that a certain moment has come in a person’s life when pathological personality traits came to the fore. Unfortunately, it is impossible to trace the moment of transition from normal to pathology, and it is difficult to know when the first signs appeared. As well as preventing this transition.

Where and when does the “abnormality” begin?

Where is the line beyond which mental illness immediately begins? If there was no obvious interference from the outside in the psyche (head injury, intoxication, illness, etc.), in any case, there was no, in the opinion of both the sick person himself and his environment, then why did he get sick or did mental disorders arise? even if not psychogenic? What went wrong, at what point? Doctors have not yet answered these questions. One can only make assumptions, carefully study the anamnesis, try to find at least something that could provoke the changes.

Talking about congenital, it is assumed that human spiritual properties have never been in harmony. A person was born with a damaged personality. Mental disorders in children and their symptoms represent a separate area for study. Children have their own mental characteristics that differ from adults. And it should be borne in mind that signs of a mental disorder can be obvious and obvious, or they can appear as if gradually and by chance, occasionally. Moreover, anatomical changes (most often this means changes in the brain, first of all) in diseases and mental disorders can be visible and obvious, but sometimes it is impossible to trace them. Or their changes are so subtle that they cannot be traced at this level of medical development. That is, from a purely physiological point of view, there are no violations, but the person is mentally ill and needs treatment.

The pathophysiological basis of mental illness should be considered, first of all, dysfunction of the central nervous system - a violation of the basic processes of higher nervous activity (according to I.P. Pavlov).

If we talk directly about the signs of mental disorders, then we should take into account the peculiarities of the classification of mental illnesses. In each historical period of development of psychiatry, classifications have undergone various changes. Over time, it became obvious that there is a need for consistent diagnosis of the same patients by different psychiatrists, regardless of their theoretical orientation and practical experience. Although even now this can be difficult to achieve, due to conceptual disagreements in understanding the essence of mental disorders and diseases.

Another difficulty is that there are different national taxonomies of diseases. They may differ from each other according to various criteria. At the moment, from the point of view of the significance of reproducibility, the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD 10) and the American DSM-IV are used.

Types of mental pathology (according to the domestic classification) depending on the main causes that cause them:

• Endogenous (under the influence of external factors) mental illnesses, but with the participation of exogenous factors. These include schizophrenia, epilepsy, affective disorders, etc.
• Exogenous (under the influence of internal factors) mental illnesses, but with the participation of endogenous factors. These include somatogenic, infectious, traumatic diseases, etc.
• Diseases caused by developmental disorders, as well as due to dysfunctions or disruptions in the functioning of mature body systems. These types of diseases include various personality disorders, etc.
• Psychogenics. These are diseases with signs of psychosis, neuroses.

It is worth considering that all classifications not perfect and are open to criticism and improvement.

What is a mental disorder and how can it be diagnosed?

Patients with mental disorders may visit doctors frequently. They may be in the hospital many times and undergo numerous examinations. Although, first of all, mentally ill people more often complain about their physical condition.

The World Health Organization has identified the main signs of a mental disorder or illness:

1. Clearly expressed psychological discomfort.
2. Impaired ability to perform normal work or school responsibilities.
3. Increased risk of death. Suicidal thoughts, attempts to commit suicide. General disturbance of mental activity.

You should be wary if, even after a thorough examination, no somatic disorders are revealed (and the complaints do not stop), the patient has been “treated” for a long time and unsuccessfully by different doctors, and his condition does not improve. Mental illnesses or mental illnesses can be expressed not only by signs of mental disorders, but in the clinical picture of the disease there may also be somatic disorders.

Somatization symptoms caused by anxiety

Anxiety disorders occur 2 times more often in women than in men. With anxiety disorders, patients more often present somatic complaints than complaints about changes in general mental state. Somatic disorders are often observed with various types of depression. It is also a very common mental disorder among women.

Somatization symptoms caused by depression

Anxiety and depressive disorders often occur together. ICD 10 even has a separate category for anxiety-depressive disorder.

Currently, in the practice of a psychiatrist, a comprehensive psychological examination is actively used, which includes a whole group of tests (but their results are not a sufficient basis for making a diagnosis, but only play a clarifying role).

When diagnosing a mental disorder, a comprehensive personality examination is carried out and various factors are taken into account:

• The level of development of higher mental functions (or their changes) - perception, memory, thinking, speech, imagination. What is the level of his thinking, how adequate are his judgments and conclusions? Are there any memory impairments, is attention depleted? How well do thoughts correspond to mood and behavior? For example, some people can tell sad stories and still laugh. They evaluate the pace of speech - whether it is slow or, on the contrary, the person speaks quickly and incoherently.
• They evaluate the general background of the mood (depressed or unreasonably high, for example). How adequate are his emotions to the surrounding environment, to changes in the world around him?
• They monitor his level of contact and willingness to discuss his condition.
• Assess the level of social and professional productivity.
• The nature of sleep, its duration,
• Eating behavior. Does a person suffer from overeating or, on the contrary, does he eat too little, rarely, unsystematically?
• The ability to experience pleasure and joy is assessed.
• Can the patient plan his activities, control his actions, behavior, are there any violations of volitional activity.
• The degree of adequacy of orientation in themselves, other people, in time, place - do patients know their name, do they recognize themselves as who they are (or consider themselves a superman, for example), do they recognize relatives and friends, can build a chronology of events in their lives and lives of loved ones.
• The presence or absence of interests, desires, inclinations.
• Level of sexual activity.
• The most important thing is how critical a person is of his condition.

These are only the most general criteria, the list is far from complete. In each specific case, age, social status, health status, and individual personality characteristics will also be taken into account. In fact, signs of mental disorders can be ordinary behavioral reactions, but in an exaggerated or distorted form. Of particular interest to many researchers is the creativity of mentally ill people and its influence on the course of the disease. Mental illness is not such a rare companion even for great people.

It is believed that “Mental illnesses have the ability to sometimes suddenly open up the springs of the creative process, the results of which are ahead of ordinary life, sometimes for a very long time.” Creativity can serve as a means of calm and have a beneficial effect on the patient. (P.I. Karpov, “Creativity of the mentally ill and its influence on the development of art, science and technology,” 1926). They also help the doctor penetrate deeper into the patient’s soul and understand him better. It is also believed that creators in the fields of science, technology and art often suffer from nervous imbalance. According to these views, the creativity of mentally ill people often has no less value than the creativity of healthy people. Then what should mentally healthy people be like? This is also an ambiguous wording and the signs are approximate.

Signs of mental health:

• Behavior and actions adequate to external and internal changes.
• Healthy self-esteem not only of yourself, but also of your capabilities.
• Normal orientation in one's personality, time, space.
• Ability to work normally (physically, mentally).
• Ability to think critically.

A mentally healthy person is a person who wants to live, develop, knows how to be happy or sad (shows a large number of emotions), does not threaten himself and others with his behavior, is generally balanced, in any case, this is how he should be assessed by the people around him. These characteristics are not exhaustive.

Mental disorders most common in women:

• Anxiety disorders
• Depressive disorders
• Anxiety and depressive disorders
• Panic disorders
• Eating disorders
• Phobias
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Adjustment disorder
• Histrionic personality disorder
• Dependent personality disorder
• Pain disorder, etc.

Often, signs of mental disorder are observed in women after the birth of a child. Especially, signs of neuroses and depression of varying nature and severity may be observed.

In any case, the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders should be carried out by doctors. The success of treatment strongly depends on the timeliness of therapy. The support of loved ones and family is very important. In the treatment of mental disorders, combined methods of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are usually used.

Sometimes it seems that a loved one has gone crazy.

Or it starts to go away. How to determine that “the roof has gone crazy” and it’s not your imagination?

In this article, you will learn about the 10 main symptoms of mental disorders.

There is a joke among people: “There are no mentally healthy people, there are under-examined people.” This means that individual signs of mental disorders can be found in the behavior of any person, and the main thing is not to fall into a manic search for corresponding symptoms in others.

And the point is not even that a person can become dangerous to society or himself. Some mental disorders arise as a consequence of organic brain damage, which requires immediate treatment. Delay can cost a person not only mental health, but also life.

Some symptoms, on the contrary, are sometimes regarded by others as manifestations of bad character, promiscuity or laziness, when in fact they are manifestations of illness.

In particular, depression is not considered by many to be a disease requiring serious treatment. “Pull yourself together! Stop whining! You are a weakling, you should be ashamed! Stop digging into yourself and everything will pass!” - this is how relatives and friends exhort the patient. But he needs the help of a specialist and long-term treatment, otherwise he won’t get out.

The onset of senile dementia or early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease can also be mistaken for age-related decline in intelligence or bad character, but in fact it's time to start looking for a caregiver to look after the patient.

How can you determine whether you should worry about a relative, colleague, or friend?

Signs of a mental disorder

This condition can accompany any mental disorder and many somatic diseases. Asthenia is expressed in weakness, low performance, mood swings, and increased sensitivity. A person begins to cry easily, becomes instantly irritated and loses self-control. Asthenia is often accompanied by sleep disturbances.

Obsessive states

The wide range of obsessions includes many manifestations: from constant doubts, fears that a person is not able to cope with, to an irresistible desire for cleanliness or the performance of certain actions.

Under the power of an obsessive state, a person may return home several times to check whether he has turned off the iron, gas, water, or whether he has locked the door. An obsessive fear of an accident may force the patient to perform certain rituals, which, according to the sufferer, can ward off trouble. If you notice that your friend or relative washes their hands for hours, has become overly squeamish and is always afraid of getting infected with something, this is also an obsession. The desire to avoid stepping on cracks in asphalt, tile joints, avoiding certain types of transport or people wearing clothes of a certain color or type is also an obsessive state.

Mood changes

Melancholy, depression, a desire for self-recrimination, talk about one’s own worthlessness or sinfulness, and about death can also be symptoms of the disease. You should also pay attention to other manifestations of inadequacy:

• Unnatural frivolity, carelessness.
• Foolishness, not typical of age and character.
• A euphoric state, optimism that has no basis.
• Fussiness, talkativeness, inability to concentrate, chaotic thinking.
• Inflated self-esteem.
• Projecting.
• Increased sexuality, extinction of natural shyness, inability to restrain sexual desires.

You have cause for concern if your loved one begins to complain of unusual sensations in the body. They can be extremely unpleasant or downright annoying. These are sensations of squeezing, burning, moving “something inside”, “rustling in the head”. Sometimes such sensations can be a consequence of very real somatic diseases, but often senestopathies indicate the presence of hypochondriacal syndrome.

Hypochondria

Expressed in manic preoccupation with the state of one’s own health. Examinations and test results may indicate the absence of diseases, but the patient does not believe it and requires more and more examinations and serious treatment. A person talks almost exclusively about his well-being, does not leave clinics and demands to be treated as a patient. Hypochondria often goes hand in hand with depression.

Illusions

There is no need to confuse illusions and hallucinations. Illusions force a person to perceive real objects and phenomena in a distorted form, while with hallucinations a person perceives something that does not really exist.

Examples of illusions:

• the pattern on the wallpaper seems to be a tangle of snakes or worms;
• the size of objects is perceived in a distorted form;
• the patter of raindrops on the windowsill seems like the careful steps of someone scary;
• the shadows of the trees turn into terrible creatures creeping up with frightening intentions, etc.

If outsiders may not be aware of the presence of illusions, then the susceptibility to hallucinations may manifest itself more noticeably.

Hallucinations can affect all senses, that is, be visual and auditory, tactile and gustatory, olfactory and general, and also be combined in any combination. To the patient, everything he sees, hears and feels seems completely real. He may not believe that those around him do not feel, hear, or see all this. He may perceive their bewilderment as a conspiracy, deception, mockery, and become annoyed that he is not understood.

With auditory hallucinations, a person hears various kinds of noise, fragments of words or coherent phrases. “Voices” can give commands or comment on the patient’s every action, laugh at him or discuss his thoughts.

Gustatory and olfactory hallucinations often cause the sensation of an unpleasant property: a disgusting taste or smell.

With tactile hallucinations, the patient thinks that someone is biting, touching, strangling him, that insects are crawling on him, that some creatures are inserting themselves into his body and moving there or eating the body from the inside.

Externally, susceptibility to hallucinations is expressed in conversations with an invisible interlocutor, sudden laughter or constant intense listening to something. The patient may constantly shake something off himself, scream, look around himself with a worried look, or ask others if they see something on his body or in the surrounding area.

Rave

Delusional states often accompany psychosis. Delusion is based on erroneous judgments, and the patient stubbornly maintains his false belief, even if there are obvious contradictions with reality. Delusional ideas acquire super-value, significance that determines all behavior.

Delusional disorders can be expressed in erotic form, or in conviction of one's great mission, in descent from a noble family or aliens. The patient may feel that someone is trying to kill or poison him, rob or kidnap him. Sometimes the development of a delusional state is preceded by a feeling of unreality of the surrounding world or one’s own personality.

Hoarding or excessive generosity

Yes, any collector can be under suspicion. Especially in cases where collecting becomes an obsession and subjugates a person’s entire life. This can be expressed in the desire to drag things found in garbage dumps into the house, accumulate food without paying attention to expiration dates, or pick up stray animals in quantities that exceed the ability to provide them with normal care and proper maintenance.

The desire to give away all your property and excessive spending can also be regarded as a suspicious symptom. Especially in the case when a person has not previously been distinguished by generosity or altruism.

There are people who are unsociable and unsociable due to their character. This is normal and should not raise suspicions of schizophrenia or other mental disorders. But if a born cheerful person, the life of the party, a family man and a good friend suddenly begins to destroy social ties, becomes unsociable, shows coldness towards those who were recently dear to him - this is a reason to worry about his mental health.

A person becomes sloppy, stops taking care of himself, and in society can begin to behave shockingly - commit acts that are considered indecent and unacceptable.

What to do?

It is very difficult to make the right decision when there are suspicions of a mental disorder in someone close to you. Perhaps the person is simply going through a difficult period in his life, and that is why his behavior has changed. Things will get better - and everything will return to normal.

But it may turn out that the symptoms you notice are a manifestation of a serious illness that needs to be treated. In particular, brain cancer in most cases leads to certain mental disorders. Delay in starting treatment can be fatal in this case.

Other diseases also need to be treated in a timely manner, but the patient himself may not notice the changes happening to him, and only those close to him will be able to influence the state of affairs.

However, there is another option: the tendency to see everyone around as potential patients of a psychiatric clinic may also turn out to be a mental disorder. Before calling emergency psychiatric help for a neighbor or relative, try to analyze your own condition. What if you have to start with yourself? Remember the joke about the under-examined?

“Every joke has some humor in it” ©

WHO, depression is the most common mental illness: it affects more than 300 million people worldwide. With depression, there is a persistent decrease in mood and self-esteem, loss of interest in life and previous hobbies, pessimism, sleep and appetite disorders.

The speech of a depressed person has its own characteristics:

• Quiet voice.
• Lack of desire to have a conversation.
• Long thought before answering, inhibition, careful choice of words.
• Frequent use In an Absolute State: Elevated Use of Absolutist Words Is a Marker Specific to Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidal Ideation words with a negative connotation (“lonely”, “sad”, “unhappy”), the pronoun “I” and words expressing totality (“always”, “nothing”, “entirely”).

In addition, there is the concept of masked depression, when a person hides his problems and tries to appear happy. Recognizing the disorder in this case is not easy: the interlocutor will always deny all life’s difficulties. May make jokes about suicide.

Masked depression is more difficult to recognize. Such patients will try not to touch upon topics that are problematic for them in the dialogue, emphasizing that everything is fine in their lives. But as soon as we start talking about areas where they are experiencing difficulties, we will see despondency on their faces and hear the phrases: “What is the hurry for me? I’ll have time for everything, I have my whole life ahead of me.”

Lyutsina Lukyanova, psychotherapist, chief physician of the medical center "Happiness"

Bipolar affective disorder (BD)

Bipolar affective disorder, or manic-depressive psychosis, is another mental illness associated with mood changes. I'm suffering Mental disorders about 60 million people in the world. The life of such people passes in two modes: mania (or hypomania - its lighter form) and depression. The duration of each period is individual and unpredictable; it can range from several days to several months.

A characteristic feature is a change of phases: increased mood or desire to move, do something, create, commit and depression, apathy, despondency, powerlessness, indifference. The moment when the phase change occurs is impossible to predict.

Alexandra Shvets, Candidate of Medical Sciences, neurologist at the Ekaterininskaya Clinic

The manic phase is characterized by an incredible increase in mood and strength, increased activity, including sexual activity. There is so much energy that a person stops sleeping and eating, he is busy all the time. The speech of a patient in a manic phase is characterized by the following features:

• Excessive talkativeness. The person is excited, jumping from one thought to another.
• Boasting, self-confidence and the feasibility of one’s plans. The man says that he is ready to move mountains and complete many different projects.
• Delusional ideas (manifest in special cases). For example, a patient may say that everyone is jealous of him and wants to harm him.

The depressive phase is accompanied by a loss of strength, self-esteem, sexual desire, loss of interest in previous hobbies and life in general. The person is depressed, inhibited, and does not want to communicate with anyone. In severe cases, plans suicide.

Generalized anxiety disorder

Susceptible to this disease Epidemiology of anxiety disorders in the 21st century a third of the planet's population. A person constantly experiences anxiety and suffers from unpleasant sensations in the body: trembling, sweating, dizziness, discomfort in the solar plexus area. Anxiety is usually caused by a variety of fears related to the future.

Among the features of communication:

• Stories about your own fears. A person is afraid to either fly on a plane, or get into an elevator, or communicate, or go into unfamiliar places.
• Constant indignation and complaints, including about health conditions.

Often these are lonely people who have not achieved success in their personal lives and work. They are often outraged by something: the leadership of the country or company where they work, the situation in the state or at home - everything they encounter in life.

Lyutsina Lukyanova

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Another disease associated with anxiety. With it, the patient has obsessive, frightening thoughts that he is unable to fight. To get rid of anxiety, a person performs some kind of ritual: spits over his left shoulder, checks all the locks in the house, washes his hands, and so on. These actions may seem pointless, but they help the patient to relieve the condition for a short time.

A person with OCD can be recognized by the same speech characteristics as those with generalized anxiety disorder. These are complaints, suspiciousness, repeated conversations about fears. However, it will be much more effective to observe his behavior and track the ritual. A typical OCD patient is the American inventor Howard Hughes, about whose life the film “The Aviator” was filmed. He constantly washed his hands because he was afraid of catching an infection.

It is very difficult to identify patients with OCD by phrases in speech, the exception is if the person himself wants to tell you about what is bothering him. It’s not difficult to notice them if you watch people in the park, for example.

Lyutsina Lukyanova

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

The disorder can occur after a traumatic situation, most often associated with a threat to life. The sick are victims of sexual or other violence, terrorist attacks, or participants in military operations. They try to avoid conversations, places and situations that may remind them of the events they experienced, but memories constantly return them there. In especially severe cases, the patient may displace the event from memory, as if to forget.

Patients with PTSD suffer from both depressive and anxiety symptoms, so in their speech you can find the same signs as in patients with depression or anxiety disorder.

It is difficult to notice anything from their statements, because they try not to communicate with anyone, living in their own experiences. But if the dialogue does take place, then you will not hear a word about happiness, joy or love. The interlocutor with PTRS will either be laconic or devote his story to the misfortune that happened to him.

Lyutsina Lukyanova

Schizophrenia

According to WHO Mental disorders, schizophrenia affects 23 million people worldwide. This is a serious mental illness that is accompanied by disturbances in thinking, perception of reality, emotions, speech and behavior. Patients do not have a critical attitude towards their condition; in most cases they are confident that they are healthy. A typical example is mathematician and Nobel laureate in economics John Nash, about whose life the film A Beautiful Mind was made.

Schizophrenia can be recognized by the following signs:

• Suspiciousness and paranoia. A person may be sure that they are being persecuted or want to harm him.
• Grand ideas and plans.
• Crazy ideas. The patient may think that the world has long been taken over by aliens.
• Inability to conduct dialogue and formulate thoughts. They either break off somewhere in the middle of a sentence (sperrung) or consist of a jumbled collection of words (verbal okroshka).

One of the most striking manifestations of schizophrenia in speech is delusional symptoms of persecution. The patient will be sure that they are putting a spoke in his wheels and that he is being watched. He will whisper his guesses in your ear, looking around.

Lyutsina Lukyanova

Remember: it is impossible to make a diagnosis based on speech and communication style alone. However, if you think that your loved one’s behavior has changed, then be observant. If you have the described symptoms, it is better to show it to your doctor.

When we talk about the presence of certain psychological abnormalities in a person, we mean that there is some opposite state that is the norm. But it’s quite difficult to clearly define what it is.

After all, there is no specific concept of psychological abnormalities or psychological health of a person. There is nothing unusual or strange about this. Such a concept directly depends on a large number of factors, which, as a rule, are subjective.

Definition of “normal” personality

First of all, it is necessary to answer the question of what factors have a significant influence on the very understanding of the norm in psychology. There are only two of them. Among these factors is the individual himself, as well as the society in which the person lives. Let's take a closer look at them.

Social stereotypes

Certain psychological deviations of the individual become obvious if we consider the behavior of a person from the side of society. After all, there are certain social stereotypes in it. They determine the line that exists between abnormal and normal behavior of an individual.

However, here too you can find many nuances. As in each specific segment of society, the norm of behavior can have significant deviations. For example, it is completely natural for those who live in the Russian outback to know not only by sight, but also by name all their housemates. The situation is completely different in large cities. Here it is not necessary and even simply not customary to say hello to your neighbor in the entrance.

Thus, a social stereotype is the most common view of a particular group of people. They decide what should be the behavior of a member of a specified group or someone who is not a member of it. Often such views extend both to the external manifestations of a person’s behavior and to his psychological state in a given situation.

Personal factor

Each person also has his own attitude towards the reaction that he shows to specific life events. Such a factor is a personal stereotype, expressed in an individual’s idea of ​​how he should behave in a certain situation and how he should feel about it.

For example, if a person, seeing the suffering of another, begins to experience pleasure, and at the same time he does not have a desire to help, then this may be perceived by the individual himself as a deviation from the norm. In this case, disappointment may arise. A person believes that he is bad and should be different. This situation can be explained by stereotypes that prescribe not only correct behavior, but also feelings. Thus, if the question relates to a certain person, then the basis for understanding psychological deviations from the norm and the norm itself lies in the expectation of a certain type of behavior. Everything that corresponds to such expectations is regarded by the individual as the norm, and everything that does not is regarded as a deviation from it.

If we consider this issue from the point of view of society, then everything here follows a similar pattern. The only difference is that the judge in this case is society, and not an individual.

Criterion for determining psychological norm

When considering the above, it becomes clear that personality deviations are identified both from the point of view of society and from the position of the person himself. However, in both cases, the most important sign of non-compliance with the norm is the disappointment that arises due to failure to meet expectations. It is the discomfort that results from the conflict between reality and social expectations that is considered the factor that distinguishes the norm from what psychologists call a personality disorder.

Origins of the problem

In psychology, personality disorder is considered in two aspects. One of them is the social interaction of the individual with society. What is meant by this concept? These are those features of a particular person’s behavior that lead to social problems or psychological discomfort. The second aspect is the deviation from the norm of the individual himself. Such features of human behavior also lead to problems and psychological discomfort. However, in this case, it is the individual himself who suffers the most.

Of course, the concepts of “discomfort” and “problem” in this case have quite wide boundaries. Thus, an individual may experience a state of either mild anxiety or severe depression. From the point of view of society, everything looks completely different. For him, the problem is considered in the form of a real threat in the case of openly criminal behavior of the individual or in the form of those small problems that are presented in the form of inappropriate behavior. In both cases, a person’s psychological deviations are certainly expressed in his own personal characteristics.

Causes of disorders

As a rule, psychological deviations of a person manifest themselves in their cognitive or mental activity. They are also visible in the sphere of perception of the surrounding world and in the emotional reaction to relationships with others.

Psychological personality deviations may be congenital. In this case, their manifestation occurs in a person throughout his life. Certain socio-psychological deviations are formed during certain periods of an individual’s maturation. This could be, for example, early or teenage years. Deviations in a person’s psychological characteristics are caused by a variety of reasons. They are considered ranging from brain pathologies to those caused by severe stressful experiences, such as, for example, psychological or physical violence.

According to statistics, in its mild form, personality disorders are detected in approximately 10% of adults. It is worth keeping in mind that such a problem requires the attention of a specialist.

Risk factors for personality pathologies

Psychological disorders bring with them many problems. One of the most common of them is psychological discomfort. In turn, it can be expressed in various degrees and cause negative consequences. Moreover, the problems that arise can be both internal and behavioral. Among them, one can note an increased tendency to suicide, as well as to the formation of alcohol and drug addiction, antisocial, and sometimes even criminal behavior. Often psychological problems become the cause of severe depression, and sometimes they provoke specific mental pathologies, such as schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder. And, of course, such people create a lot of problems both for themselves and for those around them.

Signs of personality deviations

What are the symptoms of a person’s non-compliance with the psychological norm? First of all, this refers to the behavior of an individual, which is inadequate if we consider it from the point of view of the problem that has arisen. The main reason for this symptom lies in the fact that the person does not seek to resolve the issue that concerns him. Sometimes it only partially eliminates the problem, and sometimes it makes it worse. This feature causes difficulties in an individual’s communication not only in society, but also in the family. Often such a person is not even aware of his reactions to the situation or behavior in it. In this regard, he never seeks to visit a psychologist, although he is dissatisfied with his life, and he often has problems in various social situations.

Not everything is in order with such people in terms of their inner world. This is expressed in symptoms such as mood swings, increased anxiety and restlessness, and depression.

Among the main signs of a personality disorder are:

• the constant presence of negative feelings such as anxiety and threat, awareness of one’s own uselessness and worthlessness, as well as easily arising anger;
• negative emotions and control problems;
• constant emotional devastation and avoidance of contacts with people;
• difficulties in communicating with loved ones, especially with a spouse, as well as with children;
• constantly arising problems with the environment due to the inability to control negative feelings and aggressive behavior;
• partial, and sometimes complete loss of contact with the surrounding reality.

All of the above symptoms tend to worsen. Most often this happens against the background of stressful situations.

Types of psychological disorders

According to the international classifier, all personality deviations are divided into 3 main groups. Among them:

• Group A. It includes eccentric pathologies. These are disorders such as schizoid, schizotypal, and paranoid.
• Group B. Such deviations include theatrical, emotional sensations. These include disorders - narcissistic and histrionic, antisocial and borderline.
• Group C. It includes panic and anxiety disorders in the form of avoidant and obsessive-impulsive dependent disorders.

The pathologies described above can be detected in one person. But, as a rule, there is always one disorder that is most pronounced. It is by this that the type of pathological personality deviation is determined.

Psychological disorders in a child

Parents should always remember that they are responsible not only for the physical health of their child. The psychological component also plays an important role in the development of the baby. She will have a huge influence on the formation of his worldview. In addition, psychological health will be the basis of the behavior and actions of a little person. It will largely depend on him whether the child, having matured, will benefit society or, on the contrary, will become a socially dangerous person for him.

Today, science knows for certain that the consciousness of a baby, like a sponge, absorbs every word and all the actions of people close to him. This happens up to 5 years of age. The child’s picture of the world around him is formed on the basis of his usual communication styles, role models, the financial state of the family and the problems of his parents, violence, betrayal and betrayal. All negative aspects in the future can come back to haunt an already grown person in the future.

For example, if up to the age of one year the mother often ignored her child, did not respond to his tears and fed her whenever she wanted, then the baby begins to reject the sensory sphere. In his mind, the uselessness of emotions is recorded, which he subsequently throws away as unnecessary.

In the same way, deformation of the child’s psyche occurs. If at the age of 4-5 he is subjected to physical or sexual violence, then his still unformed consciousness begins to perceive what is happening as the norm. Moreover, he learns to imitate it. This is how psychopaths arise. But, by and large, they are simply returning to the world what it gave them.

Manifestations of personality disorders at an early age

There are seven dangerous signs of psychological abnormalities in a child. Some of them were highlighted by J. MacDonald, a famous psychiatrist who devoted his life to studying the behavior of criminals. This researcher even came up with a certain formula that adults simply ignore in most cases. But if the parents have identified at least three of the dangerous signs of psychological abnormalities listed below in the child, then the child should be taken for a consultation with a psychiatrist. Otherwise, you will most likely have to reap negative benefits in the future.

Psychological abnormalities in children can manifest themselves:

• Zoosadism. This is the first and most striking sign of a deviation in the child’s psychological development. It is expressed in the fact that a small man tortures and kills animals. This does not include cutting the cat’s hair, tinting its fur or tugging its tail, because this is how most children learn about the world. Zoosadism is a rather serious phenomenon. It represents the venting of the internal aggression existing in the child, and in a cruel form. Such psychological abnormalities often appear in adolescents.
• Lack of understanding of complex emotions. Psychological deviations in the development of a child are difficulties that prevent him from understanding such higher emotions as pity, sympathy, empathy and love. These children are emotionally unstable. Most often, they simply play the role in which others want to see them. However, they do not experience anything. Such children are cold to people's suffering and are unable to describe their own emotions. Feelings without comprehension allow you to turn a child into a good manipulator.
• Constant lies. There are children who lie out of fear of their parents' anger, their father's belt, or any other punishment. In this case, lying is a natural defensive reaction of the psyche. But if a child tells fairy tales without any specific purpose, then this is a rather dangerous symptom. Sometimes such children even become hysterical, scaring those around them even more.
• Enuresis. Of course, not every preschooler who suffers from this disease will become a criminal element in the future. However, J. Macdonald derived a certain pattern. According to it, more than 76% of criminals suffered from enuresis in the early years of their lives, as a result of which they experienced constant humiliation from their peers and endured their ridicule, as well as bullying and beatings from their parents. Thus, the aggression of society forced these people to throw out their feelings of internal inferiority on innocent victims.
• Deviant behavior. Of course, many children skip classes and do not fulfill their promises. This does not at all indicate a psychological deviation in the child’s development. You should look at this problem completely differently if this happens quite often and is accompanied by deliberately defiant aggression, selfishness and disobedience on the part of a schoolchild or teenager. Such children often run away from home, wander, try drugs, and steal other people's things. But the worst thing is that all this gives them pleasure. They do not at all seek to attract the attention of others. They like this lifestyle. And this is a serious cause for concern.
• Pyromania. Another sign of a psychological deviation in a child may be his desire to constantly set fires, subsequently observing fires. He feels real pleasure from this. Such a child is not able to resist impulses and realize the consequences of the crimes that he has committed. Playing with fire allows children to release their inner rage and also to compensate for their social and physical humiliation through the pain of others.
• Bullying the weak. Psychological studies of children with developmental disabilities have made it possible to state that at an early age they are subject to emotional pressure from their peers and do not disdain physical violence, humiliation and persecution. Thus, the child copies the behavior of his elders. It is important for parents not to confuse such signs with domestic hooliganism. In this case, the child becomes a bully in order to attract the attention of adults or imitate the behavior of a bad hero.

Diagnosis of personality disorders

Psychological examination of children with developmental disabilities has a specific purpose. It consists in identifying the very structure of existing violations, which will make it possible to determine the optimal ways to provide the child with correctional assistance.

Psychological examination of children with developmental disabilities is carried out in several stages. At the first of them, a psychologist studies the documentation and collects information about the child. The necessary data becomes available to the specialist after conducting a survey of parents and teachers. By the beginning of the investigation of developmental disorders in children, you will need to have information of a clinical, social and pedagogical nature. Only in this case the specialist will correctly determine the research objectives and prepare all the necessary tools.

The psychological examination is carried out in a calm environment. A separate room containing a small number of items is suitable for this. This will allow the child not to have his attention distracted.

The examination, as a rule, begins with the easiest tasks. In this case, it is important for the psychologist to behave kindly and calmly, carefully observing his patient. If a child makes a mistake, then an adult needs to provide him with the help provided for by the task.

The psychologist records the results of observations in a protocol. It records the time required to complete tasks, types of errors and assistance provided to the child. During the examination, it is desirable for the mother to be present. This is especially important in cases where a small patient insists on it.

Based on the results of the examination, the specialist prepares a conclusion. In it, the psychologist includes his conclusions about the level of development and characteristics of the child’s speech, his cognitive activity, as well as the emotional-volitional sphere. Here the question must also be resolved about the nature of the corrective assistance that the little patient needs.

Mental illnesses are invisible to the naked eye and therefore very insidious. Mental disorders significantly complicate a person’s life when he is unaware of the presence of a problem. Experts who study this aspect of the boundless human essence say that many of us have signs of mental illness, but does this mean that every second inhabitant on the planet needs treatment? How do you know that a person is really sick and needs qualified help?

What is a mental disorder?

The definition of “mental disorder” covers a wide range of deviations from the normal state of mind of people. The internal health disorders in question should not be taken as a negative manifestation of the negative side of a person’s personality. Like any physical illness, mental disorder is a violation of the mechanisms and processes of perception of reality, which creates certain difficulties. People who are faced with these problems are poorly able to adapt to real life conditions and do not always interpret reality correctly.

Signs and symptoms of mental disorders

Characteristic signs of mental disorders include disturbances in thinking, mood and behavior that go beyond generally accepted cultural beliefs and norms. Most often, general symptoms are characterized by a depressed state of mind. Moreover, the person loses the ability to fully perform ordinary social functions. The entire range of signs and symptoms can be divided into a number of groups:

• cognitive– unjustified pathological beliefs, memory impairment, complications of clear thinking;
• physical– insomnia, pain in different parts of the body;
• behavioral– abuse of active mental drugs, inability to perform simple self-care actions, unjustified aggression;
• emotional– sudden feeling of fear, sadness, anxiety;
• perceptual– states when a person notices phenomena that other people do not see (movements of objects, sounds, etc.).

Causes of mental disorders

The etiology aspect of these diseases has not been fully studied, because modern medicine cannot accurately determine the mechanisms that cause mental disorders. However, it is possible to identify some reasons whose connection with mental disorders has been scientifically proven:

• brain diseases;
• stressful conditions in life;
• medical problems;
• genetic disposition;
• hereditary causes;
• difficult circumstances in the family.

In addition, doctors note a number of special cases, which represent specific deviations, incidents or conditions against which serious mental disorders appear. The reasons that will be discussed often occur in everyday life, and therefore lead to a deterioration in a person’s mental health in the most unexpected situations.

Systematic abuse of alcoholic beverages often leads to mental disorders in humans. The body of a person suffering from chronic alcoholism constantly contains a large amount of breakdown products of ethyl alcohol, which cause serious changes in thinking, behavior and mood. In this regard, dangerous mental disorders arise, including:

• Delirium tremens. A common post-alcohol mental disorder that appears due to deep disturbances in metabolic processes in all systems and organs of the human body. Delirium tremens is expressed in convulsive seizures and sleep disorders. Most often, these phenomena appear 60-80 hours after finishing drinking alcohol. A person experiences sudden changes in mood, constantly changing from joy to anxiety.
• Psychosis. Mental illness, which is explained by a violation of metabolic processes in the brain. The toxic effects of ethyl alcohol overshadow a person’s consciousness, but the consequences appear only a few days after the end of alcohol consumption. A person is seized by a mania of persecution or a feeling of fear. In addition, he may have various obsessions that are associated with the fact that someone wants to cause him moral or physical harm.
• Hallucinations– pronounced ideas, brought pathologically to the level of perception of real objects. It seems to a person that objects and people around him are falling, spinning or swaying. The perception of the passage of time is distorted.
• . Mental illness, which is called delusion, in a person is expressed in the manifestation of unshakable conclusions and judgments that do not correspond to reality. In this condition, the patient develops photophobia and sleep disturbances. The line between dream and reality becomes blurred, a person confuses one with the other.

Brain injury

Brain injuries can result in a whole range of significant mental illnesses. As a result of brain damage, complex processes are launched that lead to clouding of consciousness. After these cases, the following psychological diseases often occur:

Somatic diseases

Against the background of somatic disorders, the human psyche suffers very seriously. Disorders develop that are almost impossible to get rid of. Here is a list of mental illnesses that medicine considers the most common in somatic disorders:

• Dementia. A terrible disease that stands for acquired dementia. This psychological disorder often occurs in people aged 55-80 years who have somatic diseases. The diagnosis of dementia is made to patients with reduced cognitive functions. Somatic diseases lead to irreversible processes in the brain. Moreover, mental sanity does not suffer.
• Korsakov's syndrome. A disease that is a combination of memory impairment regarding current events, the appearance of false memories and loss of orientation in space. A serious mental illness that cannot be treated by known medical methods. A person always forgets about events that just happened and often asks the same questions.
• Asthenic neurosis-like disease. Mental deviation when a person becomes talkative and hyperactive. A person often falls into short-term depression and constantly experiences phobic disorders. Most often, fears do not change and have clear outlines.

Epilepsy

Almost every person who suffers from epilepsy experiences mental disorders. Disorders that appear against the background of this disease can be constant (permanent) or isolated (paroxysmal). The cases of mental illness described below are most often encountered in medical practice:

Malignant neoplasms

The appearance of malignant tumors often leads to changes in a person’s mental state. With the increase in tumors on the brain, pressure increases, which causes significant deviations. In this state, a person experiences melancholy, delusions, unreasonable fears and many other symptoms. All this indicates the presence of such psychological diseases:

Vascular disorders of the brain

Pathologies of the blood vessels and circulatory system instantly affect the state of the human psyche. With the development of diseases that are associated with a decrease or increase in blood pressure, brain function deviates from the norm. Severe chronic disorders lead to the appearance of very dangerous mental disorders, including:

Types of mental disorders

People may develop mental disorders regardless of ethnicity, age or gender. The mechanisms of the occurrence of mental illnesses have not been fully studied, therefore medicine cannot give specific definitions. However, today the connection between certain age limits and mental illnesses has been clearly established. Every age has its own most common disorders.

In elderly people

In old age, against the background of diseases such as bronchial asthma, renal or heart failure and diabetes mellitus, many mental abnormalities appear. Senile psychological diseases include:

• dementia;
• paranoia;
• Pick's syndrome;
• marasmus;
• Alzheimer's syndrome.

Types of mental disorders in adolescents

Often, mental illness in adolescence is associated with adverse factors in the past. The following mental disorders are usually observed:

• bulimia nervosa;
• prolonged depression;
• drankorexia;
• anorexia nervosa.

Mental illnesses cannot be treated on their own, therefore, if there is any suspicion of mental disorders urgently need to seek help from a psychotherapist. A conversation between the patient and the doctor can help quickly determine the diagnosis and choose the right treatment regimen. Almost all mental illnesses are curable if treated promptly.