Taking care of one's own health is an important business for every person. There are people who neglect this matter to a greater or lesser extent, and there are those who manically look after themselves, look for some flaws in themselves and literally inflate an elephant from a fly. Only in words does everything sound ridiculous and ridiculous, but in fact, such signs serve as a signal that hypochondriac neurosis is developing. A person dips himself into a state of illness, makes the brain think that some kind of ailment lives in the body and thereby destroys itself.
What is hypochondria?
Let’s get started with the exact wording of this term. Hypochondria is a neurotic disorder accompanied by constant anxiety about one's own health. A person becomes suspicious, he ascribes some disease to his individual organ or organism as a whole, when in reality there is nothing of the kind. To thoroughly understand what hypochondria is, it is worth turning to psychiatry. This may be an independent disorder of the central nervous system, or the result of another, serious mental illness. Hypochondriacs in person know all the doctors of the local clinic. They are constantly being examined, complaining of various pains, the “malfunctioning” of an organ, the presence of some undesirable symptoms. In fact, after the examination, it turns out that the body is completely healthy.
The causes of the disease
Decisive individuals who are prone to depression and constant worries, as well as people with a high degree of suggestibility, are clear candidates for a disease such as hypochondria. Symptoms and treatment are purely individual, since everyone has this disorder in their own way. The most common cause of its occurrence is traumatic situations, for example, the death of a loved one from a heart attack. As a result, a person ascribes a heart defect to himself and is completely sure that he will face the same fate. Also, hypochondriac neurosis can be based on phobic conditions - a wild fear of getting sick. In such cases, one of two diagnoses can be made. The first is hysterical neurosis, as the patient's behavior is accompanied by appropriate behavior. The second is a neurosis of obsessive states, when the patient regularly repeats certain rituals and obsessive thoughts haunt him.
Symptomatology
The patient himself in the therapist’s office (surgeon, optometrist or cardiologist — anyone) can voice the most varied symptoms of his own malaise. They can begin with pain in the stomach and end with a change in skin color. In fact, everything is somewhat different:
- Hypochondria syndrome puts a person in a state of weakness, depression, makes him irritable, deprives sleep and attention.
- Well, and, as we said above, purely mental symptoms are fear of getting sick and excessive preoccupation with one's own health.
It should be noted that if such deviations in the thinking of a person have just begun to manifest themselves, it is worth immediately contacting a therapist. In this case, they will be able to pacify and completely eliminate so that the patient does not even understand that he had hypochondria. Symptoms and treatment in the later stages of the disorder are more complex. In this case, the patient forms certain personality traits on a pathological basis, which is almost impossible to correct.
Structure of the disease
Mostly hypochondriac neurosis consists of three components:
- Non-existent painful sensations of a person.
- Emotional instability.
- Specific thinking disorder.
This can be explained as follows. For example, during a meal, there is a slight difficulty in its passage through the esophagus. Each of us would simply swallow it all with water and forget it. Hypochondrik immediately begins to think about this topic, saying that the esophagus was broken, the food got stuck there, caused a cough, shortness of breath, impaired his speech and never got into the stomach so that all useful substances were absorbed, and, therefore, the body did not get the right a dose of vitamins, he will not be able to continue to work normally ... All this collapses at a subconscious level, and a person simply makes himself feel pain and malaise, which do not exist.
Disease variations
In medical practice, people who are preoccupied with health, not just their own, but their closest relatives, are very common. Conventionally, they can be divided into two groups: hypochondria of parents and hypochondria of children. The first ones obsessively care about the health of their child, constantly leave him at home, treat and take care of more than is required. The second worry about the fact that their ancestors are aging, therefore, their body wears out and becomes more susceptible to various ailments. It is worth noting that the symptoms of hypochondriac neurosis in women in particular are not only self-care, but also about your child. Therefore, it is the beautiful half of the population that is more prone to this mental disorder.
Types of Hypochondria
Depending on the course of the disease, doctors have learned to distinguish three of its types.
- The type is alarming - the patient is constantly tormented by feelings that he may feel unwell. One or another organ is constantly “breaking”, non-existent pains appear and are accompanied by obsessive thoughts on this subject. It constantly seems to him that the doctors to whom he had already visited are incompetent. And soon he will find a real specialist who will detect his illness and cure it.
- Type depressive - against the backdrop of invented diseases, the patient falls into a depressed state of the psyche. He sees any treatment as hopeless and unpromising.
- The type is phobic - in this case, hypochondriac neurosis causes a feeling of fear that another, more serious one will replace this disease. Or the patient is afraid of death.
Prevention
Oddly enough, most patients who are affected by this disorder remain adequate people in all other areas of life. Therefore, a psychiatrist tells them in detail about how to defeat hypochondriacal neurosis, and together they begin to work. In some procedures, there may be social therapy, group psychotherapy. In this case, a person gets to know people who are tormented by the same things as he himself, and gradually changes his ideas about what is happening. As an individual practice, hypnosis, relaxation, various mental instructions are used. Patients are strongly advised to do yoga and meditation, read developmental books and communicate with people.
Hypochondriac neurosis: treatment, drugs, procedures
It happens that the patient simply does not see real horizons, and it is impossible to convince him. He refuses to visit a psychiatrist, does not believe that all this is the result of only his thoughts. In such cases, medical intervention is necessary, on the basis of which the therapy will be held in the doctor’s office. Most often, nootropics and antidepressants are prescribed to hypochondriacs, if the case is especially neglected, then tranquilizers. The choice of the drug is purely individual, so it is impossible to give exact names. In parallel with the drugs, the patient takes acupuncture, reflexology or su-jok therapy. Along with this, psychiatrists advise doing so-called aesthetic therapy. You must visit the blooming gardens, admire the sea or mountains - in a word, enjoy the beauties of nature, which soothe and pacify.
Tips for those around hypochondriac
Most often, family and friends are very skeptical of such “invented” diseases. They call such people imaginary patients, simulators, or "actors." Few people know that such an attitude only exacerbates their serious condition. It should be remembered that this is not pretense and not an acting game, but a real mental disorder that eats a person from the inside. Relatives need to express understanding and empathy with the “diseases” of the hypochondriac, support him, listen to and understand. This practice is used by psychiatrists, carefully listening to all complaints of pain and malaise and taking them seriously. Talking about this, the patient gradually turns to the true reasons for the appearance of these "pains", and in most cases it turns out that they are behind boredom, inner emptiness, sadness and depression.