Neurosis and Psychosis

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade

Asst, professor
Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Nursing, Sangli
Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli Maharashtra INDIA
INDIA
 Mental illness
• Mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person’s
thinking, mood, emotions, ability to relate to others and day-to-day
activities. Depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety,
phobias and post traumatic stress disorders are some of the less
severe mental disorders. Schizophrenia, multiple personality
disorder and manic depressive psychosis are more severe mental
disorders that distort reality due to hallucinations and delusions.

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli

INDIA
• The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as a state of
subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence,
intergenerational dependence and self-actualization of one’s intellectual and
emotional potential, among others.
• Mental illnesses can affect a person of any age and are not a result of bad
morals, poor upbringing or any kind of personal weakness. It may occur
following a traumatic history at any stage of life. Most of us experience strong
feelings of anxiety, sadness and panic at a given time and then recover over time.
Mental illness occurs when these feelings interfere with coping of daily activities
such as enjoying leisure time, work and relationships. Treatment for mental
illness is possible with behavior modification, counseling, suggestion therapies
and drugs.

There are several categorizations of mental illnesses. With respect to being in

touch with reality, mental illnesses can be listed under two categories –

• Neurosis and Psychosis.

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli

INDIA
 Neurosis
• Neurosis is an exaggerated use of defense mechanisms to escape
the feelings of a situation or event that the person wants to avoid.
For example, showing unusual fear or anxiety to escape certain
situations. Anxiety, depression, phobias and eating disorders are
some types of neurosis. Although these are experienced at a
smaller scale by everyone, if these feelings interfere with day-to-
day activities, help must be given.

Persons with neurosis can understand that they have a

problem that hinders their life routine, but they can’t resolve it
themselves. Neurotics exhibit unusual anxiety to escape certain
situations, though this is at their subconscious level. The anxiety
experienced by a neurotic person depends on the type of the
disorder.
Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli
INDIA
 Types of Neurosis
• Anxiety neurosis: Most of us experience anxiety in certain
situations like exams, interviews and so on. However, a person
with neurosis may get panic attacks such as heart palpitations,
numbness, fainting, chills, etc. The fears are so overpowering that
the person cannot carry out the function and can hinder day-to-
day activities.

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli

INDIA
• Phobias: It refers to extreme fears of certain objects or situations. They are
thought to be a result of a previous bad experience and the person is
affected so much that they avoid the situation totally. If faced with the
situation, they get panic attacks. This condition can be treated by behavior
modification and by associating the experiences with pleasant outcomes.
Example: fear of heights, fear of crowded places and so on.

Obsessive-Compulsive disorder: It is a persistent unwanted thought or

belief that causes anxiety and to get rid of this anxiety, the person has to
perform a certain act or behave in a certain way. Example: Fear of germs is
an obsession and washing of hands is act of compulsion. The person is fully
aware that this fear is irrational but cannot help from doing the act to get rid
of anxiety caused by the obsessive thought.

Depression: It is a serious mental health disorder that can be associated

with bitter life experiences or imbalance of chemicals in the body. Feelings
of sadness, hopelessness, guilt and despair are the main symptoms of
depression. Normally such feelings get resolved over time, but when it is
neurotic depression, it can affect the daily living of the person such as
taking up responsibilities and taking care of family.
Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli
INDIA
• Eating disorder: Eating disorders are also similar to obsessive
disorders, but pertain specifically to the eating patterns and the anxiety
that it causes.
Bulimia: It is an eating disorder, in which the persons binge-eat and then induce
vomiting, and starve themselves to “compensate”. The therapy involves helping
to find healthier ways to eat and dealing with personal conflicts.

Anorexia nervosa: It is a disorder that causes reduced intake of food by

the affected person. The persons are obsessed with the thought that they
may become obese and reduce their food intake. Even if they eat, they
try to get rid of the food in the stomach with laxatives and vomiting,
before it is properly absorbed by the body. They may even over-exert
themselves by exercising compulsively to spend the calories they have
taken in.

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli

INDIA
 Psychosis
• Persons with psychotic disorders do not understand that
they have a problem. They live in the world of delusions
and hallucinations and their behavior is a result of the
beliefs based on these hallucinations. Their thought
processes, beliefs and emotions are so impaired that they
lose contact with reality. They also show great personality
changes, dramatic mood swings, abnormal emotional
responses and lack of orientation of time, place and people
around them.
The three main causes of psychosis include:
• Functional – Mental illness such as schizophrenia and
bipolar disorder
• Organic – Chemical imbalance, brain tumors, sleep
deprivation
• Psychoactive drugs – Hallucinogens, amphetamines and
barbiturates
Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli
INDIA
 Types of Psychotic Disorders
• Schizophrenia: It refers to a group of severe mental disorders that have symptoms
of hallucinations, delusions, distorted thought processes and abnormal emotions. The
person is totally withdrawn from reality. Schizophrenia manifests in different ways in
different individuals like some withdraw into themselves without reacting to any
stimulus while others may have delusions of grandeur with unrealistic and illogical
thinking.
Manic Depressive Psychosis: This type of psychosis is characterized by extreme mood
swings from being very happy or extremely aggressive to totally withdrawn. During the
manic phase, the person may seem to have unlimited energy and find difficulty in
sleeping. During the depression stage, the person becomes extremely tired, hopeless and
totally withdrawn. Such a person may even consider suicide. The person is not
connected to reality, but is there is no identity loss.
Dissociative Identity Disorder: Also called Multiple Personality Disorder, the identity
disorder involves a disturbance in both memory and identity of the individual. There is
a presence of two or more distinct personalities within one body and each personality is
not aware of the presence of the other. The cause of multiple personality disorder is
thought to be extreme physical, sexual, emotional or psychological abuse, over a
sustained period of time. People with dissociative personality disorder may experience
various kinds of emotions. These include depression, mood swings, suicidal tendencies,
panic attacks, sleep disorders, auditory and visual hallucinations and eating disorders.

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli

INDIA
• Organic Psychosis: The condition that involves delusions and
hallucinations due to the effect of damage to the brain tissue is organic
psychosis. The causes of organic psychosis can be untreated syphilis, heavy
use of alcohol and drugs, brain tumor, meningitis and chemical imbalances
in the nervous system. Some drugs can cause side-effects that result in
mental disorders.

Drug-induced Psychosis: Drugs like cocaine, marijuana or cannabis and

other hallucinogens can cause psychotic symptoms in an individual who is
predisposed to psychosis. Early symptoms of drug-induced psychosis
surface up very slowly and progress with the continued use of the drugs.
The symptoms that manifest can be indicative of schizophrenia and bipolar
disorders and might wear off after the effects of the drug wears off.
However, the frequent and prolonged drug users can have more lasting
symptoms.

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli

INDIA
 Neurosis vs. Psychosis
• Both neurosis and psychosis are signs of mental
imbalance. They are used interchangeably in day-
to-day use, but medically are quite different from
each other. While neurosis refers to the inner
struggles and mental and physical disturbances,
psychosis is a major personality disorder marked
by gross mental and emotional disturbances.
Neurosis is mild mental disorder and psychosis
refers to “insanity” or “madness”.

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli

INDIA
• Prognosis: Symptoms of neurosis are temporary and with the
will and cooperation of the patient, the treatment outcome is
usually good. Treatment of psychotics is long-term, relatively
constant and outcome is less favorable. Even if the person
appears to become “normal”, there are high chances of relapse
of the psychotic episode.
Treatment: Treatment procedures vary markedly for
psychotics and neurotics. Psychotics need drugs to control their
emotions, behavior and thinking. Neurotics can benefit largely
from counseling, behavior modification and suggestion therapy,
although some drugs are prescribed to calm down anxiety and
help induce sleep.
Although there are differences between psychosis and neurosis,
there is no marked line that can separate the two mental
illnesses. Studies indicate that about 4 to 7% of neurotics
develop psychosis in later life. However, each condition is an
independent entity with a different origin, prognosis and
outcome. Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli
INDIA
Thank You…..

Mr. Narayan K Ghorpade BVDU CON Sangli

INDIA