Hypochondriacal neurosis
– a symptom complex that occurs in individuals with anxious and suspicious character traits and is accompanied by expressed and growing concern about their health. The patient attributes to himself various diseases and pathological processes, which are usually accompanied by somatovegetative manifestations, as well as sometimes anxiety and depression. The diagnosis is established on the basis of a clinical examination (establishing mental status), collecting complaints and anamnesis. Treatment includes psychotherapeutic measures, symptomatic treatment, physiotherapy, auto-training, etc.
Hypochondriacal neurosis
Hypochondriacal neurosis or hypochondria syndrome in neurology is represented by a person’s inadequate attitude towards their health. The disease can develop against the background of any somatic pathology or without it, with a gradual tendency towards the predominance of psychopathological symptoms.
This type of neurosis is represented by a condition in which there is excessive fear for one’s health, and a tendency to attribute to oneself illnesses that do not exist. Hypochondria accompanies almost all types of neuroses, and therefore is important in the differentiation of neuroses and neurosis-like conditions. Children (most often teenagers, over 14 years old) and older people are most susceptible to the disease. Women suffer from neurosis more often than men. The total proportion of such patients is about 14%.
About root causes
Hypochondriacal neurosis mainly affects women, but men also sometimes have hypochondriacal symptoms. Thirty and forty-year-old patients often suffer, and pathology is also observed in people of retirement age.
The root causes are always different:
- If a person is suspicious, we suggest. Suspicious people only have to learn about the illnesses of friends or colleagues, and they look for similar symptoms in themselves.
- Ill in childhood. Such diseases are remembered for a lifetime, leaving an imprint on the consciousness. As a result, the person is afraid that the disease will bother him again, or another one will appear.
- If he is caring for a sick relative. Here the symptoms of hypochondria depend on the character. But constantly watching the torment of another sick person, a person himself can become a victim of hypochondria.
- Burdened heredity. If this neurosis is present in close people, the risk of a hypochondriacal condition increases markedly.
- When a person is lonely for a long time, he does not have a regular occupation, and is overly interested in medicine. All these conditions can lead to hypochondriacal neurosis.
Causes of hypochondriacal neurosis
Biological prerequisites for the development of hypochondriacal neurosis are childhood or old age, the consequences of mild cerebral lesions (perinatal, early childhood, with limitations of cerebral homeostasis).
Psychological prerequisites include personality accentuation, that is, a person’s emphasis on experienced grief, stress, the current situation, suspiciousness, etc. A long-term illness of a loved one, death and other similar stressful situations can lead to the development of fear of the possibility of suffering something similar.
Social factors in the development of the disease are determined by the influence of the family (parents); Excessive care can become a predisposing factor in the development of hypochondria in a child, and subsequently in an adult. Hereditary factors (genetic) also play an important role in the development of neurosis.
Classification
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There are true and parahypochondriacal neuroses. True ones, in turn, are divided into sensorogenic and ideogenic.
Parahypochondriacal disorders can manifest in any person who has experienced severe stress or long-term exposure to a traumatic factor. Despite all the apparent similarities with neurosis, a person finds within himself the strength to cope with the current situation.
True or “pure” hypochondriacal neuroses are characterized by a condition in which the patient has no desire or desire to cope with the problem himself.
Symptoms of the problem
Hypochondriacal neurosis has different symptoms. Some appear more clearly, while others are hidden. Before taking any measures, you should visit a psychologist. Only he can make an accurate diagnosis.
Hypochondria is characterized by a general deterioration of the condition. The first symptom is reluctance to do anything, apathy, and aggression may occur. Such patients often experience insomnia. In order to cope with it, various drugs are prescribed.
Also, a person with such a diagnosis may develop various phobias that are associated with health conditions. Such people often visit medical institutions and try to prove to doctors that they are terminally ill. If you notice such symptoms in yourself or your loved ones, you need to seek help from a specialist.
This disease is observed in representatives of the fair sex. There are only 3 men per 100 sick patients. The age of the patients is approximately 25–30 years. This is due to the fact that during this period a person graduates from a higher educational institution and moves into adulthood. You need to work in it not only physically, but also mentally. A particularly heavy burden falls on women. They build a family, give birth to children and take on all the burdens.
It is almost impossible to get hypochondriacal neurosis in childhood. Children are not subjected to much psychological pressure and rarely worry about their health. Doctors noted that the later hypochondria occurs, the greater the chance of developing a host of mental disorders.
This disease is quite complex and occurs more often in women. It is very difficult to diagnose and treat it on your own. If you feel that something is wrong, you should urgently visit a specialist.
The causes of this disease can be varied.
The most common ones are listed below.
- People who are very suspicious are more likely to suffer from this disease. It is enough for them to hear from friends about any disease, they will immediately begin to look for it in themselves.
- An illness that was suffered in childhood can negatively affect adult life. In most cases, such patients constantly visit the hospital and try to find the same disease.
- The disease often affects individuals who have been caring for a complex patient for a long time. Observing the problems of a loved one can become an impetus for the development of neurosis.
- Neurosis can be inherited.
- Loneliness can lead to neurosis, especially for those who do not have a favorite activity.
These and other reasons can become the driving force for the development of this type of nervousness. It is worth noting that the disease prevents a person from living a normal life. Try to believe the specialists who say that everything is fine with you.
In modern medicine, there are several types of this disease. In many cases, they depend on the symptoms that the patient has.
Obsessive hypochondria is a person’s fear of any disease. Such people constantly monitor their body and the slightest disruptions in it seem to them to be a problem. The difference between this species and the others is that they understand that this is not normal, but they cannot do anything.
The astheno-hypochondriacal type is characterized by the fact that the patient is completely convinced that he has a disease that cannot be treated. In this case, headaches or malaise may appear.
Depression is characterized by constant anxiety about one’s condition. Such a violation is very difficult to correct. Personality constantly imagines the worst. Even a normal cough may seem like tuberculosis to her.
The senesto-hypochondriacal species is characterized by thoughts about problems with important organs. Even after examination and confirmation of complete health, such a person is referred to other specialists. This can go on for a long time.
With the anxious type, a person begins to fear diseases that cannot be cured. This phobia occurs against the background of psychological disorders.
The patient himself in the office of a therapist (surgeon, ophthalmologist or cardiologist - anyone) can voice a wide variety of symptoms of his own ailment. They can begin with stomach pain and end with a change in skin color. In reality, everything is somewhat different:
- Hypochondria syndrome puts a person into a state of weakness, depression, makes him irritable, deprives him of sleep and attentiveness.
- Well, as we said above, purely mental symptoms – fear of getting sick and excessive concern for one’s own health.
It should be noted that if such deviations in a person’s thinking have just begun to appear, you should immediately contact a psychotherapist. In this case, they can be pacified and completely eliminated so that the patient does not even understand that he had hypochondria. Symptoms and treatment in later stages of the disorder are more complex. In this case, the patient develops certain personality traits on a pathological basis, which are almost impossible to correct.
Symptoms of hypochondriacal neurosis
The clinical picture of neurosis can be divided into symptom complexes: hypochondria of parents (excessive fear for the life and health of children), hypochondria of children (fear of children for the health of their parents), induced (for example, under the influence of roommates), iatrogenic (caused by the actions of medical personnel) .
A general deterioration in condition and mood is typical: dejection, reluctance to do anything, apathy followed by aggression and irritability, sleep disturbance (insomnia), loss of appetite, and others.
Patients are characterized by constant fear (phobia) for their health and body condition. Such patients experience every disease and constantly seek medical help. Such actions are obsessive.
There may also be some somatic manifestations, such as headache, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, pain in the heart area and others. They are perceived by patients as symptoms of serious (and sometimes quite rare) diseases (cancer, heart attack, tuberculosis, etc.). Patients position their conditions in the form of similar complaints: “breathing stops,” “heart stops,” “temple goes numb,” etc. Sometimes patients insist on surgical intervention (Munchausen syndrome).
Diagnosis of hypochondriacal neurosis
The diagnosis is established on the basis of the patient’s history of a psychogenic factor (stress), personality accentuation and neurotic manifestations (corresponding complaints and determination of one’s health status).
To differentiate neurosis from pathologies of organic origin, a tomographic examination (CT or MRI of the brain) may be prescribed.
Electroencephalography (EEG) is also prescribed, revealing irregularity and instability of the cortical rhythm of waves, atypical expression of alpha waves in the frontal lobes of the cortex, and polymorphic slow waves.
Differential diagnosis of hypochondriacal neurosis must be carried out with other types of neuroses (depressive neurosis, phobic and hysterical neuroses). It is also necessary to differentiate the disease from manifestations of an organic nature, namely schizophrenia. With the latter, delusional states are noted, which does not happen with hypochondriacal neurosis. Health complaints in schizophrenia are bizarre.
Treatment of hypochondriacal neurosis
Psychotherapy is of great importance in the treatment of this type of neurosis. In this matter, the personality of the doctor who is able to listen to the patient, take his side, and sincerely empathize with him is of great importance. The doctor’s tactics consist of extreme care and caution. In a conversation with the patient, the neurologist convinces that there is no threat to his life and health, explains the essence of the problem and tries to entice the patient to the opposite side of the disease. Psychotherapeutic influence is exerted on the causative psychogenic factor, relying on more important components of the patient’s life - family, work, friends, love, faith, etc.
Symptomatic treatment consists of normalizing sleep; for this purpose, anxiolytics are prescribed (benzodiazepines - medazepam, lorazepam, oxazepam). These drugs may not have a sedative effect. For autonomic disorders, adrenergic blockers work well. Tranquilizers with mild psychotropic activity (beta-blockers, calcium antagonists - nifedipine, verapamil) can be used.
Among non-drug interventions, auto-training and physiotherapy (pine-salt baths or radon baths, general darsonvalization) are effective.
How loved ones should behave
The stronger the reaction of relatives to what a patient who has a hypochondriacal condition with phobic symptoms complains about, the more clearly these disorders will be expressed.
Such a patient is usually selfish. He is not interested in the problems of his family. When he complains about his poor health, he painfully and suspiciously ceases to be responsible for the normal functioning of his body. In this way, he forces his relatives to pay excessive attention to him, if there is a need for it.
Patients with this problem are always depressed and depressed. Therefore, in order for treatment to be effective, psychotherapeutic assistance is needed as early as possible.
Forecast and prevention of hypochondriacal neurosis
Nonspecific prevention of the disease consists of correct and adequate education and attitude towards the child, introducing him to a healthy lifestyle and sports. In case of problems of a hypochondriacal nature or other anxiety conditions, it is necessary to promptly contact an adult or children's neurologist or medical psychologist. Consultations and supervision of the above specialists are also required for those who have experienced severe stress or the loss of loved ones.
The prognosis of the pathological process is quite favorable, especially with timely psychological assistance and correction of the mental state.
Preventive measures
To ensure that the chances of getting sick in the future are very low, you need to raise your child correctly and give him a lot of attention. It is important to instill in him a love of a healthy lifestyle, sports, and healthy food. Teach your child to adequately relate to the events of the world around him and not to take insults and failures to heart.
Children who, despite their small age, have already experienced stress or loss, need increased attention. The impact on the psyche has already been exerted; the development of pathologies must not be allowed. Spend more time with them, communicate, be in their circle of trust, do not let them withdraw into themselves, make them believe in themselves.
As soon as you notice suspicious signs appearing in your child’s behavior, do not be lazy to contact a child psychologist or neurologist.
He will be able to identify the disease at an early stage, prescribe therapy and cure it immediately, or simply tell parents the reason for the anxiety. Those people who have recently overcome the disease also need to be under the supervision of a specialist. Their psycho-emotional state has not yet strengthened, so sometimes it requires adjustments and the help of a specialist.
