Many of us know a serious psychiatric diagnosis of schizophrenia. Moreover, people often use this term to define something that does not fit into the usual reasonable framework. But what exactly is this disease? How does it arise and develop?
I would like to note right away that the generally accepted opinion about the greater susceptibility of this disease to men in the medical environment is perceived as highly controversial. Among patients with this diagnosis, there are many representatives of the weaker sex, and we will consider in this article how schizophrenia manifests itself in women, how its symptoms differ from signs of the same mental pathology in the stronger sex.
At what age does schizophrenia manifest
The development of this pathology occurs in men and women in different ways. So, representatives of the stronger sex, as a rule, begin to get sick earlier than women (from about 20 years of age). By the age of 30, the pathology in them is already actively manifesting itself. In addition, even in adolescence, such boys show signs of increased aggressiveness and asociality.
With a diagnosis of schizophrenia, symptoms in women usually occur 5 years later, and, as a rule, they are less pronounced. The disease takes a sluggish form, complicated by periodic exacerbations.
Features of symptoms in women
Already at an early stage of development, the disease manifests itself in the form of delirium and hallucinations. True, schizophrenia in women usually takes place against a more severe emotional background and is more often accompanied by depression. By the way, these signs can occur and exist years before the appearance of productive symptoms.
Even in a sluggish situation, sick ladies show less aggression, but become very irritable, unfriendly, avoid social contacts, which may lead to bewilderment of their environment.
Is schizophrenia a hereditary disease
Recent studies have shown that schizophrenia in adults and children is still a hereditary maternal disease . If earlier scientists only mentioned statistics that say that in sick parents, children in 40% of cases also become patients in psychiatric clinics, now these data are confirmed by geneticists.
A predisposition to schizophrenia suggests a set of defective genes. But, surprisingly, the recruitment of patients is usually different. True, all these genes have, as a rule, common features - their functions relate to the regulation of the brain development process. So, the more of them, the higher the likelihood of the onset of the disease.
Although, unfortunately, there is still no way to unambiguously determine the genetic profile of a patient with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, which means that it is not possible to test a carrier of a predisposition to this pathology to clearly say whether he will become ill or not.
How not to miss the first signs of an ailment?
It’s very important to notice the first symptoms of schizophrenia in women, since the disease at the beginning of development is more treatable than in men.
1. The patient has a different way of speaking. She can begin to communicate in short sentences, and sometimes she is not at all able to intelligibly explain anything. In order to speak, she selects words for a long time.
2. All that previously gave pleasure, becomes such a lady uninteresting.
3. The facial expressions of a woman are scanty, she avoids direct looks.
4. She has not completed the started business, as this woman can no longer perceive any goals. Due to such an attitude, as a rule, official affairs or studies suffer greatly.
5. The patient can not concentrate on anything, constantly loses the thought, becomes silently bewildered.
Any of the signs of the disorder that have arisen should be alarming and an occasion to urgently consult a psychiatrist.
The main symptom of schizophrenia is impaired thinking.
If a disease is suspected, in order to establish a diagnosis, the doctor must determine the presence of a violation of thinking and make sure that this indicator complies with other manifestations of the general clinical picture.
Thanks to simple tests, both women and men can identify symptoms of schizophrenia. The onset of the disease is diagnosed if:
- the patient uses his own language, filled with neologisms;
- between the concepts of the patient there is little interconnection and blurred borders are obvious;
- such a person loses the ability to abstract thinking;
- in chronic forms of the disease, the patient shows verbigeration (mechanical repetition of any words or phrases);
- the patient’s logic is often difficult to explain;
- the ability to separate the main and the secondary is impaired;
- concepts, phenomena and objects are united according to non-essential signs;
- it is difficult for the patient to understand the similarity or difference between something;
- the blockage of thinking he often finds himself in the neighborhood with the loss of control over the flow of thoughts.
Features of delirium and hallucinations
Symptoms of schizophrenia in women, men and children are similar to the peculiarities of delusional ideas, which completely seize the patient’s consciousness and cannot be corrected, that is, the patient cannot be convinced of the fallacy of his ideas about something.
The most characteristic of patients with this diagnosis is the so-called delirium of physical impact. It seems to the patient that they are affected by hypnosis or some kind of radiation emanating from both terrestrial and space systems. At the same time, he clearly hears the voices of those creatures that influence him at the moment, controlling his thoughts, emotions and even movements.
The patient can see pictures or "films" that these creatures allegedly show him. Sensations of smells (mostly unpleasant), as well as feelings of drilling, burning, transfusion and shots in the head are frequent.
Schizophrenia: symptoms in women, manifested in the emotional sphere
At the beginning of development, the disease is characterized by the loss of a sense of affection and sympathy for parents, relatives or friends. Family, children - all this loses its value in the eyes of a woman. The patient loses interest in studying or working, becomes closed and fenced off. Such a woman can begin to call parents by first name, patronymic, treating them like strangers.
At the same time, women are especially prone to reflection and the endless search for the meaning of life or the underlying causes of any, even the most ordinary events.
Sometimes the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia in women take on a cardinal nature, manifesting themselves in rudeness, viciousness and aggression towards others. The patient loses interest in her appearance (does not wash, does not change clothes, does not comb her hair) and responsibilities. She develops a passion for vagrancy, she commits a lot of ridiculous, paranormal acts. In some cases, women with schizophrenia exhibit excessive sexual activity without realizing this.
Along with the above deficit symptoms in women diagnosed with schizophrenia, signs of pathology are more often than in men expressed in a depressed (depressed) mood. The patient has lethargy, apathy, lack of will, needs, attention, motives and initiative (all these symptoms in medicine are called apato-abulic syndrome).
Features of women's perception of their disease
Schizophrenia in women, the symptoms and first signs of which we consider, is characterized by a critical attitude of women to the manifestations of their ailment, especially at the initial stage. And this, by the way, often leads to the appearance of psychomotor reactions, which are supposedly aimed at the expulsion of the evil spirits that settled in the body of the sufferer. By the way, men in such a situation usually believe that what is happening to them does not go beyond the normal framework.
Due to their psychological characteristics, women have a penchant for magic and occult sciences, therefore, changes in their state are sometimes perceived as a sign of their own exceptionalism, confirmation of magical capabilities, etc. But this is usually not characteristic of men.
Schizophrenia: symptoms in women with various forms of the disease
Depending on how the disease manifests itself, it is divided into 4 forms: simple, paranoid (delusional), hebephrenic (disorganized) and catatonic.
The paranoid form is the most common. It is diagnosed in most patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Symptoms in women with this form of the disease are manifested by baseless judgments that cannot be corrected. Most often this is delirium of persecution, less often there is delirium of jealousy, greatness, etc. Compared with other forms, this is the most dangerous for society, since the patient can begin to defend themselves from imaginary dangers and cause harm to those around him.
The hebephrenic form most often appears in adolescence. At first, it is perceived as a tendency to pranks: the child grimaces, is naughty, constantly active. But over time, parents are alarmed, as the teenager’s speech becomes very quick and incomprehensible, and his behavior becomes more and more strange. His jokes no longer cause laughter, but, on the contrary, frighten him, making him suspect a mental disorder. Unfortunately, the prognosis of this form of the disease is most often unfavorable.
Catatonic and simple forms
With the catatonic form of the disease, the patient freezes for a long time in complete immobility, even if the posture is uncomfortable. In some cases, extreme agitation, even riot, can be observed. Sometimes it alternates with numbness. Patients, as a rule, do not feel hunger and fatigue either during inhibition or during arousal. They have to be fed forcefully, otherwise they can reach complete exhaustion.
Simple schizophrenia in women is actually not so simple. She, unlike other forms of the disease, does not have vivid symptoms in the form of hallucinations, impaired motor skills or delirium. It is characterized by a gradual increase in the main signs of the disease: isolation, impaired thinking.
The patient is no longer bothered by her own destiny, she has an emotional dullness and other signs of personality decay. This form of the disease develops slowly and imperceptibly, which is the reason for the late visit to a psychiatrist and, accordingly, worsens the prognosis.
What can be the course of the disease
Schizophrenia, the forms and causes of which we consider in this article, depending on the characteristics of the course, is divided into continuous, paroxysmal and sluggish.
The continuously current form has a progressive steady flow leading to the complete disintegration of the personality. A malignant form is also isolated, which leads to such consequences in a very short time.
During the paroxysmal course of the disease, periods of exacerbation of symptoms are replaced by light intervals of remission.
A sluggish form is not perceived by all experts as schizophrenia itself. Manifestations of the disease are not so pronounced. This form of schizophrenia does not lead to asociality. Often the disease recedes on its own, even without treatment.