oligophrenia

Oligophrenia - a group of different etiology and pathogenesis of diseases, the main manifestation of which is congenital or acquired during the first 3 years of life dementia and difficulty in social adaptation. The cause of mental retardation can be chromosomal abnormalities, inborn errors of metabolism, the effect of various harmful factors in the germ cells of parents, to the embryo or fetus. Oligophrenia - not so much disease in the full sense of the word, as a pathological condition, which diagnostic criteria are as follows: total character dementia, exciting personality in general; intellectual deficiency stability that emerged in childhood, no further progress. Actually dementia is only part of the overall mental underdevelopment of the person, so his clinic may include various emotional, speech and movement disorders. In terms of mental underdevelopment distinguish several degrees of mental retardation.

Idiocy - profound mental retardation: a complete lack of development of speech (vocabulary to 50 words) and thinking in a patient who does not possess basic skills of self-service and can not instill. The mental state dominated by dysphoria; any productive activity is absent. Progress intellectually impossible and such patients are in need of constant care and supervision, which are often only possible under special medical institutions; if necessary symptomatic treatment.

Imbecile - moderate mental retardation. Patients can pronounce short phrases and simple to understand the meaning of words (vocabulary of 150-300 words); can learn to do simple labor operation. The emotional life of their relatively richer: they feel affection, a strong sense of shame and rancor, respond to praise and blame. Qualified supervision of such patients and their training is better carried out in the auxiliary schools, medical and employment workshops or special medical facilities. Retardation - mild mental retardation. Quite difficult to diagnose, and to talk about more or less accurate diagnosis it is advisable to only 10 years of age. Violations of cognitive activity are expressed in the inability to produce complex concepts and thus the impossibility of challenging generalizations, abstract thinking. Usually, after years of children sufficiently master the speech, most of them reach full independence in personal care. Slowing the rate of mental development is not enough to disturb the parents and not even attract the attention of teachers of kindergartens. Explicit mental impairment becomes evident from the beginning of schooling: the material is always given with great difficulty (especially mathematics), which often leads to the need to be converted into special schools for the mentally retarded. Over time, patients start to be nice to navigate the simple everyday situations and are able to lead an independent life.

They know how to read and write a simple master account; with the passage of time are arranged on simple operation and even marry. The degree of social adaptation is largely determined by the nature of behavior: she is more successful in the calm and good-natured patients and decreased in excitable and aggressive. Patients latter category is marked tendency to vagrancy and abuse for abuse means. Not having their own judgment, they are usually easy to take over other people's views, easy to get under someone's influence.

"True" mental retardation should be distinguished from the border of mental retardation, which is an extreme version of normal mental development and is dependent on social and cultural factors (the absence of parents, dysfunctional family, etc.). Representatives of this group also can not digest the school program and as a result of "educational neglect" quickly slip into criminal behaviors, presenting a major problem for public education authorities and to the police.

There is a network of subsidiary schools, which educate children with mental retardation in the degree of retardation. Auxiliary schools linked to local industrial enterprises, to work in and which should be sent to the children who have graduated from these schools. For the rehabilitation of patients is very important is the proper organization of work and life. With a reasonable guide, patients can quite uncomplicated to master the professions and even as high as they progress. The resulting psychopathology corrected mainly symptomatic agents.

When mental retardation are common variety of congenital malformations, particularly expressed in the idiocy and imbecility, such as microcephaly - a reduction in the size of the head with a clear predominance of facial skull on the brain, a small and receding forehead; Cleft hard non-; ba (cleft palate) and the upper lip (cleft lip), and others.

In Down's syndrome has been a general decrease in brain size with cortical atrophy, mainly the frontal lobes (see. Down's syndrome).

Among the most studied genetic forms of phenylketonuria (phenylpyruvic mental retardation) caused by congenital disorders oxidation of the amino acid phenylalanine. Phenylketonuria is usually accompanied by a deep degree of mental retardation. Mental state characterized by apathy and indifference, against which there are flashes of irritability and discontent evil; Often different hyperkinesis, seizures. Of somatic symptoms observed blond hair and blue eyes, a thin white skin. Phenylketonuria is important to diagnose the newborn. Children suffering from phenylketonuria, must be translated into a special diet with a sharp restriction of natural protein (excludes meat products, fish, cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, flour, peas, beans, nuts, etc.) and replacing it with casein hydrolyzate (berlofan drug introduced into the diet of the child). Only when time begun long-term treatment it is possible to prevent the development of dementia.