Neurotic disorders are those emotional or mental disorders that present irrational fear or anxiety significant. Neurotic disorders have no physical cause and do not present psychotic symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations. The term neurosis It is frequently associated with psychoanalysis, but is not used in clinical psychology since it has been eliminated from the DSM. It refers to a person who suffers from any degree of depression or anxiety, feelings of sadness, low self-esteem or emotional instability.
The treatment of these disorders can be psychotherapy, psychotropic drugs or a combination of both. While some types of neurotic disorders respond well to treatment, others are recurrent. In this Psychology-Online article we tell you what are some of the most common neurotic disorders in adults.
What is a neurotic disorder
A person diagnosed with a neurotic disorder may present withanxiety, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, worry, compulsions and somatization. These symptoms are usually triggered by stress and are not part of a “healthy” personality, although they could be an exacerbation of an aspect of personality.
Many of these symptoms can coexist in the person and therefore, the type of neurotic disorder is defined by the main symptom experienced by the individual.
Neuroticism and neurosis: are they the same?
When researchers talk about neurosis, they give more than one definition and differentiate it from neuroticism. When we talk about neurosis we are referring to a disorder characterized by obsessive thoughts or high levels of anxiety while neuroticism is a personality trait that does not have the same negative impact as neurosis on daily life. In non-scientific texts the two terms are used with the same meaning, but this is not the case, because neuroticism is not a disorder, it is a personality trait.
panic disorder
A person with panic disorder presents recurring and unexpected symptoms. A panic attack is an intense episode of fear or anxiety, in which some of the following symptoms are experienced:
- Palpitations
- Sweating, tremors
- Feeling of shortness of breath that produces hyperventilation and a feeling of dizziness, nausea, chest pain…
- Derealization: feeling that everything around you is unreal
- Depersonalization: feeling of being separated from oneself
- Fear of losing control or dying
Many people begin to change their behaviors and, ultimately, their lifestyle, and may develop agoraphobia (fear of being in situations from which it may be difficult to escape).
People with panic attacks may experience constant or intermittent anxiety levels between attacks and 50% of people with panic attacks also have depression. 20% of the population will experience a panic attack throughout their lives. Its lifetime prevalence is 1.5-3.5%.
Generalized anxiety disorder
It is characterized by a excessive anxiety and worries present most of the time for 6 months. It is often associated with symptoms such as tension, insomnia, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and a variety of physical symptoms such as headache, sweating, and palpitations.
For someone to be diagnosed with this disorder, they must have experienced severe symptoms of stress or have significant problems in various areas of functioning (work, school, family…). Many people report feeling an excessive level of anxiety throughout their lives.
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Phobias
The specific phobias are characterized by a excessive or irrational fear to specific objects or situations. Exposure to the feared object or situation can cause anxiety or panic attacks. The most common feared stimuli are animals, blood, injections… 8% of the population may have a specific phobia but it only becomes a problem if it interferes with the person’s life. Approximately 1% of the population needs treatment for a specific phobia.
The social phobias affect people who have a Constant fear of being in social situations. When the person is exposed to the social situation, they experience anxiety and some physical symptoms such as sweating or diarrhea. The lifetime prevalence of a social phobia ranges between 3-13% and 2% of the population may suffer from this disorder at some point in their lives.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
It is a disorder that is characterized by a series of psychological symptoms that occur after exposure to a traumatic event for the person. The person may have thoughts, images or perceptions related to that event in a recurring and intrusive way. This leads you to avoid stimuli that may remind you of the traumatic event. In addition to these symptoms, irritability, concentration problems, sleep problems are also experienced.
The lifetime prevalence of this disorder is 1% and 30-40% of women report experiencing post-traumatic stress after sexual abuse. In this other article we discover them.
Other very common neurotic disorders
Here we leave you three other disorders that are also very common in adults:
Depression
It is another common neurotic disorder. A person who has depression presents intense sadness or despair. Symptoms that interfere with functioning in other areas of your daily life: family, school, work…
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
It is a disorder that is characterized by a series of obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessions are stereotyped thoughts, phrases, words without any purpose that the person cannot control or get out of their head.
Compulsions are meaningless, repeated rituals. For example, turning the light on and off a certain number of times in order to relieve the obsession that something bad is going to happen. The lifetime prevalence of this disorder is 2.5%. It usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood.
Personality disorders
Some personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder are possible manifestations of neuroses. People with this disorder usually present a certain impulsivity that manifests itself through reckless driving, substance abuse, excessive anger, unstable self-image, suicidal behaviors, dissociative symptoms, etc.
Treatment of neurotic disorders
The treatment can be psychotherapy, psychotropic drugs, relaxation exercises like deep breathing. As for psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy can be used, which is responsible for adjusting the psychological mechanisms that respond inadequately.
Symptoms similar to neurotic disorders have also been treated with creative therapies such as art or music.
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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