Difference between neurosis and psychosis.

When a person develops a neurosis or psychosis, it becomes noticeable to others. Some manifestations of such states may even coincide. Meanwhile, there are good reasons to separate these mental disorders from each other.

Definition

Neurosis is a concept common to a group of psychogenic disorders characterized by a long course. In patients with such disorders, obsessive states, asthenic or hysterical manifestations are observed, as well as a general decrease in working capacity.

Psychosis is a cardinal disorder of the psyche, which is expressed in inadequate mental reactions to real life situations and disorganized behavior.

Comparison

Causes of occurrence

Neurosis most often occurs under the influence of psychogenic factors. The nervous system can malfunction after prolonged overexertion, prolonged stress, or a situation that traumatizes the psyche. In some cases, the characteristics of a person's character, the conditions of his life, errors of upbringing, heredity play a role.

The causes leading to psychosis are most often organic. These include congenital pathologies and brain injuries, tumors. Psychosis can also develop against the background of alcohol dependence or an infectious disease. Sometimes the reasons are psychosocial: disharmony in family relationships, conflicts, negative events.

Symptoms

With neurosis, a person psychologically feels very uncomfortable. Irritability and mood instability appear. Sensitivity increases: minor stress can provoke despair, a loud sound or flash of light is too scary. Unjustified anxiety is present and phobias develop. Even with light exertion, fatigue occurs. Self-esteem may drop sharply, or, on the contrary, it becomes overestimated.

Neurosis also has physiological manifestations: it is a nervous tremor of the limbs, muscle malaise, often fever or chills, excessive sweating, and sleep problems. However, despite such serious symptoms, the difference between neurosis and psychosis is that psychosis is an even more dangerous condition.

In this case, perception and thinking suffer greatly. The patient may be haunted by hallucinations, which he takes for reality. The person is delusional, often overexcited. Sometimes, on the contrary, depression and lethargy are observed. The patient is not able to adequately assess the situation. There is no self-control. A person suffering from such a disorder often has a speech disorder, a senseless repetition of movements, and the performance of rituals that are understandable only to the patient. The predominant symptomatology allows you to determine the form of psychosis: manic, paranoid, depressive or otherwise.

Self-criticism, personality change

A neurotic patient retains the ability to control his actions. He is aware of his condition, worries about it, tries to cope with it on his own or turns to specialists. The personality of a person as a whole is not destroyed.

Psychosis is insidious in that the suffering person does not recognize himself as sick. He considers his actions, which can be aggressive, absolutely correct. However, the patient does not always pose a danger to others. Often he is tormented by fear and anxiety, and he, immersed in his own world, moves away from other people. Psychosis changes and destroys the personality, therefore, such a state should not be allowed to take its course.

Chances of cure

What is the difference between neurosis and psychosis regarding the possibility of getting rid of them? The fact that neurosis, even long-term, is successfully treated. It is a reversible disorder. Psychosis is much more difficult to treat. The possibility of a cure here depends on many factors, and in some cases there is a chance of success.

People with neurosis sometimes fear that their condition may turn into psychosis. In this case, you should calm down. The mechanisms of the appearance and development of the described disorders are so different that the neurosis does not pass into the form of psychosis. [thirty].