Psychology: diseases — симптомы, диагностика и лечение

Depression is a disease, not a weakness of character or “a bad mood that must be endured.” It is characterized by a persistent decline in mood, loss of the ability to experience pleasure and loss of energy, lasting at least two weeks and interfering with work, study and communication. Depression is highly treatable: a combination of psychotherapy and, if necessary, medication returns a person to normal life in most cases. The main obstacle is stigma: people do not seek help for years, believing that they must cope on their own.

Anxiety disorder is a condition in which worry becomes excessive, persistent, and inappropriate to the actual threat. It ceases to be a useful defensive reaction and begins to control life: a person avoids situations, places and actions, the range of possibilities narrows. The peculiarity of anxiety disorders is that they manifest themselves primarily physically—palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness—and patients go to cardiologists and neurologists for years, receiving the conclusion “everything is fine.” Meanwhile, this is one of the most well-studied and most treatable conditions in psychiatry.

A panic attack is a sudden attack of severe fear with violent bodily symptoms: the heart is pounding, lack of air, dizziness, arms going numb, feeling hot and cold. The main thing you need to know is that it sounds paradoxical: people don’t die or go crazy from a panic attack, although during an attack a person is sure of the opposite. The body does not break down at this moment - on the contrary, it turns on the ancient “fight or flight” reaction in full force, only without any real danger from outside. And second, no less important: this is not a fiction, not a pretense, and not a “weak character.” The attack actually occurs in the body, has measurable physiological manifestations, and is highly treatable.

ADHD is a condition in which a child has difficulty maintaining attention, regulating activity and restraining impulses, and not from time to time, as is the case with all children, but constantly, in all areas of life and noticeably stronger than in peers. Let's start with what's most important: ADHD is not the result of poor parenting, permissiveness, spoiling, or a weak character. It is based on the maturation and functioning of brain structures responsible for self-control and planning, and this is confirmed by both research and simple observation - a child with ADHD often sincerely wants to behave differently, but cannot. Strictness by itself does not solve this problem; It is decided by its structure, clear rules, support at school and, if necessary, the help of specialists.

Insomnia is not just “I don’t sleep well,” but a condition in which sleep disturbance occurs at least three nights a week and affects daytime well-being. Its main feature is that over time it breaks away from the original cause and begins to support itself: a person is afraid of not falling asleep, goes to bed with anxiety, and it is this anxiety that prevents sleep. Therefore, sleeping pills, which seem like an obvious solution, work the worst for chronic insomnia - but the first choice is considered to be something completely different.