What Is Organic Delusional (Schizophrenia) Disorder

Approximately 5% of patients with epilepsy may have psychosis, if the underlying disease lasts up to 6 years. Controversial is the question of periodic organic delusional psychosis, although such cases are verified by objective research.

What triggers an organic delusional (schizophrenia) disorder:

The most frequent etiologies are temporal lobe epilepsy, and focal breach of the temporal and parietal region as a result of deferred encephalitis. This group includes epileptic psychosis without disturbances of consciousness, or “schizoepilepsia.” If it affects the frontal and temporal divisions are possible hallucinatory-delusional attacks, which are accompanied by episodes of unmotivated actions and loss of control over impulses of aggression and other forms of instinctive behavior. It is unclear what caused the specifics of psychosis – a bilateral family history (epilepsy, and schizophrenia) or defeat of specific brain structures. Schizophreniform psychoses paintings are also found in endocrine disease (diffuse toxic goiter after thyroidectomy).

Symptoms of Organic delusional (schizophrenia) disorders:

There may be chronic and recurrent organic delusional disorders. They are united by the fact that in both cases the increase in the negative organic personality changes, typologically similar to epileptic, the thoroughness of thinking. Productive features include a picture of hallucinatory-delusional to the presence of visual, often religious hallucinations. Expansively-paranoid states are characterized by ecstatic passion, and depressive-paranoid – dysphoric. At the height of psychotic disorders may be fragments of consciousness. Often paranoid statements are based on specific disorders, epilepsy, perception of the type of interpretive delirium. It is noticed that the occurrence of seizures can interrupt the nonsense, and their therapy resumes the clinical picture. There is met the clinical picture of psychosis, which contains the first rank symptoms of schizophrenia. In endocrine pathology psychoses resemble schizoaffective, that is when they coincide with mood disorders, schizophrenia, but they last longer.

Diagnosis of the Organic delusional (schizophrenia) disorders:

It is based on the identification of basic disease (epilepsy or organic background), as well as specific emotional (dysphoria, ecstasy), paranoid coloring experiences include visual hallucinations in the structure of the hallucinatory-paranoid psychosis.

Differential diagnosis

It is carried out differential diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, chronic schizophrenia and delusional disorder psychotic disorders due to psychoactive substances, most often amphetamines and cannabis.

In schizophrenia, along with a productive first-rank symptoms are present also negative disorders, there are no exogenous components of psychosis and organic change in personality in catamnesis.

In chronic delusional disorders, the only stable symptom may be monothematic delusions, but it occurs in an organic soil intact.

Schizophreniform psychotic disorder after taking the substance differs in that they occur at a reception or withdrawal of the substance, although there may be delayed and psychotic episodes. Somato-vegetative status reveals the symptoms of intoxication or withdrawal, organic background lacks.

Treatment of organic delusional (schizophrenia) disorders:

It includes treatment of underlying disease. Effective is the use of chlorpromazine, carbamazepine, depakin. The latter two drugs can be used for maintenance therapy because the risk of recurrence of psychosis is quite high. Application for maintenance therapy of prolong of neuroleptics is not recommended, since patients quickly formed the symptoms of intoxication.