Oligophrenia, also called mental retardation, is a pathology caused by a mental defect. The disease contributes to the occurrence of dementia, which is the result of changes in the cerebral nature.
Pathology prevalence
How many people on our planet suffer from oligophrenia? The answer to this question is quite difficult. The fact is that to determine the pathology, there are many methods for diagnosing "oligophrenia", which have significant differences between themselves. According to the most approximate data, the prevalence of the disease is in the range from 0.7% to 3%. Moreover, in most cases male representatives suffer from it. Compared with them, there are one and a half times fewer women.
In certain age periods, the diagnosis of oligophrenia reaches its peak. This applies to 6-7, as well as 18-19 years of human life. The listed periods are the age when school begins, and army service is approaching. The most severe forms of oligophrenia are diagnosed in the first years of life. But the pathology of a mild degree is somewhat later. This is explained by the complexity of assessing intellectual abilities, as well as mental underdevelopment in early childhood.
Causes of pathology
Oligophrenia is a syndrome, the formation of which can be influenced by a large number of different factors. Among them:
- Negative effects on the human body that occur during childbirth, as well as in the age period up to 3 years. This is fetal hypoxia or asphyxia during childbirth, early childhood infections, traumatic brain injuries, etc.
- Intrauterine harmful factors. Among them are viral infections (herpes, rubella), hormonal disorders, as well as microbial infections (syphilis and toxoplasmosis).
- Chromosomal and genetic pathologies. These include Down's disease, various types of enzyme disorders and microcephaly.
Sometimes oligophrenia is classified based on the causative factors listed above. In this case, three forms of mental retardation are distinguished. Among them are genetic, intrauterine and perinatal.
In addition, medicine knows that oligophrenia is accompanied by diseases of a certain type. This list includes:
- Hydrocephalus. This ailment is caused by excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid, which occurs in the ventricles of the brain. A similar phenomenon occurs in connection with the excess production of this substance or the difficulty of its outflow.
- Microcephaly. A similar pathology is caused by the smaller size of the skull and brain.
- Phenylketonuria. The disease occurs with metabolic disorders of phenylalanine. As a result of this, a significant amount of toxic substances is formed - the breakdown products of this amino acid.
- Toxoplasmosis. The cause of this disease is a parasitic lesion of the body. Maternal infection can penetrate the fetus and cause various malformations, including in the brain.
- Down's disease. This pathology occurs due to the formation of an additional chromosome in the body. A person with such a disease is detected by its appearance. He may experience a delay in physical and mental development, as well as heart defects.
Pathology diagnostics
To date, medicine has learned to recognize some ailments that can lead to mental retardation. For example, in the early stages of fetal development, Down's disease is diagnosed.
The next stage in identifying pathology takes place immediately after the birth of the child. A similar diagnosis consists of screening blood tests for hypothyroidism and phenylketonuria - diseases that lead to mental retardation.
Sometimes symptoms of oligophrenia are noticed in a supposedly healthy baby. For an accurate diagnosis in this case, extensive research is being conducted. They consist in elucidating the life history of the patient and his family history. After that, the doctor examines the patient to identify his neurological and mental disorders, as well as determine the severity of the pathology. Further, it will not do without the appointment of cytological, immunological and biochemical studies. They will reveal the presence of diseases of the internal organs, dysfunctions of the enzyme system and the presence of congenital infections.
Degrees of Oligophrenia
The most effective diagnostic method for detecting mental retardation is to determine the coefficient of intelligence. Based on the result, the following stages of oligophrenia are distinguished: moronity, imbecility, and also idiocy. However, today such a classification is rarely used by doctors based on ethical considerations. Doctors prefer to indicate the stage of oligophrenia in neutral terms. Pathology in this case is also classified based on the obtained intelligence coefficient. With this unit of oligophrenia, the three stages have the following degrees:
- easy - 50-70 points;
- moderate - 35-50 points;
- severe - less than 20 points.
As you can see, the higher the values ​​of the coefficient of intelligence, the less pronounced is the stage of pathology. However, the traditional division of pathology allows you to give a clearer picture of the disease. In this case, how is oligophrenia broken up at the stage? The three stages are distributed as follows: morbidity corresponds to the mildest and most common form of the disease, imbecility - average, and idiocy - deep. Let's consider them in more detail.
Debility
A disease at this stage is the easiest and most common variant of a person’s mental disability. Moreover, moronicity, in turn, is also grouped according to some criteria. According to the dominant manifestations, it can be dysphoric, asthenic, stenic and atonic. Also, oligophrenia in the stage of debility can have a different degree - mild, moderate and severe.
Characterization of patients in the stage of debility
People suffering from a mild degree of oligophrenia are able to remember any information. However, they do it very slowly, and then they quickly forget everything. In addition, such patients are not able to generalize and master abstract concepts.
The stage of debility is characterized by a specifically descriptive type of thinking. Such people can only talk about what they saw. However, no generalizations and conclusions will be made.
Symptoms of oligophrenia at the stage of moronicity are a violation of the understanding of the logical connections between phenomena and events, lack of imagination. Such people are almost the most honest in the world. However, this does not happen at all because of their high moral principles.
Signs of oligophrenia in the stage of debility are also various speech disorders. The patient is notable for the uniformity of his story, its emotionlessness, primitive construction of sentences and poor vocabulary.
Sometimes, against the general background of pathology, a person's giftedness in some areas may take place. Such people are sometimes able to mechanically memorize huge texts, have absolute pitch, are brilliant in mathematics, or possess an artistic gift.
Also, patients painfully perceive a change in situation. The fact is that they feel protected and confident only in their usual environment. Such oligophrenics are gullible and overly suggestible. That is why it is not difficult to convince them of something by imposing a certain point of view, which they will then begin to perceive as their own. It is from the midst of these patients that not reasoning and uncontrollable fanatics sometimes come out, who never change their beliefs. Because of their suggestibility, such people can become completely normal members of society, as well as cruel, vengeful, vicious and absolutely asocial.
Oligophrenia in the stage of debility is sometimes expressed in excessive excitability. And sometimes such a person differs from the rest in his apparent inhibition.
Young people who are diagnosed with “moronicity” are not called up for military service, they are not given them the right to drive a car, and they are not allowed to acquire and store weapons. They will not accept such patients to work in municipal and state institutions. The patient needs to be systematically observed by a psychiatrist, which will give a chance for his adaptation in society.
Features of child moronity
Recognizing mild oligophrenia in a child is quite difficult, because there are no obvious signs of the disease on his face. Mild stages of oligophrenia in children are diagnosed when they enter school. This period is the first peak in the detection of pathology. Prior to this, the signs of oligophrenia are almost invisible, since children can have developmental features, their own type of temperament and personality. If even a child is an obvious silent person or, on the contrary, a “tornado”, then at an early age this does not mean anything. And only with admission to the first class the signs of oligophrenia (debility) become apparent. After all, such children are not able to master the school curriculum. They cannot concentrate and fix their attention on a certain subject.
Children suffering from oligophrenia (debility) have two poles of emotionality. On the one hand, they can be affectionate, kind and welcoming, and on the other, they can be aggressive, angry and gloomy. In addition, they have two poles of activity. So, there are too active children, and extremely inhibited. But primitive instincts prevail in both. And their sexual disinhibition causes condemnation in society. Even teenagers are not able to hide it. Patients with a mild degree of oligophrenia often stick to girls and can publicly masturbate. It is especially scary if such adolescents find themselves under the influence of criminals, because they will not ponder the instructions given to them and calculate the consequences of the deed.
Imbecility
This degree of mental underdevelopment is average. She takes an intermediate position, being between moronicity and idiocy. Patients with oligophrenia in the stage of imbecility are often called "eternal children." These people have the highest functions of the brain, forming the uniqueness of the human personality, are at the lowest level. The mental development of patients with imbecility can be compared with the age of a preschooler.
Symptoms of Imbecility
It is easy to recognize such patients even by external signs. And this is in contrast to patients who are diagnosed with oligophrenia in the stage of debility. A photo of people with imbecility is a vivid confirmation of this. Depending on the severity of hydro- and microcephaly, the patient is distinguished by the disproportionate size of the skull. His head may be either too small or too large. In addition, such patients have a malocclusion, deformed facial bones, a fixed, unblinking gaze. And their ears are distinguished by the lobes attached to the head. According to the external signs described above, it is quite possible to identify the average degree of oligophrenia - imbecility.
People with this pathology are clumsy when walking. They are not able to properly coordinate their movements, often stoop and hunch. They are not subject to fine motor skills, the development of which is impossible due to focal neurological symptoms. A great achievement for people suffering from an average degree of oligophrenia - imbecility, is self-tying shoelaces, as well as threading a needle. Such people cannot leave their parental home throughout their lives, being in it in the status of approximately seven-year-old children. Mother and father for such patients are an object of inexhaustible love. They almost never have their own families. The imbeciles have a very poor circle of communication. It is limited only to family and rehabilitation groups.
Imbeciles stand out in their speech. In people with an average degree of oligophrenia, it is a collection of two hundred simple words. But they use them only in case of urgent need. Imbeciles are tongue-tied. Their speech consists of short phrases, and they still cannot construct sentences correctly.
At the most primitive level is the thinking of patients. In addition, such people lack a volitional factor, and emotions do not go beyond the usual manifestation of joy or anger. When changing familiar circumstances, confusion and fear instill in them.
Imbeciles are inactive and passive. Because of their easy suggestibility, they often fall under bad influence. That is why throughout their life such people should be under constant supervision and control.
The horizons of imbecile are also rather narrow. It is within the boundaries of satisfying the simplest instincts and natural needs. That is why patients constantly feel hungry.
At this stage, oligophrenia requires constant monitoring by the family, psychiatrists and educators over the patient. Otherwise, the patient may be dangerous to others. This is expressed in the sexual disinhibition of patients, and in their inability to suppress their sexual drives. This often translates into such asocial phenomena such as masturbation, molestation of women and even the commission of sexual crimes.
Degrees of imbecility
Oligophrenia, which has a moderate form of severity, includes two varieties. It can be moderate and pronounced. These are two degrees of imbecility, each of which has its own form of mental retardation.
Patients with a moderate severity of pathology have an intelligence coefficient ranging from 34 to 48 points. The ability of their thinking is sharply limited. It is concrete and directly related to the current situation. Such patients are not able to analyze, tongue-tied, incorrectly build sentences and use only a minimum vocabulary when communicating. Their emotionality is almost at zero. Poorly developed and fine motor skills.
Patients with moderate severity of imbecility are characterized by pronounced neurology. It manifests itself in the form of paresis and sensitivity disorders. In connection with the presence of lesions of the nerves of the craniocerebral zone, epilepsy often occurs. At times, these patients show signs of autism.
With a pronounced degree of oligophrenia in the stage of imbecility, the lower limit of the intelligence coefficient is at the level of 20 points, and the upper reaches only 34 points. For such patients, the presence of very colorful neurological symptoms is characteristic. So, paresis complements paralysis, and motility is in its infancy. The personal qualities and intellectual abilities of such a person are expressed very weakly. His vocabulary is at the level of a six-year-old child. Such patients need constant monitoring throughout their lives, as well as assistance with simple self-care.
Children's Imbecility
At this stage, oligophrenia, in contrast to debility, can be suspected already at a very young age. Imbecile children are very late in all respects. By the year of their life, they cannot distinguish parents from other people, do not respond to speech addressed to them, they are not interested in toys. Such kids begin to sit and stand late, don’t take toys that adults hold out to them, and also don’t grab at the threat of falling over the nearest support. Children with oligophrenia at the stage of imbecilism begin to walk, only by the age of two. But even at this age, they cannot understand what they want from them, and are more oriented towards the intonation of the speaker than the meaning of the appeal directed to them. Such kids are not peculiar to curiosity, and they do not show any interest in the outside world. When playing, they adhere to some single standard and ridiculous stencil. With great difficulty, such children learn speech, but at the same time it remains in them tongue-tied and is characterized by the incorrect construction of sentences.
Having reached school age, imbeciles attend correctional classes. Here they can learn to count up to 10, retell short texts and read syllables. These children have practically no emotions, there is a total indifference to the world. Due to the lack of reaction to treatment, they are often mistaken for the deaf.
Idiocy
This form of oligophrenia has its external manifestations at a very young age. Patients with idiocy, as a rule, do not live long. Most of them do not cross the 20-year threshold because of the extremely low vitality.
Oligophrenia in the stage of idiocy is characterized by a systemic underdevelopment of the human personality. A patient with this form of the disease remains his whole life as a 2-3-year-old child. Such people are almost completely helpless. They need constant supervision and care. In most cases, it is impossible for them to teach any self-service skills. Only approaching 13-14 years of life, sick teenagers begin to wash their face, go to the toilet (but even then under the mandatory constant supervision) and perform other actions to meet minimum needs.
Idiocy is a developmental defect that is global in nature. With this degree of oligophrenia, a violation in the physical development of a person occurs. He is significantly behind in height and weight. In addition, the patient often suffers from somatic diseases, in particular from heart defects, hearing and visual impairment. And due to dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system, people with a diagnosis of “idiocy” cannot move independently. Very often it becomes impossible for them to stand upright. It is also difficult for them to stand, sit and crawl on their own. Patients often experience malfunctions of the circulatory system and gastrointestinal tract, cranial deformities, underdevelopment of various internal organs, etc. In addition to motor underdevelopment, disordered motor activity or monotonous movements (swaying) often occur. And because of the weakened immunity of such people, infectious diseases are often affected.
Significant negative changes affect the deep degree of oligophrenia and higher mental functions. For example, the patient’s perception is limited only by involuntary manifestations of sensations on an external stimulus. Such people react only to what relates to their natural needs - heat and cold, pain and hunger, etc. They can devote attention to any subject for no more than one minute. Also, in such patients, orientation is extremely difficult. They do not have the ability to adapt to the world without organizing, guiding and accompanying assistance.
In addition, patients with a high degree of oligophrenia are not able to understand the person who addresses them. Nevertheless, they can be taught the simplest actions that can be mastered only as a result of repeatedly repeated requests. The behavioral reaction of patients is manifested only with changes in intonation, but their own speech is absent in such people. From them you can hear only inarticulate and meaningless sounds.
Absent in patients and memory. After all, it is also one of the components of mental activity. As a rule, such people do not remember images, faces and symbols in the form of letters and numbers. It happens only rarely that patients recognize the people closest to them and at the same time show elementary emotions (smiling and walking). But this does not concern the most profound idiocy.
As the highest cognitive function, these patients also lack thinking. Even the simplest operations are impossible for them. They do not have self-awareness either.
The emotional sphere is also extremely simplified in such patients. They are not able to adequately respond to surrounding events. The emotions of these people are in no way associated with any external stimuli. They do not laugh and do not cry. They don’t know the feeling of compassion, hatred, love and pity.
Often, patients can observe unconscious reactions in the form of aggression directed at themselves. In addition, for no apparent reason, they can throw any object in others, push or hit a person nearby. The reaction to any censure is completely absent.