Alcoholic hallucinations

Introduction Alcoholic disorders, consisting of more or less simple auditory hallucinations, are a special type. Kraepelin calls it alcoholic hallucinations or alcoholic mental mania. Alcoholics with physical dependence, in the process of abstinence, the central nervous system loses the inhibition of alcohol, resulting in excessive excitation of the cerebral cortex and/or -adrenergic nerves. The disease is focused on prevention, and it can be stopped by various methods such as cognitive therapy, improvement methods, family therapy, group therapy, drug therapy, etc., thereby preventing the disease from occurring.

Cause

(1) Causes of the disease

Alcoholics with physical dependence, in the process of abstinence, the central nervous system loses the inhibition of alcohol, resulting in excessive excitation of the cerebral cortex and/or -adrenergic nerves.

(two) pathogenesis

1. Alcoholic tremulousness The pathogenesis is thought to be caused by excessive excitability of -adrenergic receptors in the central and peripheral nerves after alcohol withdrawal. That is, due to sympathetic excitation, the increase in catecholamines in the blood increases the rate of skeletal muscle contraction, thereby interfering with neuromuscular conduction or muscle spindle activity, resulting in increased tremor intensity in these patients.

2. Alcoholic withdrawal seizure The pathogenesis is unclear. It has been suggested that various pathogenesis, including hypomagnesemia, carbonemia and various other metabolic disorders, can occur during epileptic activity. However, these mechanisms have not been confirmed, and measures such as supplementation with magnesium ions cannot prevent their onset.

3. Deterium tremens (DT) is an acute encephalopathy syndrome based on chronic alcoholism. It can be caused by trauma, infection and other factors that weaken the body's resistance.

an examination

Related inspection

Brain CT examination magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Although the patient feels normal, such as patient orientation, normal responsiveness, and good memory, there is auditory hallucination. The nature of auditory hallucinations can be unstructured sounds, such as bee squeaking, ringing, gunbing or knocking, or musical, low-pitched singing or chatting. But the most common sound is the human voice. The sound can talk directly to the patient, but it is more common to talk to a third person about the patient. In most cases, the voice is malicious, blaming or intimidating, seriously disrupting the normal life of the patient. For the patient, the sound is extremely real. Another characteristic of auditory hallucinations (and visual hallucinations) is that patients respond to the production of hallucinations. The patient may be able to protect himself or have an anti-invasion behavior, and may even attempt to commit suicide to escape the intimidation of the voice. They may vary in duration, may be temporary, or may be recurring intermittently within a few days, and in individual cases may last for weeks or months.

Differential diagnosis

Alcohol Toxic Paranoid Status: Chronic alcoholism patients have suspicions about their spouses, often expressed as delusions, but also can be seen. Some people think that this type of case is chronic schizophrenia, just a coincidence with chronic alcoholism.

Alcoholic hallucinations: Alcoholic hallucinations occur when abrupt withdrawals occur after prolonged excessive drinking. Symptoms are often scolding and intimidating verbal hallucinations and illusions. Patients are often very worried about this and can be very scared by lifelike nightmares and delusions.

Alcoholic dclusiveness: The patient's delusions and suspicions in the case of clear consciousness, which is more common in the clinic. The patient has no doubt about the infidelity of the spouse. For this reason, there is often a violent reaction, which can also lead to attacks on suspects or spouses, sometimes resulting in murderous consequences. It has also been referred to as alcoholic jealousy in the past. The occurrence of delusions usually involves a decrease in sexual function caused by long-term drinking by the patient. The alcoholic paranoia is slow onset and the course of the disease is prolonged. If you persist in drinking alcohol for a long time, you can gradually recover.

Alcohol addiction: Alcohol addiction patients' desire for alcohol is as strong as food or water, and usually lasts for life. Studies have shown that there is a close correlation between alcohol and mental health. Individuals with mental disorders are more likely to develop alcohol addiction and vice versa.

In people with mental problems, the overall incidence of alcohol addiction is more than twice that of the general population. However, the causal relationship between the two has not yet been determined. Patients with depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, two-way affective disorder, and schizophrenia often attempt to alleviate emotional problems through heavy drinking.

Alcohol addiction can lead to problems such as family conflicts, unemployment and economic distress, which can lead to mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. Researchers point out that the effects of genetic or early family environments also have an impact on certain individuals.

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