Brad - is a serious disorder of thought, in which a person has misconceptions about reality that seem to him absolutely correct. Typically delirium begins suddenly, in a few hours or days. In many cases, you can identify the factors that contributed to the development of delirium - it can be, for example, acute or chronic diseases, medications, surgical procedures, alcohol or drug abuse.

Symptoms

Symptoms of delirium can become more or less severe, and even completely disappear for a while. The main symptoms of delirium are:

Impaired consciousness reality, which can be the result of:

• Inability to concentrate on anything, and frequent groundless change of subject;
• Wandering attention, the person easily distracted by minor irritants;
• Fixation on one idea and the inability to carry on a conversation and answer questions;
• Absorption a weak response to external stimuli.

Cognitive impairment, which can indicate the following features:

• Poor memory, especially of recent events;
• Disorientation - people may not know where it is, what time, and even - who he is;
• Slurred speech, including due to the fact that the person finds it difficult to remember and look up words;
• Incoherent speech;
• Difficulty understanding speech;
• Difficulty in reading and writing.

Changing behavior:

• Irritability, anxiety, wanton aggression;
• Sleep problems Dreams: how to understand our dreams ;
• Extremely strong emotions Emotions and culture: how to decipher the emotional code Usually - fear, anxiety, anger, or depression;
• Appeal to existing objects as a result of hallucinations.

Delirium and dementia

To distinguish delirium from dementia or dementia can be very difficult, and in some cases people have seen both states simultaneously. Dementia - a progressive decline in cognitive function (memory, etc.), which occurs most often in older people, such as those who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Delirium can occur in people of any age. The main differences between delirium and dementia:

• Brad starts very fast, a few days or even hours, while the dementia progresses slowly;
• Because delirium worsens a person's ability to hold the attention on an object, and in the early stages of dementia patient usually has no serious problems with concentration;
• If symptoms of delirium may become more or less pronounced, the kogninitivnye function in people with dementia tend to remain the same - they can temporarily improve memory or concentration, if it has deteriorated significantly.

When to see a doctor

Seek medical attention if necessary appearance of any signs of delirium in a human. If a person suffers from dementia, a sharp worsening of its symptoms may indicate delirium - in this case, too, need to seek professional help.

Causes

The cause of delirium is often a combination of factors that lead to brain damage. These factors include:

• Acute infections - especially in children;
• Disturbances of vision or hearing;
• Malnutrition or dehydration;
• Chronic, acute and terminal illnesses;
• Numerous health problems and the need to constantly undergo medical procedures;
• Abuse of alcohol or drugs, or the abolition of alcohol or drugs.

The following drugs or combinations thereof may cause delirium:

• Analgesics;
• Hypnotics;
• Antihistamines;
• Drugs used in Parkinson's disease;
• Antiepileptic drugs;
• Medicines for depression and anxiety disorders;
• Medicines for asthma.

Complications

Delirium can last for a couple of hours, maybe - a few weeks or months. If it is possible to identify the causes of delirium and act on them, typically recover faster. The degree of recovery depends on the mental status and general health of the patient before the start of delirium. For example, in people with dementia after episodes of delirium may occur significant memory impairment and people with good health can fully recover.

People with serious illnesses complications of delirium may include:

• The general deterioration of health;
• The slow recovery from surgery;
• The need for constant care;
• The increased likelihood of death due to disease.

Treatment

The main objective in the treatment of delirium is, if possible, eliminate its causes - for example, if the delirium is caused by an infection, it is necessary to cure it, and if it is caused by medications, reduce the dose or stop taking them completely. You should also create favorable conditions to heal the body and soothe the mind of the patient.

Supportive care

If you want to help the patient to eat, move, and begin again to navigate through space and time. For example, in this room, where it is recommended to hang a calendar and clock, so that he could always know what time and what day. Health professionals are trying to regularly remind man where he is and what happened to him. While the person is in the hospital, he must bring to the House of familiar things from home - they help patients feel calmer and more confident. The patient should be given the opportunity to walk and perform a simple task - to dress, wash, and so on. Family members should be as often as possible to communicate with the patient during treatment.

Previously they need to talk to your doctor to know exactly how to behave with a man who survived an attack of delirium. As a rule, it is recommended to chat quietly as possible to avoid any disputes and calls on unpleasant topics. As for the patient's relatives can all be a difficult challenge, they themselves should seek psychological help Psychological help: to understand their own rubble ... If they feel they can not cope with stress How to beat stress? Create an oasis Caused by illness of a loved one.

Mental retardation - a condition in which the intellectual development of man does not match his age, and / or can not acquire the skills needed for everyday life. Generally, mentally retarded people can learn, but they do it much slower than healthy people. There are several degrees of mental retardation - from mild to profound.

People with mental retardation, there are limitations in the following areas:

• Intelligence - the quality that determines a person's ability to learn, reason, make decisions and deal with problems.
• Adaptive behavior - a quality that includes the ability for effective communication and interaction with people and the ability to care for themselves.

The level of intellectual development is determined by a test of IQ (IQ). The average IQ of a person is 100 points. A person is considered mentally retarded if his IQ below 70-75 points.

To evaluate the adaptive behavior of the person skilled in the art must be for some time to watch them, and compare the features of his behavior the norm for its peers. Since mental retardation is usually diagnosed in childhood, a specialist is important to know how the child interacts with peers and family members, in particular, how well he understands them; if he could feed himself and dress, and how he reacts to external stimuli.

From mental retardation suffer approximately 1% of the population of our planet. In 85% of these people are diagnosed a mild form of mental retardation. Such patients are slowly learn new information, but through proper training and support most of them in the future be able to live independently, almost as well as ordinary adults.

What are the signs of mental retardation in children

Mental retardation in children can manifest itself in different ways and at different ages. The first signs of it appear in some still in its infancy, while others - only after the child reaches school age. The age at which the first signs of mental retardation, usually depends on the severity of the violation. Here are the most common symptoms of mental retardation in children:

• The child later begins to roll over, sit, crawl or walk;
• The child later begins to speak and / or he has noticeable problems with speech;
• Child much later than their peers learning potty, dress, eat, and so on;
• Difficulty remembering simple things;
• Failure to link actions and their consequences;
• Behavior problems, such as frequent and severe temper tantrums;
• Difficulties with logical thinking and problem solving.

In children with severe and profound mental retardation may be other health problems, such as motility disorders, convulsions, poor eyesight and hearing.

Causes of mental retardation

Any violation of the normal development of the brain can lead to mental retardation, but to identify the specific cause of this disorder is not always possible. The most common causes of mental retardation are:

• Genetic disorders such as Down syndrome or syndrome Martin - Bell;
• Problems during pregnancy. Prevent the normal development of the fetus may use alcohol or drugs, malnutrition, infections, and certain pre-eclampsia;
• Problems during birth. Mental retardation can result from the fact that for some time now in the process of child birth is not enough oxygen, as well as the fact that he was born much earlier period;
• Illness or injury. Infections such as meningitis Meningitis - an inflammation of the meninges , Whooping cough or measles Measles in children - may cause serious complications In some cases, can cause mental retardation. This violation can also cause severe head injuries, drowning, entailing long lack of oxygen, prolonged malnutrition, exposure to toxic substances such as lead, as well as the lack of normal care and child abuse.

Is it possible to prevent the development of mental fatigue?

In some cases it is possible to do. For example, the mother forces completely prevent the development of fetal alcohol syndrome, which may be a consequence of mental retardation. To prevent the development of this disorder during pregnancy, you should not drink alcohol.

Adequate care during pregnancy, prenatal vitamins intake, timely vaccination against certain infections - these measures also reduce the likelihood that the child will have mental retardation.

If the personal or family history of one of the prospective parents have hereditary diseases before conception Conception, ovarian cycle, fertilization and genetics of a child   It recommended to genetic counseling.

Some diagnostic procedures, such as ultrasound and amniocentesis reveals a number of problems associated with mental retardation, even during pregnancy. However, to fix these problems is not currently possible.

What to do if your child is diagnosed mental retardation

If the violation has been identified at an early age, the child and his parents can work on language development specialists, psychologists and physiotherapists. They use methods that are not only to a certain extent promote the child's development, but also help parents learn how to deal with a child who has special needs. For mentally handicapped children of school age, there are special schools where teachers work with them with special training.

Parents who are raising a child with mental retardation, first of all, you need to learn more about this violation. This will help to understand what can and can not reach a child in the process of development, and take account of its characteristics in communion with him.

For most people, a diagnosis of a child is a great shock, and if you feel that you yourself can not cope with stress How to beat stress? Create an oasis , Be sure to consult a specialist.

• Encourage your child to develop independence. He will learn to do the simplest things for longer than most children, and will make more mistakes, but this will have to accept.
• Communicate with doctors and teachers who work with the child and follow their recommendations.
• Meet other parents whose children have diagnosed mental retardation. They can become your indispensable source of information and psychological support.