Alcoholic psychosis (also known as alcoholic schizophrenia) is a condition with various psychotic disorders, resulting in excessive alcohol consumption. There are various forms of alcoholic psychosis. Some of them, such as acute alcohol psychosis, are short-lived, while others are much longer and can be extremely difficult to treat (such as Othello's syndrome).

The speechof alcoholic psychosesis the effect of alcohol on the nervous system. Alcohol is a psychoactive substance that can have a negative effect on the mind and condition of human organs (e.g. cause damage to the liver parenchyma or have a destructive effect on the heart muscle).

In general, psychosis can be defined as a state in which a person perceives reality extremely incorrectly. During an episode of psychosis, patients experience primarily disturbances in thinking, perception and awareness. Psychotic disorders such as hallucinations and delusions are associated with psychoses.

The general view of the pathogenesis of psychoses is based on the assumption that they occur as a result of imbalances in the neurotransmitter systems in the brain. What leads to neurotransmission defects in patients with psychosis is not always detectable, but it is known that such disorders can occur in people who abuse alcohol.

When psychotic symptoms occur in a patient with an alcohol history, the diagnosis of one of several alcoholic psychoses is usually made. Due to the fact that the clinical course of the disorder sometimes resembles schizophrenia, alcoholic psychosis is also known as alcoholic schizophrenia.

Acute alcohol psychosis

Acute alcohol psychosis is a variant of quivering delirium (white alcoholic fever). It usually occurs in people who - especially after a long episode of drinking alcohol regularly - suddenly stop drinking it.

Acute alcohol psychosis is milder than delirium tremens, as patients often do not experience the vegetative symptoms typical of tremor delirium (such as cardiac arrhythmias or extreme sweating) or related to the problem of disturbance of consciousness.

The dominant problem in acute alcoholic psychosis ishallucinations. They are usually auditory hallucinations, but patients may also have abnormal sensations of touch or vision. Auditory hallucinations usually take the form of hearing hostile, unpleasant voices, and the patient can usually assign these voices to someone they know.

Acute alcohol psychosis, like tremor delirium, usually lasts for a maximum of several days.

Alcoholic hallucinosis

Alcoholic hallucinosis occurs in patients who have been addicted to alcohol for many years. Symptoms of the problem may appear both during episodes of constant drinking and during periods of abstinence. As in acute alcoholic psychosis, in alcoholic hallucinosis patients experience primarily auditory hallucinations. They present themselves in the form of voices that can evaluate the patient's behavior, criticize him or persuade him to perform various activities. In connection with hallucinations, patients may also experience delusions, usually of a persecutory nature - such persons may be convinced that someone is planning to do them some harm.

Among the various alcoholic psychoses, it is alcoholic hallucinosis that is most often defined as alcoholic schizophrenia. Due to some similarities between these two psychiatric entities, before a diagnosis of alcoholic psychosis is made in a patient experiencing the hallucinations and delusions described above, it is necessary to take into account, inter alia, differential diagnosis. just schizophrenia.

Alcoholic paranoia (Othello syndrome)

Alcohol paranoia, like alcohol hallucinosis, is a complication of many years of drinking ethyl alcohol. Othello's syndrome occurs in men and is associated with delusions of jealousy. Jealousy in relationships is not uncommon, but in the course of alcohol paranoia it becomes extremely morbid. The patient takes all possible actions related to a potential betrayal for granted. Delusions occurring in patients with alcohol paranoia also include even absurd content - they may concern, for example, the belief that a partner has hundreds of lovers.

Patients with alcohol paranoia may display aggressive behavior towards their partners. It happens that women are mentally and physically tormented, they may even be forced to confess to alleged betrayals.

Othello's syndrome can be so severe that even parting with a person suffering from it may not help - such a patient may still experience delusions of jealousy towards his partner and still bother her, for example.

Korsakov's Psychosis

Korsakov's psychosis (otherwiseKorsakoff's amnestic syndrome) is an alcoholic psychosis different from those previously described. In the course of this unit, memory disorders predominate - patients experience various memory gaps, but they are filled with false memories, i.e. confabulations. The functioning of the so-called fresh memory.

Korsakoff's amnestic syndrome is also a consequence of many years of excessive alcohol consumption, and the condition causing its occurrence is vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency.

Alcoholic psychosis: treatment and prognosis

The primary method of treating all alcoholic psychoses is to stop drinking alcohol altogether. However, it is not the only therapeutic method used in patients with disorders of the alcoholic schizophrenia type. Among the pharmacological preparations implemented in patients with alcoholic psychosis, antipsychotics (neuroleptics) play the greatest role. In the case of Korsakoff's psychosis, it is very important to give patients the missing vitamin, i.e. thiamine.

Patients' prognosis depends directly on which form of alcoholic psychosis they have. In the case of alcoholic hallucinations, when medications are taken as prescribed, psychotic symptoms resolve in most patients. Acute alcohol hallucinosis, as mentioned, tends to subside after a few days.

The prognosis of people with alcohol paranoia and Korsakoff's psychosis is worse. Treatment of alcohol paranoia is tedious, and the symptoms (in the form of delusions of jealousy) tend to recur - patients can direct their delusions even towards new partners. As for Korsakov's amnestic syndrome, full recovery is usually achieved in about 1/4 of patients, in other patients the symptoms only decrease in severity, and in still others their symptoms worsen gradually.

Read also:

  • Types of schizophrenia
  • Inheriting schizophrenia
  • Treatment of schizophrenia
  • Paranoid Schizophrenia
  • Catatonic Schizophrenia
  • How to recognize paranoia?
About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.

Category:

Psychiatry