What is neurasthenia: symptoms and signs of “workaholic disease”

Every day the number of patients who suffer from one or another neurosis is growing. Situational neurosis is quite common. This is a neurotic syndrome that occurs from stress, while a person experiences strong feelings and anxiety. If neurosis is not treated in a timely manner, it can develop into damage to the body’s systems and individual organs.

Situational neurosis is a type of neurotic disorder. It develops under the influence of unresolved internal or external conflict and is reversible if the situation that caused it is eliminated.

Stages of neurotic disorder

Neurotic reactions that are repeated frequently sooner or later turn into neurosis. How soon this happens depends on the strength and duration of the impact of the situation on the body.

But it is worth understanding that neurosis is not a disease, but a reversible functional disorder. Due to their ignorance, many people think that a neurotic is someone like crazy. But this is a huge misconception. In fact, 80% of people suffering from neuroses are unaware of their disorder. And there are many more of us like this than it seems. In fact, every 2-3 residents of a big city are neurotic.

Stages of development of situational neurosis:

• A weakened state of the body that contributes to the development of psychosomatic symptoms and can later lead to illness.
• Acute nervous system disorder.
• Chronic neurosis.
• The neurotic state becomes a person’s nature (character, behavior, personality traits change).

The concept of “situational neurosis” is not in ICD-10, since this condition is not a disease. But there are several items in the handbook that correspond to this disorder. This will be mentioned in more detail below.

Although neuroses are not classified as somatic or mental illnesses, they must be treated without fail. Their therapy should be taken as seriously as possible. Being in this state, a person feels very bad and needs qualified help.

Description

The ICD code for situational neurosis has not been assigned. The pathology ranges from F34 to F68.

This type of neurosis is also called neurasthenia. It occurs when a person experiences a strong traumatic event. It differs in that the patient is well aware that he is replaying the same difficult situation in his head, but he cannot cope with it himself. He becomes more and more immersed in his experiences, his condition worsens more and more.

Situational neurosis is a disorder that occurs in response to a specific situation. It has many manifestations, just like other neuroses. Its cause is exactly the same as that of other neuroses - it is an unresolved conflict. For example, a conflict between possibilities and desires, reality and expectations, internal, interpersonal, etc. A feature of this type of neurotic disorder is that the situation that provoked it is usually quite specifically designated in the human mind.

Causes of situational neurosis

The main cause of situational neuroses is a person’s destructive reactions to a particular event, the inability or unwillingness to adequately assess the current situation, the inability to defend one’s rights, interests, and express one’s true desires and intentions.

It is also the result of conscious or unconscious suppression of one’s true desires and needs.

People can absorb similar patterns of behavior in childhood, copying the behavior of their loved ones (parents, relatives, older sisters, brothers, friends, teachers).

Sometimes such forms of reaction appear during adulthood.

In essence, neurotic behavior is a kind of defensive reaction of the psyche. A person cannot currently cope with the problem that has arisen and closes himself off from it. But the internal conflict does not disappear anywhere. Tension remains in both the body and the nervous system.

The central nervous system weakens and physical symptoms gradually begin to appear.

A striking example of situational neurosis, which has probably happened to you:

The salesman in the store was rude to you, but you chose to restrain yourself so as not to look ridiculous in the eyes of other people, although everything was boiling inside and you really wanted to answer, to put the unfortunate person in his place. It seems to you that you have calmed down, but when you came home you lost your temper with the children because they were making noise.

Then you spent the whole evening in a bad mood, because there was a residue from the insult and an unpleasant feeling that you had taken it out on the children. You didn’t even realize that you splashed out your energy charge, which was intended for the offender, on your loved ones. This is a neurotic reaction.

But it would be worth simply expressing in the most cultural form what you really thought and wanted to express at the time of the conflict, your internal charge would be exhausted and you would feel good.

Common causes of situational neurosis:

• death of loved ones;
• industrial conflicts;
• conflicts in the family;
• interpersonal conflicts;
• conflicts within the individual;

Family conflicts are one of the most common causes of a disorder such as neurosis!

Specifics

If the conflict situation is clearly defined (the person is aware of what exactly disturbs his balance), if it affects him strongly enough, situational neurosis may arise. Its mandatory condition is the absence of a visible way out of the problem for a person. This does not mean that the issue cannot actually be resolved. It’s just that a person is in the system of his ideas and simply does not see such a way out.

A specific feature of situational neurosis is its clear connection to certain circumstances and its limited time. People say what caused the deterioration in their condition. Sometimes there is a painful fixation of attention on any factors related to the situation. The patient exaggerates the significance of various facts. Sometimes there is also a bias towards everyone involved in a protracted conflict or negative expectations.

Factors that predispose to the appearance of neurosis include features of the human psyche: rigidity, conflict, thoroughness, suspiciousness, general social disadvantage, pathological thoroughness. At the same time, the significance of external influence on a person is not absolute. The main role in the development of such neurosis is played not by life circumstances, but by the human reaction to them. However, conflict resolution most often eliminates the symptoms of situational neurosis.

Psychological conflicts – causes of neuroses

The disorder most often arises on the basis of conflicts created in the mind, which are of two types:

1. External . They are characterized by a discrepancy between the demands of the situation and the patient’s reaction to it.
2. Internal . This is a struggle between logical conclusions and desires.

Situations that lead to neurotic conflict:

1. In demand . The difficulty of making a decision when you need to settle on one of two desires of equal strength.
2. Undesirables . The impact of negative emotions when it is necessary to choose any of the unfavorable directions.
3. Ambiguous . Overload of consciousness, which has to find a suitable goal among ambiguous directions, where there are positive and negative qualities.

Some people have the ability to react to a difficult situation with a whole bunch of neuroses: weak people simply protect themselves from difficulties with neuroses. “Heart attacks” and pathological fears become the only way to get help from others.

The strength of mental trauma and symptoms depend not only on the situation, but also on the characteristics of the body: character, gender, age, upbringing, education, profession. ICD-10 recognizes this. Therefore, one person neutralizes the trauma, while the other remains inactive, which leads to neurotic conflicts.

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Causes of neurotic depression

The development of a depressive state is due to the depletion of psychological defense mechanisms that are triggered by the nervous system in stressful situations. Psychotraumatic factors and constitutional characteristics of the individual can contribute to the formation of the disease from an early age.

The basis on which depressive neurotic disorders subsequently develop may be a lack of interaction with parents, suppression of the individual by peers or loved ones. Psychiatrists have noted cases where the development of a mental disorder occurs against the background of decreased motor activity and the absence of positive emotions and experiences.

Acute form of situational neurosis - symptoms

The cause of situational nervous disorder is stress that arises from a specific situation if a person is not adapted to it or cannot resolve it the way he would like. This is written about in ICD-10 in the category code F43.

This condition saves the patient from further depletion of the nervous system. If a neurotic person becomes comfortable in his status, then he may subconsciously not want to return to normal, pushing away all methods of treatment. And this is the most dangerous thing. Outwardly, he may constantly talk about how bad he feels and how he would like to be healthy, but deep inside he himself will resist his recovery. This reaction, often unconscious, is called in psychology the secondary benefit of the disease.

When a patient brings home his diagnosis of neurosis (situational or any other) on a clinic form, he has a real chance to convict his relatives and people close to him for bringing him to such a state.

The reasons for this behavior of the patient:

1. He wants sympathy.
2. He hopes that in this way he will not have to solve the difficulties that have arisen (avoiding the problem).
3. Looks for an excuse for his inactivity and helplessness.
4. Tries to manipulate the behavior of loved ones and people around him.

Often this gives positive results even without a course of treatment, that is, the “culprits” of the nervous disorder begin to behave well:

• The husband stops drinking.
• Children begin to obey.
• Relatives stop interfering in the internal affairs of the family.
• The employees are becoming polite.

The acute form can last from 1-2 hours to several months and end with stabilization of the body’s condition or transition to the next stage - chronic with persistence of symptoms. This is stated in ICD-10 when describing the disease with code F43.2. The result can be influenced not so much by the treatment as by the patient’s mood.

Neuroses most often visit those who have a predisposition to them. The risk group includes people who have relatives suffering from psycho-emotional disorders, because most neuroses are transmitted genetically. Vulnerable, sensitive, and lonely people also have an increased chance of becoming “neurotic.”

Treatment methods

The first thing to do in the treatment of situational neurosis is to try to eliminate the unfavorable situation that caused the disease. It is recommended to work with a psychotherapist to change the attitude towards the problem and resolve traumatic situations.

There are two types of psychotherapy:

• Casual, in which the patient must understand the reasons why his illness arose, and also find ways to resolve this situation.
• Rational is a method in which the patient’s intellect is strengthened and developed. This is a method of re-educating a person. Often the cause of neurosis is an overly impressionable attitude towards life situations. By teaching the patient to react correctly to certain life moments, the doctor teaches him to control himself and understand the cause-and-effect relationship - why and how the disease arose and how to recover from it and how to prevent its occurrence in the future. This psychotherapy is very effective for situational neurosis.

In the treatment of situational neurosis, medication is also used. It should normalize the basic processes of the nervous system - inhibition and excitation. They use drugs such as tazepam, seduxen, napoton, elenium, but only a qualified specialist can prescribe them after examination and identifying the severity of the disease.

Also, physiotherapeutic measures such as massage, wet wraps and salt-pine baths will not be superfluous in the treatment of neurosis. Light sports games and gymnastics will also help reduce the level of nervous tension.

Situational neurosis must be treated immediately, because if the patient has reached the fourth stage of his illness, then it is almost impossible to cure him!

Protracted neurosis

If the cause of the disorder is not eliminated, then situational neurosis can drag on for many years. The neurotic stops believing in his recovery. Even drug treatment does not help. Actually, neuroses respond very poorly to drug therapy, since their root always lies in the psyche.

An organism weakened by illness can easily be subject to other stress, as F43.0 of ICD-10 warns.

A prolonged neurosis can have a wave-like character: it either subside until the symptoms completely disappear, then reappear under appropriate circumstances.

A neurotic person often has a feeling of self-pity. Thoughts about a failed life may come: the patient begins to feel that he has always been treated unfairly. He often becomes the “hero of a difficult fate” and brags about his troubles. Any conversations are painted in negative shades.

Asthenic syndrome

This neurotic state develops in stages. First, a person notices the appearance of increased fatigue, due to which he becomes emotionally unstable. Irritability quickly gives way to passivity and apathy, indifference to everything that happens around. Subsequently, a distorted perception of events and the picture of the world arises.

Also, asthenic syndrome is characterized by daytime sleepiness. Many people complain of increased sweating and severe headaches. It is with this disorder that most mental illnesses begin.

Chronic neurosis changes personality

If another stress occurs during the illness, it results in new complaints to others. Since the patient receives sympathy and help, such tactics become the norm of behavior.

With a long course of background neurosis, the character of the sufferer changes, not for the better.

If physical symptoms are also present, this further helps the neurotic to surround himself with an aura of sympathy. In this way, he adapts to the corresponding situation, without resolving his internal conflict and without understanding his problems.

This is written in F43 ICD-10. Treatment of symptoms becomes unprofitable for the patient.

At this stage, neurosis is difficult to cure. The more the sufferer’s psyche gets bogged down in its own traps, the more difficult it is for him to get out of them. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of neurosis as soon as the first signs begin to appear.

Tests and diagnostics

The specialist carries out diagnostics, assessing the clinical picture, as well as the complaints of the patient and his loved ones. In the process of establishing a diagnosis, it is imperative to visit a therapist and carry out the examinations that he prescribes in order to exclude other diseases.

Since neurasthenia can be a sign of brain diseases. Therefore, it is important to conduct a CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging to rule out such diseases. The doctor may also prescribe rheoencephalography to assess blood circulation in the brain.

Symptoms of situational and prolonged neurosis

First of all, neurosis manifests itself in human behavior.

A person suffering from the disorder may react to an undesirable situation in the following ways:

• Aggression.
• We're crying.
• Hysterical (usually ostentatious).
• Seeking the sympathy of other people.
• Closedness.
• Solitude in your thoughts.
• Numb.
• Avoiding people.

In severe cases, depression may occur.

Physical symptoms of a neurotic disorder:

• Hyperventilation syndrome.
• Hypocapnia is a lack of carbon dioxide in the blood.
• Hypoxia is a lack of oxygen in the blood.
• Respiratory alkalosis is the excessive removal of carbon dioxide from the lungs.
• As described by ICD-10, secondary symptoms appear as a result:
• Heartache.
• Shortness of breath.
• Cough.
• Dyspnea.
• Lack of air.
• Tachycardia.
• Unstable pulse (arrhythmia).
• Vomiting, diarrhea.
• Belching.
• Flatulence.
• Dizziness.
• Impaired movement coordination.

These symptoms can lead to panic attacks, which often happens in people with prolonged neurosis. Almost constantly a person experiences conditions such as tension, fatigue, and irritability. It becomes difficult to concentrate on certain work. Memory begins to work poorly, sleep and appetite are disturbed.

Which doctor should I contact?

Who treats neurasthenia?

Effective therapy for the disorder consists of influencing physical and mental health, therefore, after the patient contacts a therapist, it is necessary to visit a psychotherapist .

Specialists will need to not only correct the patient’s current unstable condition, but also try to find the main emotional cause of the imbalance that has begun in his body in order to prevent a relapse of the disease.

You should not ignore the recommendation to undergo examination and treatment by a psychotherapist. The statement, the essence of which is that most human diseases develop due to problems with the nervous system, is not just a catchy, loud phrase.

Life is full of examples when it was the fortitude of spirit that helped a person overcome unimaginable physical and emotional overloads, which became the last frontier in life for people with a less stable psyche.

And, unfortunately, the “chest” with statistics is no less in volume, when worries about one single fact drove a person to insanity or death.

Types of neurosis

Situational neurosis, turning into chronic, has its own types. Their development depends on the character of the person himself, his inclinations and personality traits.

Hysterical type

A person with a hysterical type of neurosis may have the following character traits:

• Inflated self-esteem.
• Selfishness.
• Indecisiveness.
• Suspiciousness.
• Lack of concentration.
• Suggestibility.
• Emotionality.
• Anxiety.
• Impulsiveness.
• Compliance.

Situational neurosis is characterized by inflated demands on the surrounding world. A person can completely ignore traditions, etiquette, and even such real facts as cold in winter and warmth in summer.

At the same time, the patient allows himself not to criticize himself. His thoughts work according to the following image: “The world should be the way I imagine it. Everything around me must adapt to me.”

This type of neurosis is demonstrated by the fairy-tale hero - Princess Nesmeyana. Here the cause of the disorder lies in upbringing. Treatment should occur only through psychotherapy.

Neurosthenic type

The demands placed on oneself are too high here. A person demands the impossible from himself. And when he fails, he panics.

A conflict arises when there are needs that are unrealistic for an individual to achieve in a given situation:

• A specific position.
• External data.
• Sexual qualities.
• Active communication.
• Self-expression.

When hopelessness has not taken over the entire consciousness, then the conflict may not end in neurosis. Otherwise, a disorder of the nervous system occurs.

It depends both on the situation and on the body's ability to counteract unfavorable thoughts.

Characteristic qualities of a patient with a neurasthenic type of disorder:

• Increased responsibility.
• Conscientiousness.
• High sensitivity to criticism.
• Intractability.

The performance of such individuals can be high and spurred by anxious thoughts.

Obsessive-psychasthenic type

This type of disorder can be called behavioral weakness. It is expressed in the fact that the individual cannot decide what he needs. Today he wants to be a sailor, tomorrow a scientist, and the day after tomorrow he goes to work as a loader and curses himself for his failed life.

Conflicting demands on oneself cause internal conflicts, which lead to an inferiority complex.

Characteristics of such a person:

• Passivity.
• Uncertainty.
• Weakness.
• Indecisiveness.
• Lack of concentration.
• Anxiety.
• Suspiciousness.
• Sensitivity to criticism.
• Impressionability.
• Responsibility.
• Conscientiousness.

Here, emotionality combined with restraint is characteristic: the individual experiences the received impressions within himself. This leads to non-standard conclusions and contributes to the development of self-hypnosis: the patient tends to form long logical chains in the brain and draw conclusions that do not correspond to reality.

Etiology of the pathological process

Most often, neurosis-like conditions arise in childhood, as well as against the background of trauma or intrauterine disorders. However, a later onset of the disease cannot be ruled out. It may be due to the following reasons:

1. Mental disorders (schizophrenia, epilepsy).
2. Organic brain lesions.
3. Endocrine and hormonal disorders (diabetes, hyperthyroidism).
4. Somatic diseases affecting the cardiovascular system, liver and gall bladder, gastrointestinal tract.
5. Pathologies of an allergic nature.

The occurrence of a neurosis-like syndrome cannot be considered a consequence of the diseases listed above. On the other hand, as they arise and develop, they lead to disruptions in the functioning of certain brain structures. As a result, disruptions occur in the neurodynamics of the cortical membranes.

Neurosis-like syndrome in children

What it is? This is a pathology, the existence of which many parents learn quite late. In children, its first symptoms appear between the ages of 2 and 7 years. Among the main causes of the disorder, doctors identify the following:

• pathologies of intrauterine development;
• smoking, drinking alcohol by a woman during pregnancy;
• diseases of the central nervous system of various etiologies;
• birth injuries.

In children, a neurosis-like disorder is considered an intermediate state between an organic disorder and neurosis itself. Sometimes it can go away on its own and without medical intervention. The child “outgrows” the illness because his brain has enormous potential for regeneration.

By about 12 years of age, the symptoms that characterize neurosis-like syndrome in children disappear. The main manifestations of the pathology are tearfulness and aggression, nightmares, and numerous phobias. The clinical picture is practically no different from that in adults. It’s still not worth waiting for the problem to be resolved on your own. Even small patients require qualified medical care.

Possible complications

 In conditions of unrecognized neuroses, severe depression, anorexia nervosa and affective disorders develop. With such complications, children may attempt suicide or complete suicide. According to statistical estimates, from 70 to 75% of adolescents who attempt suicide have a traumatic factor in the family or at school. Without timely help in case of neurosis, they determine long-term changes in personality and character. In adulthood, this leads to problems of socialization, disruption of mutual understanding in marriage and the formation of neuroses in unborn children.

Symptoms

Asthenic neurosis (neurasthenia).

 It is formed in children with characteristic shyness and mistrust. This often occurs after long-term infectious diseases, against the background of chronic stress or overwork. Neurosis is manifested by sleep disturbances, anxiety, and unreasonable fears. The patient develops insufficient sensitivity to common stimuli: noise, intense light. No somatic symptoms, headache, discomfort in the cardiac region, or gastrointestinal disorders were noted. Often herbal components are combined: a feeling of goosebumps, chills, sweating.