The Salvation Clinic treats psychotic disorders using innovative techniques and classical approaches, offers effective strategies for the prevention of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, proper care to reduce the suffering of patients, and social support. We have a specialized hospital, good technical and personnel potential. We provide assistance with hospitalization.
Symptoms of psychotic disorder
Symptoms are varied, individual in nature, and may change over time. Main signs: delusions and hallucinations. The latter represent extraordinary sensory sensations that are incomparable with reality. For example:
- vision of images, paintings;
- hearing voices;
- sensation of touch;
- sensation of smells, tastes.
Hallucinations can be tactile, auditory, olfactory, visual, or somatic. An image appears in thinking without an external stimulus. A person can be in a world of dreams and unfulfilled fantasies. A deceptive perception of reality can be observed when:
- severe fatigue;
- taking psychoactive substances;
- neurological diseases;
- schizophrenia.
This mental disorder is also characterized by delusional ideas. A person insists on his point of view, despite the fact that there is clear evidence and logical explanations for his wrongness. The patient may feel as if someone is constantly following him. These could be the intelligence services of various states, as well as mythical creatures and aliens. In other cases, the patient feels that his husband/wife is constantly cheating on him. Some patients may experience delusions of grandeur. They are simply convinced that they are able to perform various miracles, that they are prophets. Others consider themselves descendants of a noble family. Delusion can also manifest itself in relation to one’s sexuality. It seems to the patient that all strangers fall in love with him at first sight. Unrealistic ideas may appear due to:
- infection with an incurable disease;
- the imminent end of the world;
- creation of a perpetual motion machine;
- carrying out ridiculous social reforms;
- parasite infestation.
You should also consult a doctor if you notice the following symptoms:
- slurred speech;
- illogical thinking;
- inappropriate behavior;
- indifference to appearance;
- excessive irritability;
- tendency to harm one's health;
- lack of plans for the future;
- inhibition of actions and thoughts;
- apathy towards everything that happens;
- depressive moods.
Relatives can call a doctor to your home. Don't wait for the situation to get worse. It is possible to change the life of a loved one for the better. Don't be afraid to tell a specialist about your problem. We are ready to listen right now, provide confidentiality, and provide effective assistance.
Great psychiatry
Major psychiatry studies, diagnoses and treats mental illnesses associated with disorientation and gross pathology of the mental sphere: delusions, hallucinations, profound dementia, long-term and persistent decrease or increase in mood. This is a group of endogenous mental illnesses, the cause of which is unknown and is often inherited.
Minor psychiatry identifies the causes and treats so-called borderline mental illnesses. These are states on the border of normality and pathology, associated with experiencing unfavorable situations and stress.
So, psychiatry is divided into major and minor, and mental illnesses: into endogenous, exogenous (psychogenic and organic).
Endogenous mental disorders
- Schizophrenia – a change in the patient’s thinking and personality, emotional impoverishment and loss of will, often accompanied by delusions and hallucinations;
- Epilepsy is a mental disorder with an angry-spiteful mood;
- Endogenous depression is a deep and persistent low mood for no apparent reason;
- Bipolar affective disorder - alternating phases of high and low mood, may be accompanied by delusions and hallucinations;
- Personality disorders (psychopathy) are persistent character pathologies that prevent a person from adapting to society;
- Dementia (senile dementia and Alzheimer's disease) is a decrease in memory and intellectual abilities due to damage to the cerebral cortex.
Exogenous mental disorders and borderline states
- Neurosis is a completely reversible borderline mental state. The manifestations of neurosis are diverse, including fears and anxiety, weakness and fatigue, mood instability and sensitivity, multiple vegetative manifestations: sweating, difficulty breathing, headaches, dizziness, discomfort in different parts of the body. Neuroses make up 80% of all mental illnesses.
- Exogenous psychoses are acute mental conditions associated with brain damage, trauma, intoxication or infection.
- Reactive psychoses are acute short-term disturbances of mental activity, often with delusions, hallucinations and mood lability against the background of an acute mental traumatic factor.
- Organic disorders are the consequences of brain damage of a vascular or other nature.
- Mental disorders in connection with somatic diseases are mental deviations against the background of chronic physical illnesses.
- Somatoform disorders (organ neurosis) are mental conditions where functional bodily manifestations occur along with mental symptoms.
- Psychosomatic diseases - include a number of somatic diseases, where a mental factor causes and, in the future, aggravates an existing physical disorder.
Psychosomatic
- Hypertonic disease;
- Bronchial asthma;
- Peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum;
- Diabetes;
- Coronary heart disease, angina pectoris;
- Ulcerative colitis;
- Hyperthyroidism.
Psychotic levels of disorder
There are a large number of mental disorders that are reflected differently in the behavior and thinking of the patient. Common features of the disorders: inappropriate behavior, inability to socialize. The most common mental illnesses are: depression, schizophrenia, dementia, mental retardation, autism, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias.
Acute psychotic disorder
In this situation, the patient's condition deteriorates very quickly. Signs of nervous system imbalance appear within 3-14 days. Symptoms: strong euphoria or, on the contrary, detachment from the outside world, delusional ideas, various hallucinations. Symptoms are constantly changing. It is assumed that the causative factors of the disease are severe stress:
- loss of loved ones;
- car accident;
- loss of a favorite job;
- traumatic brain injuries;
- mental and physical violence;
- postpartum depression.
Drug use and excessive alcohol consumption can also trigger the disorder. Symptoms can be eliminated within a few weeks with drug therapy. They use drugs that stimulate brain activity and increase stress resistance: vitamins, neurometabolic stimulants, drugs that promote the restoration of liver cells, new generation neuroleptics. However, it is important to attend a consultation with a psychotherapist so that central nervous system failure does not lead to the development of schizophrenia. The dosage of medications is reduced gradually. In the acute phase, the support of loved ones is important. A psychologist can also work with them. This is the only way to eliminate the risk of relapse.
Polymorphic psychotic disorder
Characterized by rapid development (hallucinations, delusions, depression, euphoria appear within 14 days). Symptoms change and are quickly relieved with the help of special medications. The exact causes of mental disorder are unknown. It has been reliably established that the onset of the disease is preceded by severe stress. Acute polymorphic psychotic disorders are confirmed in 0.4-0.6% of cases. If symptoms do not disappear within several months, the patient is given a different diagnosis.
Organic psychotic disorder
Deviations arise as a result of disturbances in brain structures. This could be a traumatic brain injury, circulatory disorders, infection, autoimmune disease, oxygen starvation of brain cells.
Psychotic affective disorders
The appearance of depressive moods is characteristic. A person loses the ability to enjoy life, withdraws into himself, and shows indifference to everything that happens around him. Other manifestations of depression:
- low self-esteem;
- pessimistic perception of reality;
- impaired concentration;
- disturbance of sleep and wakefulness;
- refusal to eat;
- suicidal tendencies;
- inappropriate feeling of guilt.
Transient psychotic disorder
In severe cases of the disease, inhibition of action and thinking and loss of mood are observed. Depression in psychotic affective disorder can be replaced by a joyful mood, excessive physical activity, increased activity, and overexcitement.
Psychiatry and diagnostics in psychiatry
What diagnostic methods in psychiatry are the most informative? How is diagnosis done? Modern psychiatry, what is it?
Watch our film "Signs"
Psychiatry is the most powerful area both in our clinic and in modern medicine. We not only provide treatment and diagnosis of various mental disorders, but also study the occurrence of mental illnesses and the connection with physical diseases. We develop and implement more effective methods of combating diseases of the nervous system. Modern private psychiatry is not punitive medicine. We are interested in a clear personal approach to each patient. Modern drugs that we use in our practice have minimal side effects. We individually select medications that not only relieve negative symptoms, but, most importantly, effectively treat diseases.
The conditions created in the clinic are extremely important for patients with both endogenous mental disorders and borderline mental states. We make every effort to ensure that our patients do not receive drug treatment for a long time or for life.
We use the latest developments in the field of psychopharmacology, which offers increasingly safe and more effective drugs. Working together with psychiatrists, we are interested in obtaining medications that can relieve an acute mental state quickly, depress the patient’s psyche as little as possible, and allow a person to work effectively and have a family.
Who treats mental illness
In our clinic, highly qualified psychiatrists, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists diagnose and treat mental disorders.
Our specialists identify the true causes of mental illness and establish connections with hereditary and stress factors. We use only an individual approach to each person, taking into account his general health and social environment.
A psychotherapist is involved in the treatment of the patient at the rehabilitation stage. Works with the causes of the disease, helps the patient better understand and control his condition.
A clinical psychologist conducts psychological testing, which helps the doctor understand the patient’s personality traits and the severity of mental changes. She also deals with psychocorrection of the mental state during the recovery period.
Acute polymorphic psychotic disorder with symptoms of schizophrenia
Psychotic and affective symptoms are stable. There are no sudden changes in behavior or mood. The onset of the disease is within two weeks after the occurrence of the provoking factor. Symptoms are typical for schizophrenia:
- depressive moods;
- echo of thoughts;
- expression of inappropriate emotions;
- various kinds of hallucinations;
- persecution mania.
To diagnose this disorder, it is important to conduct a thorough examination of the patient. It is necessary to exclude the fact of schizophrenia, schizoaffective psychosis or bipolar disorder, the presence of traumatic brain injuries, the influence of toxic, psychoactive substances on the body. The following diagnostic methods are mandatory:
- general blood analysis;
- electroencephalography;
- interviewing the patient;
- survey of relatives;
- Neurotest;
- Neurophysiological test system.
Diagnostic features
A mental health diagnosis is made through interview, observation, and medical history. Laboratory and instrumental diagnostic methods are necessary only to exclude somatic or organic (neurological) disease. Pathopsychological testing is often used to obtain objective indicators of a person’s thinking, intelligence, mood and behavior.
In addition, various drug addiction problems can be the cause of mental disorders.
Diagnostics in psychiatry
Psychiatry and psychiatrists are often reproached for not having objective diagnostic methods in their arsenal. The diagnosis of a mental disorder is made “by eye” - based on a conversation with the patient and relatives, without the use of complex instruments and tests. In an era when medicine is increasingly associated with high technology, this approach causes natural mistrust.
That is why we decided to tell you in more detail how diagnostics occur in psychiatry.
Accurate diagnosis in psychiatry
So, the most effective and efficient method for diagnosing major mental disorders today remains the clinical-psychopathological method - talking with the patient, observing him, collecting information about his life. Pathopsychological examination is also an important help. This is a set of techniques that allow you to study in detail the associative process, the process of generalization, and identify thinking disorders characteristic of mental disorders.
At the end of the article, we note that diagnostics in psychiatry is not based on the principle of detecting certain oddities in the patient’s behavior that distinguish him from the norm from a philistine point of view. We are not trying to answer the question, “Is the patient normal?” Normal is indeed a flexible concept; very often strange behavior is inherent in absolutely healthy people and can be associated with shocking behavior, special beliefs, worldview, etc.
The psychiatrist, first of all, tries to answer the question, “Is the person sick?” In contrast to the broad and difficult to define concept of norm, the concept of disease in psychiatry is strictly defined and regulated. Diagnostics is not based on detecting oddities, but on detecting characteristic symptoms and their combinations. Contrary to the common phrase that “everyone goes crazy in their own way,” mental illnesses develop according to strict patterns. The psychiatrist’s task is to detect the presence or absence of these patterns.
Modern approach in psychiatry
Inpatient or outpatient treatment in a private psychiatric clinic has shown high results in the treatment of exogenous mental disorders and a persistent long-term effect in stabilizing endogenous mental illnesses. Complex treatment from several specialists at once: a psychiatrist, neurologist, psychotherapist and psychologist makes it possible to cover the entire sphere of manifestations of mental illness. Early inclusion of psychotherapy, as the main method of treatment for many mental illnesses, allows the patient to quickly realize his illness and find an approach to its cure. The use of special physiotherapy and healing procedures can quickly bring a weakened mental patient back to normal.
In state psychiatric hospitals, there are at least 40-60 patients in the departments, or even more. Psychiatrists try to take on an additional workload, working at 1.5-2 times the rate in order to provide themselves with a minimum salary. That is, usually there are only 2 doctors per department. This approach is unlikely to allow the necessary time to be devoted to each patient. And psychotherapeutic assistance is practically not provided in state psychiatric institutions.
In a private psychiatric clinic, there are a maximum of 5-6 patients per doctor. This makes it possible to devote a large amount of time not only to a careful diagnosis of the condition, but also to approach each patient individually. More comfortable hospital conditions and nutritious nutrition make the hospital stay less stressful. And the inclusion of additional procedures enhances the effect of drug therapy.
Psychiatry and drugs
Paid treatment for mental illness allows you to choose only the best medicines from a large arsenal of modern psychotropic drugs. Selective antidepressants make it possible to individually select treatment for different categories of patients.
Modern antipsychotics can be used without corrective drugs. They are more easily tolerated and patients are less burdened. Neuroleptics of the latest generation make it possible to achieve the expected therapeutic effect in a shorter period of time. Effective treatment with modern antipsychotic drugs gives a positive result not only in removing acute psychotic symptoms, but also correcting the emotional-volitional sphere of the patient. Thus, the patient has a real opportunity to return to work again.
The use of modern sedatives allows them to be used for a longer period of time due to the lack of addiction to them.
The neurometabolic approach to treating mental illness helps the brain recover more quickly from the stress of mental illness.
Hardware diagnostics in psychiatry
- MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - allows you to determine the presence or absence of a brain tumor, stroke, or injury. As you can see, all these situations relate more to neurology and are usually accompanied by neurological disorders - headaches, speech disorders, gait, and sensitivity. At the same time, mental disorders themselves - delusions, hallucinations, phobias, obsessions, etc. They are not typical for organic disorders and are not accompanied by any changes on MRI.
- EEG (electroencephalogram) - a recording of the electrical activity of the brain - is a more subtle method of diagnosing mental disorders. In its simplest form, an EEG can answer only one question - whether the patient has signs of epilepsy or not. Mental disorders themselves are not accompanied by EEG changes. At the same time, if an inquisitive reader searches for information on the Internet, for example, by entering “EEG and schizophrenia” in the search bar, he will see a lot of articles, often in English, devoted to EEG changes in mental disorders. A contradiction appears - on the one hand, EEG is used to diagnose epilepsy alone, and on the other hand, so much data has been accumulated in the world on EEG changes in mental disorders.
This contradiction is resolved as follows. In all these studies, the patient did not just have an EEG taken, but certain experimental techniques were performed on him. For example, they presented him with various pictures, asked him to perform certain tasks related to the classification of concepts and objects, comparison of their properties, in other words, the EEG was recorded against the background of certain mental activity, which made it possible to further analyze various indicators of the electrical activity of the brain.
In all these experiments, the initially obtained EEG data was subjected to complex computer processing, which made it possible to determine the activity of certain areas of the brain, establish functional connections between them (due to electrical synchronization), and draw up a kind of “map” of such connections. It was in this difficult way that data was accumulated on various kinds of changes and anomalies accompanying mental disorders.
Analysis and psychiatry
Analyzes. It would seem that if the main cause of mental disorders is an imbalance of neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, glutamic acid), then it seems most logical to determine the concentration of these substances in the blood. This can be done, moreover, this “service” is practiced by some clinics and some psychiatrists. But, alas, in fact, the concentration of neurotransmitters in the blood does not reflect their content in the brain and therefore is not informative and does not provide anything for diagnosis. The reasons for this are the blood-brain barrier - the boundary that exists between brain tissue and blood, as if separating the brain from the rest of the body. Thus, it would be possible to determine the concentrations of these substances directly in the brain, but for this it would be necessary to make holes in the skull, and in several places, but this seems traumatic and impractical.
