Descartes justified his existence through his thinking in his famous phrase “I think, therefore I am.” Thought is inherent to human beings. Thinking in some disorders may be altered for numerous reasons: because its content is not adaptive or because its form or course is altered.
Regarding its course, it may be abnormally altered and the person may feel that their thinking is slower than normal, which is known as bradypsychia. This pathological phenomenon can be present in different diagnostic conditions. We expand the information about this phenomenon in the following Psychology-Online article about Bradypsychia: what it is, causes, symptoms and treatment.
What is bradypsychia
Let’s see what the health meaning of bradypsychia is. Bradypsychia is a concept used to describe slowed thinking. As formal thought disorder (or thought course disorder in some classifications) it refers to the inhibition, delay or retardation of thought. The person finds it difficult to think, which is reflected, for example, in difficulty making decisions, difficulty associating ideas, increased response time, etc.
This is a phenomenon contrary to , in which thinking is abnormally accelerated.
Bradypsychia is a symptom that can appear in numerous psychological disorders that appear in the DSM-5 diagnostic classification of the American Psychiatric Association, including:
Causes of bradypsychia
As we have explained, bradypsychia is a symptom that is present in different diagnostic categories and disorders. To know its cause, we must examine the context in which it appears and take into account the origin of said context.
Disorders caused by neurological causes
Bradypsychia can appear framed in some neurological disorders such as strokes, head injuries or dementia. Therefore, the symptoms will be caused by brain deterioration resulting from injuries or degeneration.
Disorders caused by psychiatric causes
Firstly, bradypsychia, as we have pointed out, can be caused by substance use psychoactive as well as drug consumption.
Second, bradypsychia may appear as part of the depressive episodes. That is, bradypsychia can be a symptom of depression. For these episodes, different explanatory theories have been proposed:
- Biological: such as the deficiency of the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. In this article we explain.
- Psychological: like the theory of learned helplessness or Beck’s cognitive theory.
It can also appear as a negative symptom of psychotic disorderswhich also have different causal models, all of which are presented in the chapter by Godoy, JF, Godoy-Izquierdo, D. and Vázquez, ML (2014):
- Biological models related to substance alteration such as dopamine or glutamate, neuroanatomical, neurophysiological alterations, neurodevelopmental alterations or those related to viral infections.
- Vulnerability-stress model in which the existence of a biopsychological vulnerability of the patient who interacts with certain socio-environmental stressors and can lead to psychotic disorder.
Symptoms of bradypsychia
Bradypsychia does not constitute a diagnostic category that groups together a series of symptoms. On the contrary, it is in itself a symptom of different disorders. However, bradypsychia will manifest itself, among others, through:
- Language: the patient will present a slowed speech.
- An increase in the time the patient slow to respond to stimuli.
- Difficulty in the decision-making process.
- Concentration problems.
Treatment of bradypsychia
As we have pointed out, bradypsychia can appear for various reasons. In order to intervene on it we must, first of all, contextualize it and clarify its causes, so that we act on them. That is, the treatment of bradypsychia will be different depending on its cause:
In case of drug or substance consumption
If bradypsychia is being caused by the intake of drugs, we must discuss it with the doctor so that he can evaluate the case. As a consequence, you could modify the regimen you prescribed or even replace the type of drug for another more suitable one.
As we have seen, bradypsychia can also be caused by the ingestion of psychoactive substances. In this case you must suspend intake of said substances through outpatient treatment or hospitalization if the case requires it. It should also be necessary to address the withdrawal syndrome in which bradypsychia may appear on a psychological and/or pharmacological level if the case requires it.
In case of a psychological disorder
Finally, if slowed thinking is part of some disorders, especially depressive disorders, we must apply empirically validated treatments for these disorders.
In the case of depressive episodes, the intervention will include:
On the other hand, in the case of psychotic disorders, the treatment will be multidisciplinary and as complex as the diagnostic picture itself. Said treatment will include antipsychotic drugs and, following Godoy, JF, Godoy-Izquierdo, D. and Vázquez, ML (2014), if there is a predominance of negative symptoms (among which is bradypsychia) the treatment will be more aimed at the rehabilitation of basic functions, especially cognitive ones.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the 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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References
- American Psychiatric Association (2014). DSM-5. Reference guide to the diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5-Breviary. Madrid: Panamericana Medical Editorial.
- Godoy, JF, Godoy-Izquierdo, D. and Vázquez, ML (2014) Spectrum of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. En Caballo, VE, Salazar, IC and Carrobles, JA (2014) Manual of Psychopathology and Psychological Disorders. Madrid. Pyramid.