Delusions and overvalued ideas: definition. Syndrome of overvalued ideas

Many mental illnesses accompanied by disturbances of the thought process. One of the main symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and other morbid States of the psyche is the emergence of delusions and overvalued ideas. What is the difference between these violations and what they have in common? This you will learn after reading this article.

History study and a brief definition

The Term “overvalued ideas” was introduced by the psychiatrist Wernicke in 1892.

Such ideas are expressions of judgment that occur in a patient under the influence of the events of the outside world. The judgment has a strong emotional connotation that dominates the thinking and subjugates human behavior.

Wernicke divided overvalued ideas into two categories:

- normal, in which the feelings of the patient, commensurate with the event that caused them;

- a painful the main symptom of which is excessive exaggeration of their causes.

It is Important to note that focusing on the overvalued idea and the patient finds it difficult to perform other tasks, has difficulty concentrating.

Main features

What is overvalued idea? Psychiatry highlights some of their main characteristics:

- the Ideas are based on real events.

- the Subjective importance of ideas and that of events for the patient is excessively large.

- Always have a strong emotional connotation.

- the Patient can explain the idea to others.

the Idea has a close relationship with the beliefs and values of the patient.

- the Patient seeks to prove the correctness of his ideas to others, while it may behave aggressively.

the Idea has a direct effect on the actions of the patient and his daily activities. We can say that everything that man does is somehow related to his idea, which he is.

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- with some effort, you can reassure the patient of the correctness of the idea.

- the Patient retains the ability to objectively assess your own personality.

Can such ideas occur in healthy people?

Overvalued and obsessions can occur in healthy people who do not suffer from mental illness. As example, scientists who are passionately committed to our work and committed to any scientific idea for which they are willing to neglect their own interests and even the interests of loved ones.

Overvalued ideas are characterized by constancy, they are not alien to the consciousness and make its carrier inharmonious personality. Some psychiatrists, for example, D. A. Americki call ideas like these “dominant”. If a person has a dominant idea, he becomes extremely focused and ready to do anything in order to prove to others his innocence.

It is Worth noting that D. O. Gurevich believed that the dominant ideas cannot be called overvalued in the full sense of the word: they can only indicate the tendency to their occurrence. The researcher believed that overvalued ideas are always the nature of the pathology and make a disharmonious personality, affecting the adaptive capabilities of doing and thinking inconsistent and devoid of logic. However, over time the dominant idea may become overvalued nature, and this is connected with the development of any mental illness. Under certain circumstances it can escalate into delirium: judgment begins to dominate the psyche, dominating the patient's identity and becomes a symptom of a serious mental disorder.

Overvalued and delusions: is there a clear boundary?

Regarding the question of the relationship between delusions and overvalued ideas, there is no consensus. There are two main positions on this question:

the delusions, overvalued ideas and the dominant ideas are independent symptoms;

- any differences between delusions and overvalued ideas does not exist.

Why is there such uncertainty and what does this account of modern psychiatry? Overvalued ideas and delusions do not have a clear definition and a clear boundary between them spend almost impossible. For this reason, in the scientific literature and research, these concepts are often mixed together and are considered synonymous. For example, the main features of overvalued ideas are considered to be a dominant place in the psyche, bright emotional coloring, the ability to reassure the patient of the correctness of the ideas, as well as its understandability to others. However, the first two characteristics are typical for delusional ideas. Some delusional statements patients also may seem understandable and even rational. Therefore, it is safe to say only one differential characteristic: the ability to convince the patient that his idea is erroneous. Syndrome of overvalued ideas are characterized by all the above, except unwavering conviction of the patient in their own right. In the case of nonsense to convince people it is impossible. If the patient is confident in their irrational beliefs, then we can conclude that it has bred.

Causes

Studies show that the appearance of symptoms only two factors:

- Personality traits, that is, tendency to overvalued ideas. As a rule, patients who are found overvalued delusions, are accentuation of character and high values. That is, for the person throughout life is characterized with certain enthusiasm.

- a Particular situation that serves as the “trigger” to begin the formation of overvalued ideas. Often, there are traumatic situations: for example, if a relative of a man seriously ill, it may be overvalued idea concerning the care of their own health. In the premorbid (doblestnom) the individual must be anxious and hypochondriacal features.

Thus, the syndrome of overvalued ideas develops under the same laws as any other disorder neurotic level. A person with a specific premorbid, getting into a traumatic situation, develops a certain idea, which in this case does not conflict with preexisting values and beliefs.

Contents

Overvalued ideas, the classification of which is given below, a tremendous diversity. Most often found the following types:

- the idea of the invention. The patient believes that he can invent some device that will change the lives of mankind. Activities to develop his invention, people are willing to devote all of your time. Interestingly, often similar passion brings good results.

- the idea of reformation. Such ideas are characterized by the fact that the patient is convinced that he knows how to change the world for the better.

- the Idea of adultery. People believe that partner is unfaithful. Attached you will find a lot of effort in order to prove this idea. As evidence of infidelity can be considered too well-groomed appearance, a five minute delay at work or even watching a movie, where he plays the likeable actor.

- Hypochondriacal overvalued and obsessions. People believe that sick dangerous disease. If the doctors cannot find evidence of this idea, that the patient will contact the medical institution and undergo expensive diagnostic procedures to prove his innocence.

Delusions: key features

In some circumstances, overvalued idea, the examples listed above, can be of the nature of delirium. Delirium is a set of judgments that have nothing to do with reality. Delusions entirely possess the minds of the patient, it is impossible to convince.

The Content of delusions is always associated with the events that surround the patient. The content of ideas changes from epoch to epoch. So, in the past centuries was very common mystical ideas associated with witchcraft, possession, damage, evil eye or spell. Today these ideas are regarded as archaic forms of delirium. In the nineteenth century patients of delusions, the basic content of which was self-blame, and thoughts of his own sinfulness. In the early twentieth century was dominated by hypochondriacal ideas, and ideas impoverishment. In our days in patients often, there are ideas of persecution by the security services, the delusional fear of psychotropic weapons, and even ideas about what the world will be destroyed because of the work of the hadron Collider. Nonsense obsession gave way to delusions of control with the aliens from other planets.

It is Worth noting that the occurrence of overvalued ideas is closely connected with the events of the patient's life, in the presence of delirium to determine why ideas have a certain content, it is not always possible.

Basic forms of nonsense

On the basis of mechanisms of the development of delusions, there are three main forms of nonsense:

- Crazy...