Behavior of a woman with schizophrenia: symptoms and signs

Schizophrenia is a mental disease that is characterized by disturbances in thought processes and loss of mental capacity. This disease affects 1% of the entire world population. Recognizing the signs of schizophrenia in women by behavior is quite simple; in the early stages, the disease announces itself with specific symptoms

Clinical picture

According to experts, there is a certain age at which the first signs of the disease appear. Most often, mental disorder is diagnosed between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. The onset of the disease at a younger or older age is much less common. The first signs of schizophrenia in women completely change their behavior.

Obsessiveness, mood swings, increased irritability and the manifestation of groundless aggression are the main symptoms of a mental disorder. The clinical picture is complemented by such elements as attacks of hallucinations, emotional detachment, loss of interest in life and delusional ideas.

Often, the first signs of a mental disorder are expressed in the appearance of obsessive fear and senseless actions.

An example would be a situation in which a woman wipes a chair several times before sitting on it. Immersion in one's own thoughts is accompanied by complete detachment from reality and the absence of actions that can be explained from a logical point of view. Often the disease in question manifests itself in the form of fear of various diseases.

In such a situation, a woman begins to attribute various symptoms to herself. Parasites migrating to various parts of the body, rotten internal organs, reverse blood circulation are just a small part of the fantastic diseases that patients with schizophrenia attribute to themselves.

Such a problem as constant fatigue and drowsiness in women is a common phenomenon that should not be left to chance. It is often a symptom of physical or psychological illness that requires treatment. Read more in the article: “constant fatigue and drowsiness in women.”

Forms of schizophrenia and characteristic signs

There is still no uniform classification of the disease for all countries. But many psychiatrists use the classification of E. Kraepelin, who identified 3 forms:

Catotonic - delusional and hallucinatory symptoms are combined with motor disorder;
Hebephrenic (disorganized) – behavioral disorders manifest themselves in a rough form (foolishness). Emotions are flattened and inadequate, and thinking is torn;
Simple (or juvenile) - occurs during puberty. This form is characterized by a progressive impoverishment of emotions and intellectual unproductivity. Apathy and isolation are growing.

Sometimes a mixed form occurs. That is, it combines the characteristics of all 3 forms. Later, another form was identified - paranoid. Delusional symptoms dominate, which is accompanied by various hallucinations (or pseudo-hallucinatory syndrome).

The more research was done, the more different forms were added:

Circular;
Neurosis-like;
Hypochondriacal.

According to ICD-10, the following forms of schizophrenia are distinguished:

Paranoid simple;
Hebephrenic;
Undifferentiated;
Catatonic;
Residual.

The following subtypes of schizophrenia are considered: post-schizophrenic depression, senile depression and various schizophrenias of unspecified origin.

There are also various forms of schizophrenia:

Continuous flow:
Malignant juvenile – simple, paranoid, catotonic or hebephrenic;
Paranoid – delusional or hallucinatory symptoms;

Sluggish:

Paroxysmal-progressive – symptoms are close to paranoid. Perhaps the course is malignant or indolent;
Atypical protracted;
Febrile;
Paronoid;

Recurrent:

Same type of attacks;

Combines different types of attacks.

Against the background of schizophrenia, patients begin to drink alcohol, which aggravates the course of the disease. Alcohol addiction is rapidly developing. In this case, addiction is secondary. But there is a separate form of the disease - alcoholic schizophrenia. Mental abnormalities appear against the background of chronic intoxication. Broken neuronal circuits provoke a comorbid disorder that is difficult to treat.

In any form of schizophrenia, a reduction in energy potential is observed. Mental activity begins to cause difficulties, as does the perception of new information. Therefore, it is not always possible to maintain professionalism at the same level.

Common signs of schizophrenia in women:

Speech is incoherent (broken), the meaning of the story is lost. Voice in the same key, regardless of the nature of the story (event, everyday story);
Thinking – lack of focus and consistency of thought. Influxes of thoughts alternate with a feeling of “emptiness” in the head. Imagery of thinking disappears. This phenomenon was called the slippage (or blockage) of thoughts. When making a decision, duality (opposite) opinions arise. The patient cannot choose the correct option;
Appearance – facial expressions are almost absent, mannerism is observed in behavior. Such patients outwardly look sloppy and unkempt. The clothing style is often flashy or ridiculous;
Emotions – emotional deficiency or inadequacy. Emotional changes appear at the peak of the disease and constantly progress. Emotional coldness develops into paradox. A woman is indifferent to any sad event in the family. But at the same time, an inadequate negative emotional reaction arises to an ordinary statement addressed to oneself. Sometimes an emotional attachment to someone close to you (child, mother, husband) remains.

Another phenomenon characteristic of schizophrenia is drift. Increasing passivity is noted. That is, over time, active life becomes a “go with the flow” category. A woman becomes indifferent to her life and family, she does not feel the same energy and incentive to develop.

How to recognize schizophrenia in women?

Diagnosing schizophrenia in women is quite simple.

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To do this, the doctor just needs to observe the woman’s behavior for several weeks. If he notices that her personality is beginning to change, this is a good reason to start therapy. This psychological deviation can also be recognized by a detailed history. Usually the first harbinger of schizophrenia is the appearance of obsessive ideas that the woman had not even thought about before. This deviation in the generation station can be recognized by:

sudden emergence of feelings of jealousy towards your loved ones;
paranoia, the woman thinks that everyone is watching her;
neglect of all household chores;
failure to comply with personal hygiene rules;
desire to quit work and dramatically change your lifestyle.

Women are more susceptible to developing schizophrenia, this is due to a more mobile and unbalanced psyche.

Over time, the signs of schizophrenia become more and more pronounced. It becomes difficult for a woman to cope with her emotions; she does not show them in any way. People around her begin to think that she doesn’t care. Because of this, serious problems can arise both in the family and at work. Many women lose interest in their husbands and children and try to ignore them. Also, with the development of schizophrenia, a woman becomes extremely indifferent and carefree, she is indifferent to any problems.

Doctors consider cystitis a female disease. Men also get it, but much less often. More than 50% of women have encountered this unpleasant disease at least once. Read more in the article: “how to quickly cure cystitis in women.”

Paranoid schizophrenia: phobias, delusions, obsessions

A peculiarity of paranoid schizophrenia in women is the emergence of quite vivid obsessions and phobias. For example, she cannot open the front door without counting to three and first pulling the handle 5 times. Sometimes the rituals are even more complex.

The types of phobias are even more diverse. Among them are fears:

darkness;
spiders;
loneliness;
heights;
fires;
loss of self-control;
physical injuries;
harming other people.

These and other fears are quite exaggerated and are accompanied by other classic signs of schizophrenia in girls. Among them are disorders of emotional intelligence, autism, great oddities in behavior, lack of logic in thinking and statements, and disregard for social norms and rules. However, most often the female type of the disease occurs in the form of latent schizophrenia, which has a more or less calm course.

In other cases, the disease is accompanied by auditory and visual hallucinations and delusions. Among them:

mania of persecution - there is confidence in surveillance by strangers, or friends and relatives;
thoughts that a woman’s behavior is influenced by any strong external forces, usually of an otherworldly nature;
jealousy is completely groundless, absurd and hyperbolic;
suspiciousness - increased confidence that everyone around them is ridiculing and criticizing a woman behind her back, that they are unreasonably negatively opposed to her;
search for imperfections - the patient looks for any flaws and shortcomings in her appearance, and then despairs about this for a long time and inflates it to unprecedented proportions; Patients may also resort to attempts to eliminate their defect on their own or turn to the services of plastic surgeons.

Groups of symptoms of schizophrenia

When defining schizophrenia, it is very important to distinguish between the signs and symptoms of this disease. For many diseases these parameters are identical, but for this mental disorder they will be different. Modern experts use the Blair tetrahedron to determine symptoms. There are stronger and weaker manifestations of schizophrenia. In general, to determine this lesion, the following signs must be assessed:

Alogia
, or associative defect. This is the primary manifestation of schizophrenia, which consists of a lack of logical thinking. The woman becomes incapable of the thought process, which is why she starts asking a lot of questions. This manifestation is also characterized by a poor vocabulary and the use of short and incomplete sentences.
Autism
. This sign can be recognized by a change in a woman’s behavior; she becomes more withdrawn and moves away from the world around her. She also becomes indifferent to the lives of her loved ones and immerses herself in her own world. However, her interests become monotonous and limited.
Affective inadequacy
. It can be recognized using simulated situations. If a woman begins to behave inappropriately, there is a high risk that she actually has schizophrenia. Also, many reactions in patients are inappropriate: laughter at a funeral or tears during some holiday. In such cases, the expressed emotions do not coincide with internal experiences.
Ambivalence
. This symptom is characterized by the fact that a woman simultaneously experiences conflicting feelings towards the same object.

The signs listed above are positive. However, it must be borne in mind that they are not the norm. They received this designation due to the fact that a woman acquires such changes as schizophrenia develops. If you notice changes in behavior in your loved ones, consult a doctor immediately.

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Negative symptoms of schizophrenia

This type of symptoms of this psychological deviation is characterized by the loss of any qualities. They usually begin to fade after the disease manifests itself. A person begins to notice that his physical strength is leaving him, he becomes indifferent to the world around him, lacking initiative. Negative symptoms of this mental disorder include:

constant desire for loneliness and loss of will;
frequent mood swings;
apathy, constant thoughts;
passive behavior and emotional poverty;
impaired coordination and thinking;
affective flattening;
low initiative;
lack of will, low motor activity;
low level of self-control;
disturbances in thinking and sequence of actions;
inability and unwillingness to maintain dialogue;
dissatisfaction with life, lack of desire for self-development.

If you begin to notice any changes in behavior in your loved one, talk to him and insist on visiting a psychologist.

Recognize schizophrenia in its early stages

possible according to a certain set of manifestations. If a woman remains in a depressed mood for a long time, refuses to communicate, tries to stay alone longer, or has become secretive, this is a good reason to consult your doctor for advice. She also begins to neglect basic hygiene rules, which she had not observed before, it is also worth visiting a doctor.

Common signs of schizophrenia in women

The peculiarity of the development of schizophrenia in women is that it develops gradually. Unlike men, the symptoms of such a mental disorder grow slowly and do not appear at once. If you pay close attention to the condition of your loved ones, you will easily recognize this pathology in them. First of all, the following signs appear:

Speech disorders
- an elderly woman begins to use monosyllabic phrases, her vocabulary is poor, and she makes a huge number of mistakes.
Apathy for life
, neglect of the rules of personal hygiene - a person does not see the point of doing something that will need to be repeated after a certain period of time.
Low emotionality
. You can recognize a woman suffering from schizophrenia by her lack of expressiveness, her constantly stony face, and her avoidance of eye contact with her interlocutor.
Anhedonia
is a loss of interest in objects or objects that previously aroused delight and attraction in a person;
Low concentration
, loss of concentration.

If a woman develops paranoid schizophrenia, she becomes more suspicious, cautious, and develops paranoia. Also, the patient can easily notice emotional inadequacy, which worsens as the disease develops.

Important signs of schizophrenia

Quite often, the onset of the female form of the disorder is marked by hypochondriacal signs: the weaker sex is overly concerned about their own health.

Initially, hypochondria is non-delusional in nature. Ladies are obsessed with the idea of having a serious illness, a fatal infection. They tirelessly visit all kinds of doctors. They reject confirmation by doctors of their own physical well-being and strive for a comprehensive examination.

Patients complain of muscle weakness and spasms, emptiness in the body, and a feeling of failure or floating. They experience dizziness, the head becomes “heavy”, “the back of the head is pulled.” Concerned about unsteadiness of gait. Disturbing symptoms become the center of attention, the patient hypertrophies. Patients use exaggerated comparisons. For example: the headache is unbearable, stronger than labor pains, I have never experienced such torment.

The ladies' consciousness is completely absorbed by disturbing sensations. The behavior of a woman, shrouded in her own experiences, undergoes changes. The lady, fearing a sudden deterioration in her condition, takes precautions. So, while going to the shower, he takes out his mobile phone to immediately call for help. He comes up with protective amulets and carries them with him everywhere. Gets rid of things that, in the woman’s opinion, caused the disease.

Patients strive to protect their own health. They give up their old lifestyle, give up bad habits. They adhere to therapeutic diets, use physiotherapeutic treatment procedures: swim in an ice hole, do yoga, take a contrast shower. Perform heavy physical activity.

The woman is fully covered by the health system. Evaluates environmental factors taking into account exclusively the “dangerous-safe” principle. Security procedures are exaggerated, pretentious in nature: they put on a protective mask when going outside, avoid large crowds of people, beware of visiting unfamiliar premises, fearing “smoky” spaces.

At the same time, patients refuse the services of traditional medicine and turn to non-traditional methods of treatment: they use medicinal herbs and use the help of healers. Self-medication is used. The cat is placed on the projection of the painful organ. Cast out evil spirits. They make dolls and use rituals to transfer their own ailments to them. They hug tree trunks.

Gradually, non-delusional hypochondria gives way to the delusional form. Tactile hallucinations develop. Patients come up with perverted characteristics of disturbing sensations. They report worms wandering through the body, a blazing fire inside the abdomen, insects living in the skull.

The next hallmark of a woman suffering from schizophrenia is a change in behavior. Representatives of the fairer sex stop caring about their own appearance. Hair takes on an unkempt appearance. Clothes are dirty and torn. There is an unpleasant odor. Dresses vulgarly, wears bright makeup, or completely stops using cosmetics.

Depression is a common symptom of female schizophrenia. Painful anesthesia is observed - dullness of feelings, emotional poverty, loss of the ability to receive pleasure. Patients call themselves dull, hardened, and lacking emotional sensitivity.

Symptoms of schizophrenia in pregnant women

Girls aged 20-25 years are more susceptible to developing schizophrenia.

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This age is considered the most common among pregnant women. During this period of life, a woman’s body experiences enormous stress; almost everything in it changes. Against this background, mental disorders often arise. This disease can be recognized in pregnant women by the appearance of:

psychotic-like behavior;
obsession and jealousy;
hallucinations and delusions;
indifference, apathy;
sudden aggression and excessive irritability.

You can recognize the prerequisites for the appearance of schizoid changes in the psyche of pregnant women by the emerging fears, strange and sometimes thoughtless desires. A person is completely immersed in his experiences, without paying attention to the world around him. This can manifest itself in strict adherence to various rituals; the pregnant woman becomes very careful. She develops irrational fears about her health, she begins to diagnose herself with many serious, sluggish pathologies.

Condition after childbirth

Certain changes occur in a young body after childbirth. Therefore, girls of this age who have given birth may be subject to varying degrees of development of schizophrenia if they have a predisposition to it. After giving birth, women may develop schizophrenia due to severe stress that affects their physical and psychological state. But this is an extremely rare occurrence. The following factors can lead to the development of schizophrenia after childbirth:

loneliness;
depressed state;
postpartum depression;
hereditary predisposition to the disease;
lack of communication with other people.

A mental disorder in a woman who has given birth to a child is difficult to ignore. It is characterized by pronounced symptoms, which are not typical for a healthy person. The woman refuses to accept her child and fulfill new responsibilities. During this period, pathological delirium is often observed in patients.

After the symptoms of schizophrenia subside, women are left with a feeling of alienation towards their own baby. To cope with unpleasant symptoms and disease, a woman will need to undergo a course of drug therapy. Close people should help her in every possible way to achieve recovery. If they begin to pull away, the patient’s condition will worsen significantly.

Causes of schizophrenia in women

Schizophrenia is completely curable only if you begin treatment in the initial stages of the disease. To prevent a serious mental disorder, you need to know what can lead to such a disorder. Among the most common causes of schizophrenia are the following theories:

Neurotransmitter
- it comes down to the fact that the disease develops as a result of a long-term increase in the level of dopamine in the blood.
Serotonin
- its essence lies in the fact that the deviation is formed against the background of overly active work of serotonin receptors.
Noradrenergic
— schizophrenia in this case develops against the background of increased levels of adrenaline, dopamine and norepinephrine in the blood. The noradrenergic system is responsible for their production.
Cognitive
- a mental deviation of this type is caused by external biological factors that a woman is not able to independently influence.
Psychoanalytic
- with this nature of deviation, schizophrenia begins to develop against the background of a split personality.
Dysontogenetic
- its essence boils down to the fact that a person from birth has a predisposition to develop a mental disorder.
Predispositions
- if at least one parent of a woman suffers from schizophrenia, her risk of developing this pathology increases 10 times. If both parents suffered from it, the probability of a mental disorder is 80%.
Autointoxication
- some scientists believe that abnormalities in the functioning of the psyche can be caused by protein breakdown products that cannot be completely digested by the body.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects a person’s normal life. In the absence of proper treatment, a woman in advanced stages of the disease develops obsessive ideas to commit suicide or injure herself in order to save her loved ones.

Schizophrenia and pregnancy

Pregnancy always makes it difficult to treat and diagnose any disease. With schizophrenia, patients usually receive psychotropic drugs that cross the placenta to the child. Therefore, there are always risks of abnormal fetal development.

Pregnancy with any mental illness occurs with many complications for both mother and child. Against the background of hormonal changes, an exacerbation of mental illness or relapse often occurs.

Women suffering from schizophrenia are unable to provide custody of the child. And in the postpartum period, an exacerbation of psychosis always develops. In 15% of cases, children inherit schizophrenia, 50% of newborns have various mental disorders.

Pregnancy in such women is usually unplanned and they do not experience any emotions about future motherhood. The lifestyle remains the same, which largely affects the defective or abnormal development of the fetus. When drawing up a therapeutic regimen, the risk-benefit ratio is always taken into account. The effect of pharmacotherapy on the mother and fetus is assessed.

The manifestation of schizophrenia during pregnancy is characterized by blurred disorders. But the second and third trimester of pregnancy are considered critical - there is a high probability of attacks of mental illness. Psychiatrists believe that the use of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy should be limited. But against this background, attacks occur.

Women with schizophrenia are not legally prohibited from having children. Even if the patient is declared incompetent, the obstetrician does not have the right to make a decision to terminate the pregnancy without medical indications. In this case, only the guardian can make the decision.

Who's at risk

The age at which the first characteristic signs of schizophrenia appear in women is 23-25 years. Earlier manifestations are rare in psychiatric practice. In the case of childhood morbidity, girls experience rapidly progressing personal destruction, accompanied by severe dementia.

The first group includes women with an unstable nervous system
. If mental tension persists for a long period of time, then in a state of severe stress the first hallucinogenic visions may appear. At the first stage of schizophrenia, women do not have any complaints about their condition, since pathological personality changes are still insignificant. But after a while, relatives begin to notice characteristic oddities, which is a prerequisite for contacting a specialized specialist.
The second group is women with a genetic predisposition to the disease
. This is a completely convincing theory of the development of the disease, which is based on the assertion that schizophrenia is transmitted through the female line. Practice shows that children of both sexes can inherit mental disorders from a sick mother, but girls are at greater risk.
The third group - women with pathological changes in the processes of exchange between brain neurotransmitters
. The transmission of nerve impulses caused by a deficiency/surplus of such mediators as dopamine, acetylcholine, and glutamic acid is disrupted. In this case, the trigger is severe stress, which provokes a complex of pathological reactions in brain tissue cells, which becomes the cause of schizophrenia.
The fourth group is young mothers who are faced with the sudden need to fulfill adult social roles
. Symptoms appear under the influence of a stressful situation, severe lack of sleep and emotional fatigue. However, in the context of such a development of the disease, it is important to take into account the genetic predisposition to mental disorders.

Schizophrenia in the elderly: types and symptoms

Before prescribing treatment for schizophrenia in the elderly, a correct diagnosis should be carried out, because this determines what kind of treatment tactics should be used. There are two types of disease:

schizophrenia that developed at an early age;
a disease acquired in old age.

In this case, the second type is divided into two more subtypes:

with late (after 40 years) onset;
with a very late (after 60 years) onset.

Based on the type of illness, one or another therapy is prescribed, making the treatment of schizophrenia in old age the most effective. However, all types have similar points, namely:

problems with psychosocial adaptation;
using the neuroimaging method, minor brain pathology is detected;
there is a genetic predisposition;
severe productive symptoms are present.

Late-onset schizophrenia occurs in a milder form: fewer negative symptoms, good response to antipsychotic medications, more effective recovery of neuropsychological functions. This type responds well to modern medications, and treatment of very late-onset senile schizophrenia gives good results. After all, there are often no formal thinking disorders, and the likelihood of a family history is close to zero.

In this case, a disease with a very late onset has a number of characteristic signs:

hallucinations are possible;
higher risk of getting sick in women;
sensory disturbances occur;
there is a high probability of developing dyskinesia;
the patient is isolated from society solely at his own request.

Can schizophrenia go away on its own?

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder of a polymorphic type, accompanied by increased emotional reaction, deterioration of thinking function and other symptoms. Usually the disease is inherited. But it can arise due to somatic diseases and the influence of social factors. It is often formed due to the negative effects of alcohol or drugs.

Tissue destruction occurs in the brain, so the patient develops the first signs, which develop more and more over time. Schizophrenia cannot go away on its own; it is not completely curable. Even if it is provoked by somatic factors, after they are eliminated, tissue damage will remain in the brain that can no longer be restored. Therefore, psychiatrists prescribe medications that can control the condition during an exacerbation.

In the acute stage, schizophrenia is kept under control with medications. But the patient periodically experiences a period of remission. This means that signs of a mental disorder do not appear and the person feels normal. At this moment, he may think that the pathology is over, but in the near future repeated attacks and exacerbation of the pathology may occur.

Paranoid schizophrenia

Paranoid schizophrenia is a mental disorder with characteristic distortions in the system of perception and thinking. The main feature of this disease is the predominance of delusions and hallucinations in the overall clinical picture. The nature of the disease is not fully understood; scientists adhere to both the biochemical theory (the occurrence of the disorder due to disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system) and the psychological theory (the development of pathology against the background of mental trauma, neuroses, stress).

There is no single view on the origin of the disease yet.

The course of the disease is very diverse and is accompanied by a number of specific syndromes and signs, the main one of which is delirium. Symptoms and signs of paranoid schizophrenia in women at the height of the disease:

the presence of more than an idea and a change in the habitual behavior of people;
joining real memories of fictional pictures from the past;
patients' confidence in their special purpose, strength, or sensitive intuition and insight;
the presence of delusions or hallucinations;
the appearance of meaningless thoughts (abstract monologues) when answering the simplest questions;
distortion of the emotional sphere (development of sullenness, anger, irritability, hatred, embitterment, indifference, etc.).

The disease develops gradually, progressively. In the initial period, obsessive and ritual actions, a desire to isolate oneself from social and professional activities, a sharp narrowing of the circle of friends and interests, and changes in emotional response may prevail.

Senile schizophrenia: symptoms and signs in the early stages

The quality of a person’s life when mental illness appears, as a rule, depends on the timely detection of the first signs of pathology. However, in the initial phase of the formation of psychosis, the symptoms are so ambiguous that months and years may pass before loved ones notice the presence of problems.