What is schizotypal disorder and what are its symptoms, few know. This is a mild psychotic deviation of the personality, characterized by the quirkiness of the cognitive sphere of perception. In modern psychotherapy, this condition is considered to be borderline, because the necessary symptoms are not enough or they are not enough expressed to determine a full diagnosis of schizophrenia. Many scientists in the CIS consider it sluggish schizophrenia.
Schizotypal disorder is characterized by social isolation, unusual behavior and inadequate emotions of the patient. At the same time, cognitive transformations are distorted to a greater extent than with other mental disorders. They can be classified into 4 types:
- the presence of excessive suspicion and paranoid ideas;
- a person suffering from this disease is absolutely sure that he is directly related to events with which he is not really connected with;
- the patient has prejudiced thoughts about the supernatural. For example, a person can be convinced that the deceased is next to him, and some people around him are aliens;
- the tendency to excessive illusions prevails. A person with such a disorder can see faces and silhouettes among shadows or curtains.
Patient behavior
Schizotypal disorder gives the patient out of the strangeness of his speech. Man’s thoughts are quite consistent and random associations do not arise in them, but he constantly deviates from the topic, is excessively scrupulous and thorough. Quite often, hypersensitivity to individual irritants is manifested along with emotional coldness to others. A person behaves inappropriately, constantly distracting from a given topic. He can clean up the closet for hours and find new activities for himself. This condition leads to complete social isolation. Schizotypics in every possible way avoid communication due to constant anxiety, uncertainty, expectation of troubles and negative presentiments.
Treatment
Schizotypic disorder may be temporary and may be a consequence of stress, but the personality’s propensity to develop such a scenario is dominant. For the treatment of these conditions, minor dosages of antipsychotics such as haloperidol and tranquilizers like diazepam are indicated. In severe depression, antidepressants, for example, amitriptyline, are prescribed. To accelerate social adaptation , group and individual psychotherapy is indicated.
Mental disorders, their manifestations
Symptoms of mental disorders are individual in each individual person. Over time, they can change or take on more pronounced outlines. The main signs of mental disorders include hallucinations, mania, and delirium.
Hallucinations are sensory perceptions of nonexistent things. The patient can hear, see, feel touch and taste, smell the things that are not really there.
Delirium and mania are well-established false ideas that do not disappear even when they are clearly inconsistent with real events.
Secondary symptoms of mental disorders include incoherent speech, loss of interest in activities, blurred thinking, strange movements, unusual behavior, troubled relationships, sudden mood swings, and unusual expressions of emotions.
Schizophrenia and its definition
A common mental illness characterized by a variety of manifestations and having a tendency to chronic progression is called schizophrenia. What this disease is - a mystery to psychotherapists for many years. Schizophrenia reflects polymorphic mental disorders caused by the decay of emotional reactions and thinking processes. It differs in fundamental disorders of perception and thinking, as well as inadequate affect. The most common manifestations of this disease include hallucinations, paranoid delusions with fantastic ideas, disorganization of thoughts and behavior with severe social dysfunction. Schizophrenia combines multiple mental disorders and is an extremely severe, progressive mental illness.