Hebephrenic schizophrenia Causes, symptoms and treatment

Schizophrenia is one of the disorders that most interferes with the quality of life of the people who suffer from it. For this reason, it is very important to know their different presentations and the most effective treatments for them.

At present, the classification of different types of schizophrenia has been dismissed. However, there are numerous clinicians who detail that it is of special interest to know the characteristics of the different classifications of schizophrenia for the correct treatment of the patient. The different forms of schizophrenia that arise are those of paranoid type, hebefrenia, undifferentiated, residual and catatonic type.

In this Psychology-online article, we will help you understand hebephrenic schizophrenia, one of the subtypes of the schizophrenic disorder. If you want to know more about this, keep reading this article: Hebephrenic schizophrenia: causes, symptoms and treatment.

1. Definition of Hebephrenic Schizophrenia
2. Causes of Hebefrenic or Disorganized Schizophrenia
3. Symptoms of Hebefrenic or Disorganized Schizophrenia
4. Treatment for Hebephrenic or Disorganized Schizophrenia

Definition of Hebephrenic Schizophrenia

Hebephrenic schizophrenia is also known as disorganized schizophrenia and is mainly characterized by a marked disturbance of speech and behavior, with a presentation of flat and inappropriate affection.

The term of Hebefrenia was introduced in 1871 by the psychiatrist and. Hecker, subsequently changing the name of hebephrenic schizophrenia by disorganized schizophrenia. Hebefrenia means a morbid process, which, starting at the time of puberty, leads through slow development, although sometimes somewhat faster, to A state of mental weakness. The essence of the condition does not change, whether the morbid process evolves in the simplest way as a progressive and silent deterioration, or that evolves more vivacious, accompanied by depressive symptomatic paintings, excitation, passenger delusional ideation, etc.

Causes of Hebefrenic or Disorganized Schizophrenia

At present, the causes of the suffering of disorganized schizophrenia are unknown. Despite this, it is known that it has an early start, that is, it appears between 15 and 25 years and an insidious start, generally, the beginning of the disease evolves slowly, with a continuous course and without significant remissions. Usually, this subtype of schizophrenia is also associated with a premórbida, impoverished personality and there is a strong genetic component, Being more likely the development of this mental disorder if the person has a family history that has suffered depression or psychosis.

Symptoms of Hebefrenic or Disorganized Schizophrenia

According to the DSM-IV, the main characteristics of hebephrenic schizophrenia are Language and disorganized behavior and flattened or inappropriate affectivity. The presence of delusional ideas and hallucinations are fragmented and are not organized around a coherent issue and are not the predominant symptoms of the disorder, indicating that the positive symptoms of schizophrenia are not the most representative of said disorder. The signs and symptoms of hebephrenic or disorganized schizophrenia are the following:

• Early start. The early beginning of hebephrenic schizophrenia was considered one of the most representative aspects of this subtype of schizophrenia. For this reason, this subtype was called Hebefranica, since the etiology of the word hebephrenia comes from the Greek ("Hébé") which means "young, youth".
• Disorganized language. Language is one of the most affected components in hebephrenic schizophrenia. There is a marked alteration of the production of oral language, with disorganization of speech, frequent blockages, loss of the conductive thread and associative capacity, change of theme spontaneously and with affectation to semantics and language organization, giving Place to important cognitive deficits. These limitations of language sometimes cause a tendency to social avoidance, for an attempt to reduce environmental stimulation.
• Behavioral disorganization. Behavioral disorganization refers to the difficulty of orienting an objective, being able to lead associated characteristics that include grimaces, mannerisms and other oddities of behavior, such as socially inappropriate behaviors.
• Flattened or inappropriate affectivity. The affective alterations that occur in hebephrenic schizophrenia are the same limitations found in schizophrenic disorder. Affective flattening occurs, giving rise to a null reaction to emotional stimuli, giving a reduction in the intensity of emotional expression or expressing incoherent emotions about the context. On the other hand, they reduce the ability to persist or initiate an activity, limit the lack of will and make it difficult for the person to feel pleasure with the activities that used to feel it.

The set of signs and symptoms of hebephrenic schizophrenia, give rise to a predominance of negative symptomatology. Faced with this symptomatology, a worse prognosis is established, because of the rapid appearance of symptoms, which cause a considerable increase in behavioral, cognitive and emotional deficits. In addition, it should be noted that negative symptoms respond to antipsychotic medications worse than positive symptoms.

Treatment for Hebephrenic or Disorganized Schizophrenia

Any subtype of schizophrenia, in this case specifically, hebephrenic schizophrenia requires a long -lasting treatment, in many cases for life, although there is no presentation of symptoms. The most important thing in treatment is to be able to execute a multi-disciplinary intervention With the different disciplines in Mental Health: Psychiatry, Psychology, Social Assistant, Nursing, ..

First, a complete evaluation must be performed to diagnose schizophrenia. In general, the treatment of hebephrenic schizophrenia tends to begin in psychiatric discipline, with Antipsychotic administration, In order to control signs and symptoms effectively, using the lowest possible dose. The use of antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs is also frequent. The stabilization of symptoms makes possible the performance of psychosocial therapy.

In some cases, hospitalization is required, during periods of crisis or serious symptoms. Hospitalization aims to guarantee the safety of the person, since due to their limitations it is possible to neglect the habits of basic needs, such as good nutrition, sleep or hygiene rhythm. Another possible difficulty is that in the patient does not respond adequately to the medications administered, in this case a possible alternative is electroconvulsive therapy, also useful in depression.

Faced with the stabilization of symptoms, it is appropriate to start a Psychosocial intervention. However, the beginning of the intervention does not imply the suppression of drug administration. The most frequent psychological and social intervention therapies and techniques for treatment for hebephrenic schizophrenia are the following:

• Individual therapy: Individual therapy aims to help the patient identify symptomatology, with the aim of establishing strategies against possible relapses and thus, being able to control the disease. On the other hand, it offers tools to be able to control stress and work the normalization of thoughts patterns.
• Training in social skills: In Hebephrenic schizophrenia, work with social skills is very important, due to the strong impact of negative symptoms. Against this, focus the work on the improvement of communication, social interactions, the identification of emotions and the contextualization of these.
• Family therapy: As previously detailed, negative symptomatology can cause a strong impact on the environment, since the patient reacts with an avoidant component. This factor can damage the family nucleus, so it is important to provide support and information to families against this disorder. In addition to this set of interventions, many people suffering from this disorder require daily help. To do this, there are different associations that provide the necessary support for these people, helping them to find and maintain a job, housing, crisis situations, self-help groups.

This article is merely informative, in psychology-online we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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