There are several effective treatments, both psychotherapeutic and pharmacological, which in some specific cases work better together
I’m 23 and I’m living in some kind of hell. I am being treated by a psychotherapist, with whom I deal with different aspects of my life, but I would also like to have a psychiatric opinion. For almost three months I have had fixed thoughts that torment me and are increasingly difficult to manage. I started having obsessive thoughts of an aggressive type towards people close to me: I imagine hurting them, attacking them and consequently I avoid being alone with them or with knives in hand. After a month things got worse because, looking on the internet, I thought I had the symptoms of schizophrenia and the suggestion was so great that I started to imagine having visual and auditory hallucinations: from that moment I live constantly in terror of starting to seeing or hearing things that are not real. My psychologist says it is all due to the anxiety that has built up due to several negative events that have happened in the last few months, but I cannot convince myself of it. All it takes is having a single intrusive thought and immediately I begin to fear that I have a mental illness. Can it really be “just” anxiety?
He answers Giancarlo Cerveradirector of the ASST Psychiatry Complex Operating Unit in Lodi (GO TO THE FORUM)
To begin with, I start with your final question, “can it really be just anxiety?“. I don’t think I can carry out an adequate diagnostic evaluation with only the information you have provided me (for this reason I recommend that you contact a psychiatrist specialist), but I can do some reflections. It is not “just anxiety”, because this expression liquidates her story to something little more serious than a bit of a headache, instead her existence is completely occupied by her ailments which inevitably cause her not only a very intense subjective discomfort , but also a total impossibility of carrying out the daily actions that are necessary in the progression of its existence. From the description she gives of her discomfort it would seem to be defined as a painting of obsessive compulsive disorder.
Disabling pathology
A pathological condition that arises early (in 25% of cases before the age of 14), if not treated, has a chronic relapsing course and is characterized by the presence of recurring, persistent and unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and / or behaviors or mental actions that an individual feels compelled to do in response to obsessions (compulsions). We are talking about a condition with prevalence (diffusion, ed) slightly higher than 1%. The functional impairment is very high and, thanks to the early onset and chronic course, it is one of the most disabling pathological conditions identified by the World Health Organization. Obsessive thoughts lead to marked personal malaise, especially if they involve dangerous actions (self or heteroaggression). The sense of strangeness with which these thoughts are perceived sometimes makes us think of those who suffer from “go crazy».
Psychotherapy and drugs
In summary, if you suffer from this disorder, we are talking about a potentially very serious pathological condition. The good news is that there are several therapeutic modalities that have been shown to be effective. Both specific psychotherapeutic approaches and psychopharmacological treatments with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors produce a significant reduction in symptoms and in many cases even a complete remission of the picture. In more complex cases, the combination of both interventions is necessary. In conclusion, I invite you to contact a psychiatrist specialist who can confirm the diagnosis and offer you an adequate treatment, with the aim of helping you to reach a clinical condition of well-being.
March 20, 2022 (change March 20, 2022 | 10:36)
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