Neurotic disorders are those emotional or mental disorders that present irrational fear or anxiety significant. Neurotic disorders have no physical cause and do not have psychotic symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations. The term neurosis it is frequently associated with psychoanalysis, but it is not used in clinical psychology as it has been removed from the DSM. It refers to a person who suffers from any degree of depression or anxiety, feelings of sadness, low self-esteem or emotional instability.
The treatment of these disorders can be psychotherapy, psychotropic drugs, or a combination of both. While some types of neurotic disorders respond well to treatment, others are recurrent. In this Psychology-Online article we tell you what are some of the most common neurotic disorders in adults.
Index
- What is a neurotic disorder
- Panic disorder
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Other very common neurotic disorders
- Treatment of neurotic disorders
What is a neurotic disorder.
A person diagnosed with a neurotic disorder may present withAnxiety, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, worry, compulsions, and somatization. These symptoms are often triggered by stress and are not part of a "healthy" personality, although it could be an exacerbation of one aspect of the personality.
Many of these symptoms can coexist in the person and therefore, the type of neurotic disorder is defined by the main symptom that the individual experiences.
Neuroticism and neurosis: are they the same?
Researchers when they speak of neurosis give more than one definition and differentiate it from neuroticism. When we speak of neurosis we refer to a disorder characterized by obsessive thoughts or high levels of anxiety while neuroticism is a personality trait that does not have the same negative impact as neurosis in daily life. In non-scientific texts, the two terms are used with the same meaning, but this is not the case, because neuroticism is not a disorder, it is a personality trait.
Panic disorder
A person with panic disorder has panic attacksrecurring and unexpected. A panic attack is an intense episode of fear or anxiety, in which some of the following symptoms are experienced:
- Palpitations
- Sweating, shaking
- Feeling of shortness of breath that causes hyperventilation and a feeling of dizziness, nausea, chest pain ...
- Derealization: feeling that everything around you is unreal
- Depersonalization: feeling of being separated from oneself
- Fear of losing control or dying
Many people begin to change their behaviors and, ultimately, their lifestyle and may develop agoraphobia (fear of being in situations from which it can be difficult to escape).
People with panic attacks may experience constant or intermittent anxiety levels between attacks and 50% of people with panic attacks also have depression. 20% of the population will have a panic attack in their lifetime. Its lifetime prevalence is 1.5-3.5%.
Generalized anxiety disorder.
It is characterized by a excessive anxiety and worry present most of the time for 6 months. It is usually associated with symptoms such as tension, insomnia, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and a variety of physical symptoms such as headache, sweating, and palpitations.
For someone to be diagnosed with this disorder, they must have experienced severe symptoms of stress or have significant problems in various areas of functioning (work, school, family ...). Many people report feeling an excessive level of anxiety throughout their lives.
In this other article we discover you what to do before an anxiety attack.
Phobias
The specific phobias are characterized by a excessive or irrational fear to specific objects or situations. Exposure to the feared object or situation can lead to anxiety or panic attacks. The most common feared stimuli are animals, blood, injections... 8% of the population can present a specific phobia but it only becomes a problem if it interferes with the life of the person. Approximately 1% of the population needs treatment for a specific phobia.
The social phobias affect people who have a constant fear of being in social situations. When the person is exposed to the social situation, he experiences anxiety and some physical symptoms such as sweating or diarrhea. The lifetime prevalence of a social phobia ranges between 3-13% and 2% of the population may suffer from this disorder at some point in their life.
Post-traumatic stress disorder.
It is a disorder that is characterized by a series of psychological symptoms that occur after the exposure to a traumatic event for the person. The person may have recurring and intrusive thoughts, images, or perceptions related to that event. This leads you to avoid stimuli that may remind you of the traumatic event. In addition to these symptoms, irritability, concentration problems, sleep problems are also experienced ...
The lifetime prevalence of this disorder is 1% and 30-40% of women report having post-traumatic stress disorder after sexual abuse. In this other article we will discover the causes, symptoms, and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Other very common neurotic disorders.
Here are three other disorders that are also very common in adults:
Depression
It is another common neurotic disorder. A person with depression has intense sadness or despair. Symptoms that interfere with functioning in other areas of your daily life: family, school, work ...
Obsessive compulsive disorder
It is a disorder that is characterized by a series of obsessions and / or compulsions. Obsessions are thoughts, phrases, stereotypical words and without any purpose that the person cannot control or remove from his head.
Compulsions are repeated and meaningless rituals. For example, turning the light on and off a certain number of times in order to alleviate the obsession that something bad is going to happen. The lifetime prevalence of this disorder is 2.5%. It usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood.
Personality disorders
Some personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder are possible manifestations of neurosis. People with this disorder usually have a certain impulsiveness that is manifested through driving Reckless, substance abuse, excessive anger, unstable self-image, suicidal behavior, dissociative symptoms, etc.
Treatment of neurotic disorders.
Treatment can be psychotherapy, psychotropic drugs, relaxation exercises like deep breathing. As for psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy can be used, which is responsible for adjusting the psychological mechanisms that respond inadequately.
Symptoms similar to neurotic disorders have also been treated with creative therapies such as art or music.
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 Most common neurotic disorders in adults, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.
