Bradipsychia: what is it, causes, symptoms and treatment

Descartes justified his existence through the thought of him in his famous phrase "I think, therefore I am". Thought is inherent to the human being. Thinking in some disorders can be altered for many reasons: because their content is not adaptive or because their form or course is altered.

Regarding its course, it may be abnormally altered and the person may feel that his thinking is slower than normal, which is known as bradypsychia. This pathological phenomenon can be present in different diagnostic pictures. We expand the information on this phenomenon in the following Psychology-Online article on bradypsychia: what it is, causes, symptoms and treatment.

Index

1. What is bradypsychia
2. Causes of bradypsychia
3. Symptoms of bradypsychia
4. Treatment of bradypsychia

Let's see what the health significance of bradypsychia is. Bradypsychia is a concept used to describe slowed thinking. As a formal thought disorder (or thought-course disorder in some classifications) it refers to the inhibition, delay, or retardation of thinking. The person finds it difficult to think, which is reflected, for example, in difficulty in decision-making, difficulty in associating ideas, increased response time, etc.

It is a phenomenon contrary to the tachypsychia, in which thinking is abnormally accelerated.

Bradypsychia is a symptom that can appear in numerous psychological disorders that appear in the DSM-5 diagnostic classification of the American Psychiatric Association.^[1], among which are:

• The depressive disorders As the major depressive disorder.
• The depressive episodes that appear in the Bipolar disorder or the schizoaffective disorder.
• The psychotic disorders as the schizophrenia. In this context, bradypsychia would be part of the negative symptoms.
• Substance use disorder and withdrawal syndrome of these.
• Dementias like dementia kind Alzheimer's wave Parkinson's disease.
• It is also a symptom related to epilepsy.

As we have explained, bradypsychia is a symptom that is present in different diagnostic categories and disorders. To know its cause, we must examine the context in which it appears and take into account the origin of that context.

Disorders caused by neurological causes

Bradypsychia can appear framed in some neurological disorders such as strokes, head injuries, or dementias. Therefore, the symptoms will be caused by brain deterioration resulting from injuries or degeneration.

Disorders caused by psychiatric causes

First of all, bradypsychia, as we have pointed out, can be caused by the substance use psychoactive as well as by the consumption of drugs.

Second, bradypsychia may appear as part of the depressive episodes. In other words, bradypsychia can be a symptom of depression. For such episodes, different explanatory theories have been proposed:

• Biological: such as the deficiency of the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. In this article we explain Neurotransmitters involved in depression.
• Psychological: like the learned hopelessness theory or Beck's cognitive theory.

It can also appear as a negative symptom of psychotic disorders, which also have different causal models, all exposed in the chapter by Godoy, J.F., Godoy-Izquierdo, D. and Vázquez, M.L. (2014)^[2]:

• Biological models related to substance alteration such as dopamine or glutamate, neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, neurodevelopmental disorders or related to viral infections.
• Vulnerability-stress model in which the existence of a biopsychological vulnerability of the patient who interacts with certain socio-environmental stressors and it can lead to psychotic disorder.

Bradypsychia does not constitute any diagnostic category that groups together a series of symptoms. On the contrary, it is itself a symptom of different disorders. However, bradypsychia will manifest itself, among others, through:

• Language: the patient will present a slowed speech.
• An increase in the time the patient slow to respond to stimuli.
• Difficulty in the decision-making process.
• Concentration problems.

As we have pointed out, bradypsychia can appear for various reasons. In order to intervene on it, we must, first of all, contextualize it and clarify its causes, so that we act on them. That is, the treatment of bradypsychia will be different depending on its cause:

In case of drug or substance use

In the event that bradypsychia is being caused by the ingestion of drugs, we should discuss it with the doctor so that he or she can assess the case. As a consequence, he could modify the regimen he prescribed or even substitute drug type for another more suitable.

As we have seen, bradypsychia can also be caused by the ingestion of psychoactive substances. In this case, suspend intake of said substances through outpatient treatment or hospitalization if the case requires it. It should also be necessary to address the withdrawal syndrome in which bradypsychia may appear at a psychological and / or pharmacological level if the case requires it.

In case of a psychological disorder

Finally, if slowed thinking is part of some disorders, especially depressive disorders, we must apply empirically validated treatments for these disorders.

In the case of depressive episodes, the intervention will include:

• Cognitive-behavioral techniques.
• Interpersonal therapy.
• Drug therapy with antidepressants.

On the other hand, in the case of psychotic disorders, the treatment will be multidisciplinary and as complex as the diagnostic picture itself. Said treatment will include antipsychotic drugs and, following Godoy, J.F., Godoy-Izquierdo, D. and Vázquez, M.L. (2014)^[2], if there is a predominance of negative symptoms (including bradypsychia) the Treatment will be more aimed at the rehabilitation of basic functions, especially those cognitive.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Bradipsychia: what is it, causes, symptoms and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

1. American Psychiatric Association (2014). DSM-5. Reference guide to the diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5-Breviary. Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana.
2. Godoy, J.F., Godoy-Izquierdo, D. and Vázquez, M.L. (2014) Spectrum of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders. In Caballo, V.E., Salazar, I.C. And Carrobles, J.A. (2014) Manual of Psychopathology and Psychological Disorders. Madrid. Pyramid.