When it seems to us that a person talks about things that are illogical, non-existent, fictitious, we think that he is delirious. But this so-called nonsense, is not connected in any way with delirium of pursuit, or a persecution mania, as it is often called. For the latter has the character of an independent disease - insanity, or is a concomitant element of schizophrenia, paranoia , etc.
Distinguishing signs of the disease
If, in a dark alley, you notice that a group of suspicious people follows you, and this, fortunately, is an accident, it does not mean that you have the signs of a persecution mania. The following criteria are inherent elements of the disease:
- violation of adaptation, inability to work among people;
- inventing facts of inappropriate reality;
- delirium is not subject to correction by people and is unchanged despite the changed conditions (when moving from an apartment where neighbors are following the patient, the same story will be observed in a new dwelling with other neighbors).
In addition, nonsense can become systematized. This means that the question "what happened?", The patient will begin to describe in detail exactly who is following him, why, when, when and where it began and in what way it manifests itself. Systematized delirium does not appear in one day, which means that the persecution mania has already greatly progressed and the stages of delirious moods (when a person simply says "someone is following me") have already been passed.
Symptoms
The list of symptoms of persecution mania must, of course, begin with tracking, listening and constant observation. The following phenomena adjoin them:
- behavioral disorder - relatives believe that a person has been "substituted";
- the patient responds dryly and weighed, remembering that "every word can be used against it";
- the thinking changes - the patient loses the ability to separate the important and the secondary;
- false delusions are present in delusions of persecution - inadequate perception of the world;
- the disease progresses over time - the patient comes to the point that he suspects his wife, parents, children in pouring poison into the food.
Causes of the disease
The causes of persecution mania, like most disorders in psychiatry, are not completely known. So, on the one hand, the genetic predisposition, as well as craniocerebral injuries, brain operations, contributes to the development of the disease. But all this only "contributes". In order for the disease to develop, a certain confluence of circumstances is necessary.
First of all, predisposition is acquired or congenital.
Next - shock, child injury, severe stress , a dysfunctional family.
And as the last drop - a serious shock, a blow of fate, which will "bring" to the "white fever".
Treatment
Basically, the treatment of persecution mania boils down to, alas, little effective drug therapy. These are tranquilizers, antipsychotics, sedatives that can soothe the shattered psyche, prevent an exacerbation.
Unfortunately, psychiatry is even less effective, since the persuasion of the patient is not pursuit mania
If the persecution mania led to alcoholism, drug dependence, they begin, of course, with their treatment.
The best treatment is, of course, prevention. And she, as always simple, but sometimes impossible. This - the elimination of problems in the family with the help of family psychiatry, the competent education of children, without "intimidating" an already sensitive child with horror stories about the dark forces that will punish him if he is unruly.