Hysterical neurosis

Hysterical neurosis is a mental illness (a type of neurosis), which is characterized by violent emotional reactions, sudden changes in mood, as well as extremely diverse numerous symptoms that imitate severe somatic and neurological diseases. Changes in the clinical picture of the disease that occur every 20-30 years, as well as the lack of a unified medical point of view on pathogenesis, complicate the detection and treatment of pathology. In the modern classification, instead of the term hysterical neurosis, the concepts “dissociative disorder” and “conversion disorder” are used, which are different forms of this disease.

The low percentage (up to 35%) of initial referrals to a specialized specialist has a negative impact on the effectiveness of treatment of hysterical neurosis. Patients with hystero-neurotic disorders come to see general practitioners rather than psychotherapists with complaints of various pains, numbness, discomfort, spasms, etc.

Timely contact with qualified psychotherapists is a guarantee of an accurate diagnosis and adequate treatment. Specialists at the NEOPSI Center for Mental Health are ready to help in the treatment of neurotic diseases.

Clinical manifestations

The main manifestations of neurosis and hysteria are:

Motor disorders - can be expressed in partial or complete paralysis of the limbs, hyperkinesis, tremor.
Sensory disorders - manifested in anesthesia, hypoesthesia or hyperesthesia. Often there is pain in different parts of the body, narrowing of visual fields.
Autonomic disorders - include gastrointestinal disorders, fainting, rapid heartbeat.
Actually, mental manifestations include sharp emotional reactions, mood swings with fears, tearfulness, resentment, and conflict.

Treatment of hysterical neurosis

Candidate of Medical Sciences, psychiatrist, psychiatrist-narcologist, psychotherapist

2009 Graduated from Saratov State Medical University named after. IN AND. Razumovsky, awarded the qualification of DOCTOR in the specialty “General Medicine” 2009-2011 Residency in psychiatry FSBEI HE “Saratov State Medical University named after. IN AND. Razumovsky" of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation

2012 Professional retraining (primary specialization) in psychotherapy and psychiatry-narcology, Saratov State Medical University named after. IN AND. Razumovsky

2014 Advanced training on the topic “Current issues of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy”, Saratov State Medical University named after. IN AND. Razumovsky

2017 NIDA Clinical Trials Network, Good Clinical Practices, Certificate of Completion.

2017 Professional retraining (primary specialization) in the specialty “Healthcare Organization, Public Health”, Saratov State Medical University named after. IN AND. Razumovsky

2017 She defended her thesis, “Psychophysiological characteristics of non-psychotic conditions in healthy men and women,” dedicated to the early functional diagnosis of neurotic disorders, Saratov State Medical University named after. IN AND. Razumovsky of the Russian Ministry of Health was awarded the degree of Candidate of Medical Sciences.

2011-2018 worked as an assistant at the Department of Psychiatry, Narcology, Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology of the Saratov State Medical University named after. IN AND. Razumovsky,” carried out the workload of the head teacher of the department, regularly consulting psychiatric and drug treatment patients in city hospitals and university clinics.

2018-2020 she provided outpatient treatment for patients with mental disorders under the Zemsky Doctor program.

2020 received additional higher education in the field of Jurisprudence, Saratov State Law Academy.

2020 Advanced training on the topic “Current issues of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus infection COVID-19” Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Further Professional Education RMANPO of the Ministry of Health of Russia

Area of scientific and practical interests

1. Study of endogenous mental disorders, in particular schizophrenia, various aspects of affective pathology (depression, bipolar disorder), problems of borderline mental disorders, including a wide range of socially significant pathologies. 2. Study and testing in practice the principles of personalized and evidence-based medicine, modern neurophysiological data in the selection of therapy for the treatment of mental disorders. 3. Development and improvement of new methods of secondary prevention and social and labor rehabilitation of persons with endogenous and borderline mental disorders with scientific substantiation of indications and recommendations for their differentiated use. 4. Development and implementation of psychiatric education programs for relatives and the general public in order to destigmatize patients with mental disorders and create an optimally positive environment for socialization.

Variants of female hysteria

Depending on the predominance of certain clinical signs, several types of disorders are distinguished in psychology:

Lively (hyperthymic) . The main life “creed” in this form of the disease is the pursuit of pleasure. In addition, such individuals need a feeling of being in demand, so they tend to indulge the desires of colleagues, family members, and friends.
Hysteromasochistic . A typical desire is to control all areas of the life of the “wards” (as a rule, immediate relatives). They are surrounded by care, support, and are ready to help at any moment. But the true purpose of such behavior is to make one feel one’s own indispensability, to appreciate the “sacrifice made.” Hysterical personalities constantly remind us that for the sake of others they supposedly had to give up a brilliant career, close relationships, etc.
Hypocritical . Hysterics are characterized by a tendency to pretend and lie. They often do not feel the boundary between imagination and reality, so they can lie about any reason for no apparent reason. Sometimes patients are so imbued with their fantasies that they themselves begin to believe in them.
Conversion (hysteriopochondriacal) . The desire to attract attention is manifested in the description of one’s own, usually fictitious, health problems. Patients can imitate a heart attack, a seizure, describe symptoms of cancer, etc. Often, against this background, a hypochondriacal disorder develops: patients listen to internal sensations, they are sure that they are really seriously ill.
Sensual . This version of hysteria is characterized by women’s tendency to have fleeting, stormy, emotional romances. They quickly fall in love, but almost from the first days they begin to torment the “object” of their affection with jealousy, nagging, and their own ideas about ideal love. After a breakup that is inevitable in such a situation, they fall into a long-term depression.

What to expect from the disease

The prognosis for hysterical neurosis is favorable. The pathology is not life-threatening. With the right approach, its symptoms can be eliminated within a few months. Things are more complicated if negative psychiatric symptoms are combined with severe somatic disorders or organic damage to the central nervous system.

It's important not to give up. If you go to a clinic where hysterical neurosis is treated in a timely manner, even in advanced cases, you will be able to slow down the progression of the disease and reduce its manifestations to a minimum. There are no hopeless situations - doctors prove this every day with their successful professional activities.

As for preventive measures, control over one’s own psychological state comes to the fore. We need to try to reduce the number of traumatic factors and create calm conditions at home and at work.

If you have any questions regarding the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of hysterical neurosis, call our Leto mental health center . Do not try to stabilize your emotional background with the help of magic spells from the Internet and folk recipes - this is a road to nowhere. Hurry up, start comprehensive treatment of hysteria, become a healthy and successful person.

Signs of neurosis in women

Women suffering from neurosis have the following symptoms of the disease:

Constant bad mood and dissatisfaction;
Insomnia and sleep quality disturbances;
Frequent headaches;
Rapid heartbeat and a feeling of “heart sinking.”

The insidiousness of neurosis lies in the fact that women often attribute these symptoms to fatigue and do not turn to a psychotherapist. Some women believe that these symptoms are signs of a serious incurable disease and begin to go from one doctor to another. During the examination, specialists do not find any organic pathology, which causes the woman to become even more irritable.

A woman needs to pay attention to the following symptoms, which may be a manifestation of neurosis:

Prolonged apathy for no apparent reason;
Sudden mood changes;
Decreased appetite;
Daytime drowsiness;
Attacks of nausea.

Women who experience excessive emotionality, increased sweating, or changes in blood pressure should immediately contact a psychotherapist. A manifestation of neurosis may be menstrual irregularities. In this case, treatment is carried out jointly by a gynecologist and a psychotherapist. Women suffering from neurosis may complain of pain in the heart area, a feeling of heaviness in the left half of the chest. If treatment with a cardiologist is not effective, you should make an appointment with a psychotherapist.

The symptoms of hysterical neurosis in women have undergone changes in recent times. The term "hysteria" comes from the Latin word hystera - womb. This term was used by Hippocrates to designate a neuropsychic disorder in women that arose due to sexual dissatisfaction, which is the main cause of hysterical neurosis in women. Other risk factors are minor. They help accelerate the development of this disease.

All women who suffer from hysterical neurosis are characterized by a significant impairment of the procreative and recreational components of sexual function. Procreation is a means of introducing a man's genetic material into a woman's reproductive tract for the purpose of procreation. Procreative failure in women can occur with vaginismus. The recreational function of sexuality is the emotional protection of family members, satisfying their needs for leisure and communication. One of the main reasons for sexual and family-marital disharmony in women is the deviation of their gender-role behavior in marriage according to the hypermasculine (close to male) type.

The clinical picture of hysterical neurosis in women is characterized by the following symptoms:

Weakening dissociative disorders (mental disorders that are characterized by changes or disturbances in a number of mental functions - memory, consciousness, feelings and awareness of the continuity of one’s own identity;
Replacing bright, expressive symptoms with more faded, rudimentary ones;
An increase in somatoform (arising due to stress), asthenic, depressive and neuroendocrine disorders.

Women suffering from hysterical neurosis may experience disturbances in movement and sensitivity: “paralysis” of the arms and legs, “blindness”, “deafness”, “loss of voice”. Sometimes tics, convulsions, twitching of the eyelids and various muscles occur. These manifestations of hysterical neurosis in women are always demonstrative in nature. They happen only in the presence of others, so that everyone can see. In this case, the patient acts carefully so as not to injure herself.

Women who have manifestations of hysterical neurosis complain of disturbances in the functioning of internal organs. They may experience coughing, vomiting, “pain” in different parts of the body, and urinary retention. The patient "can't swallow." The essence of fainting in women suffering from hysterical neurosis is explained by an old aphorism: “when a woman faints, she already knows in advance who will catch her.”

In this case, the patient may not realize that they are faking the disease. Any attempts to “bring the woman out into the open” end in a scandal and accusations against the “whistleblower.” Patients blame others for all their problems, while they treat their mistakes and failures condescendingly.

Due to the fact that women turn to a psychotherapist late and are unsuccessfully treated for a long time by internists who do not have a sufficient level of knowledge in the clinical issues of hysteria, diagnosing hysterical neurosis in women can be difficult. The forms and methods of treating patients with this disease available in the arsenal of psychotherapists ensure high effectiveness of therapy and prevent neurotic personality development.

Clinical symptoms

The main behavioral trait is the desire to attract the attention of others by any possible means. Most often they try to achieve this using:

specific, “theatrical” manner of behavior, speech, gestures;
eccentric clothes;
exaggeration of the emotional reaction to any events, news that have nothing to do with the patient or her relatives;
focusing on one's own actions;
emphasizing their sexuality, but attempts to flirt look rather caricatured; at the same time, with hysteria, anorgasmia often occurs in women.

Inattention to one’s own person is “punished” by outbursts of anger, irritability, swearing, and tears. At the same time, patients categorically deny that they want to be the center of attention, moreover, they react extremely aggressively to such an assumption.

Those suffering from histrionic personality disorder are highly suggestible, but this trait is selective. They easily perceive only information that they themselves believe in. Pointing out mistakes and wrong actions only provokes another attack of irritation.