Alcoholic psychoses

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Hallucinosis is a painful condition characterized by the constant presence of hallucinations (deceptions of perception) with clear consciousness.

In the presence of the phenomenon of pseudohallucinations, they speak of pseudohallucinosis. Pseudohallucinations are false perceptions localized within the body (in the head, in the body), characterized by a feeling of being made by someone from the outside. For example, a voice sounding in the head is perceived as “induced by someone and purposefully influencing.”

Symptoms

Hallucinosis is manifested by the presence of deceptions of perception, relatively constant and homogeneous. For example, this can occur in the form of the presence of “voices” (auditory deceptions), pictures and images (visual deceptions), unpleasant odors (olfactory deceptions), tastes (gustatory deceptions), sensations of touch or pressure (tactile hallucinosis). The difference between hallucinosis is complete clarity of consciousness: orientation in time, place and one’s own personality is completely preserved, all events are fully preserved in memory.

With hallucinosis, delusional ideas may arise, but they are usually unstable and fully correspond to the content of hallucinations. For example, a patient experiencing olfactory hallucinations in the form of unpleasant odors concludes that there is a corpse in the next room. Or, if there are auditory deceptions in the form of voices, he begins to believe that there are people behind the wall who are emitting these voices.

Symptoms and forms

The course of the disease determines its form: acute, subacute, chronic. Each type of mental pathology has its own symptoms.

Course and prognosis

There are two types of hallucinosis: acute and chronic.

Acute hallucinosis develops suddenly and lasts from several hours to several days. Accompanied by a feeling of fear, restlessness, sleep disturbance and impulsive actions. The patient’s critical attitude is often observed; he understands that the deceptions of perception are a mistake of the brain. With adequate treatment, it has a good prognosis and can stop completely.

Chronic hallucinosis is characterized by a long course and is difficult to treat. Relatively orderly and calmer behavior is observed without anxiety or fussiness. Over time, a critical attitude may be lost. It has a poor prognosis and is difficult to treat.

Symptoms of alcoholic hallucinosis

It all starts with anxiety, anxiety and fear appear, and sleep is disturbed. Then auditory hallucinations arise: noises, sounds, words and entire phrases. All this is accompanied by movement disorders.

Over time, verbal hallucinations are supplemented by secondary delusions: persecution, accusations, etc. The patient is often susceptible to panic attacks and becomes extremely suspicious of both strangers and loved ones. Subsequently, delusions and hallucinations are woven into everyday life, becoming its integral elements.

A course of treatment that can only be prescribed by a specialist can relieve the disorder in the shortest possible time. However, after this comes awareness of everything that happened, which can cause depressive affect. That is why the patient needs psychological help from a specialist.

Causes

The development of hallucinosis has many causes. From the consequences of mechanical damage to brain tissue during vascular disorders to endogenous diseases (schizophrenia, psychosis). Damage leads to disruption of the analyzers (brain structures responsible for the perception and processing of information). The German psychiatrist and scientist Wernicke explained the development of hallucinations by irritation of certain areas of the cerebral cortex. Diseases in which hallucinosis may develop:

• Organic brain damage: encephalopathy, consequences of injuries, poisoning, strokes and heart attacks, neoplasms and atrophy of brain tissue.
• Epilepsy.
• Schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
• Alcoholism, drug addiction.
• Oligophrenia.
• For diseases accompanied by decreased vision and hearing.

The most common types of hallucinosis:

Alcoholic hallucinosis

Develops in individuals who abuse alcohol and have a predisposition to endogenous diseases. Most often it occurs in the form of verbal hallucinations (in the form of words, phrases, dialogues, songs).

Visual hallucinosis

It can develop in people who have completely or partially lost their vision.

Gabek's olfactory hallucinosis

The patient begins to feel unpleasant odors, which, as it seems to him, come from himself. Characteristic is a decrease in criticism and the appearance of delusional ideas of the attitude: “those around you smell these smells and therefore behave differently.”

Tactile hallucinosis: Ekbom's dermatozoal hallucinosis

The patient feels crawling and moving on his skin. This causes scratching, itching and general anxiety. The sensations are so believable that patients often refuse to accept the true nature of their complaints and spend a lot of energy on unnecessary tests and consultations to search for imaginary parasites.

Consequences of alcoholic psychosis

Alcoholic encephalopathies are a large group of alcoholic psychoses, in which neurological disorders are combined with mental disorders. The favorite time of year for alcoholic encephalopathy is spring and summer, since development requires a combination of neurological pathology, the disease of the so-called “experienced” drinkers is stage 2-3 of alcoholism. This group includes alcoholic pseudoparalysis and Korsakoff psychosis, as well as Gaye-Wernicke encephalopathy. This disease is protracted and develops over time.

Pathological intoxication (acute psychosis) - develops very quickly and suddenly when taking small doses of alcohol. Acute psychosis is quite often accompanied by aggression and motor agitation. Some psychiatric schools, for some reason, do not include pathological intoxication in the list of alcoholic psychoses.

State of alcoholic delirium. Symptoms: delusions of imaginary influence, auditory hallucinations, as well as visual ones. This is clouding of consciousness. Outwardly, the patient looks quite agitated. When he is tense, he has a desire to run away or hide. He tries to defend himself, as it seems to him, from enemies, bandits, monsters, some demons that appear in his completely unhealthy imagination.

Questions about alcohol psychosis

1. Good afternoon! I have a question for you - please tell me the prerequisites for “delirium tremens” if a person hides around the house and runs around, if he beats his wife in the evening, but in the morning he does not remember anything about it. The English doctor thinks that my husband has had a little too much. Would like to hear what you have to say to this? Thank you.

The described state began to occur after a long binge, and more specifically against the background of a hangover with insomnia, while he develops a feeling of anxiety in the evening and at night, as a result of which he talks about some kind of delusional ideas of persecution, which are accompanied by auditory and visual hallucinations, then you are absolutely right. A person’s actions are poorly controlled and realized in the case of severe alcohol intoxication (alcoholic psychosis), and therefore are not remembered.

2. Hello,... please give me advice on my problem. My name is Dmitry, I’m 23 years old, I’m studying at the university...I’ve been drinking alcohol with my friends for quite a long time...everything would be fine...but recently for the last two weeks...something wrong has been going on in my head...I’ve begun to perceive the world differently ...everything began to irritate, depress some kind of mental inhibition...silence...some strange images arise when I go to bed and can’t for a long time...so I don’t get enough sleep all the time...also my heartbeat has increased...I can’t eat at all...very often I want one thing go into myself... and there in my head... it feels as if someone is having a conversation... doing and answering everything for me. One of my friends recommended that I take a mild sedative, I doubt that it will help me. What do you think about this, maybe this all speaks about the early stage of schizophrenia,... otherwise... thoughts about this do not leave me,... What can be done? To avoid any kind of consequences. Thank you very much in advance.

The described symptoms can be observed both in alcoholic psychosis and mental illness. I would advise going to an appointment with a psychiatrist-narcologist. Never use psychotropic drugs on the advice of your friends, as your condition may worsen if used incorrectly.

3. My dad has been drinking for 15 years. He's currently trying to quit and has been sober for a week, and he's starting to confuse dreams with reality. He speaks out of place, catches some clues, and outwardly he is completely sane and reasonable. Sometimes he says that he was talking to someone, but this person does not exist in reality. What advice do you give him?

I have great doubts about my father’s sanity; by all indications, he has a nervous system disorder associated with uncontrolled alcohol intake. You need to take him to see an experienced doctor.

Alcohol hallucinations

Alcoholic hallucinations are one of the components of alcoholic psychosis. Alcoholic psychosis, which develops with constant drinking of alcohol and is typical for those people who suffer from stages 2 and 3 of alcoholism. Alcohol hallucinations differ from other psychoses in their great diversity. They can be quite complex, or they can be very simple involving a small number of characters. Usually these are visual hallucinations, although sometimes there are auditory and tactile forms. All the plots are identical and they are mostly nightmares. Sometimes there may be visions on the topic of drunkenness or even on an erotic theme.

In their visions, people appear of enormous size, in the form of monsters, animals of enormous size (or very small). It is precisely such hallucinations that intersect with delusion. The delusion is very often aggressive in nature, and the patient may also retell the vision (hallucinatory delusion). Most often, the patient during this is characterized by a state of fear, which can be interspersed with some inappropriate manifestations and primitive humor. Therefore, outwardly the patient corresponds to what is seen in hallucinations: he can run away from persecution, hide, fight, throw off something or someone. Most often, such disturbances intensify and appear in the dark. During daylight hours, as a rule, the disease subsides. This can last from 2 to 5 days. After finishing drinking alcohol, the patient becomes depressed.

Treatment

Therapy for hallucinosis is carried out by a psychiatrist. In case of a mild condition, treatment can be carried out at home, in case of a severe condition - in a 24-hour specialized hospital. Treatment of hallucinosis begins with clarifying the causes and mechanisms of development of this disease. The doctor also establishes all the individual characteristics of the patient: physical and mental state, social factors.

Treatment consists of two stages: the first is active therapy, the purpose of which is to restore normal perception and remove hallucinations, the second is rehabilitation, during which the achieved result is consolidated and measures are taken to prevent relapse of the disease.

The most commonly used treatments for hallucinosis are:

• Drug therapy: neuroleptics, neurometabolic therapy, normothimics and restoratives.
• Physiotherapy: electroanalgesia and electro-sleep.
• Isolation from external stimuli.
• Psychotherapy.
• Therapeutic exercise, general massage.

An important result of treatment is not only the complete cessation of perceptual deceptions (hallucinations), but also the complete restoration of the patient’s critical attitude towards the symptoms he has experienced.

Treatment of hallucinosis at the ROSA clinic:

• Around the clock.
• Anonymously.
• We accept on first request.
• Consultation with our specialist at home or in the clinic.
• Own comfortable hospital with the ability to examine the nervous system, assess the functioning of internal organs, and mental state.
• Assistance in case of forced hospitalization.
• Psychological support for relatives.
• We are one of the few clinics in Moscow that are licensed and certified to provide qualified care for mental disorders in a hospital setting.