What Is A Thought Disorder?
Thought disorders are among the most common challenges that people struggle with when it comes to mental health. Thought disorders imply complex conditions that result in complications in terms of thought processes, speech, and cognition. The impeded capacity to think appropriately affects relationships and social interactions.
Defining the Concept of a Thought Disorders
It is important to reiterate that thought disorders are not a precise mental health diagnosis in the strict sense. Instead, it is a concept used in reference to a form of cognitive dysfunction that limits one capacity to produce logical writing, conduct, and speech.
In other words, thought disorders imply a condition that interferes with a person’s thinking capacity and limits expression and the organization of thought. The disorder is common for people struggling with autism, schizophrenia, and ADHD.
Signs That a Person Has a Thought Disorders
A person is said to be struggling with thought disorders when he or she displays thinking that suggests illogical, difficult, or disjointed thinking patterns as well as incoherent speech. In conventional situations, thinking takes place in three stages. You think about an issue or an object, you connect the thoughts together in your brain, then you deliver the thought pattern coherently. For those struggling with thought disorders, this pattern is often disrupted.
It is important to indicate that thought disorders can be distinguished from speech disorders. Unlike disorders of speech, which result from challenges in the manner speech is produced and organized, thought disorders are related to the thinking process. Schizophrenia is a prime example of thought disorders.
Thought disorders present through different signs, including:
- Producing new words or neologisms;
- Believing that thoughts have been removed;
- Unconventional use of words or concepts;
- Disjointed speech;
- Giving completely irrelevant answers;
- Straying off-topic and recurrent interruptions in thinking;
- Switching drastically between topics when having conversations;
- Vague use of language when speaking;
- Too much repetition of ideas or words during the speech.
What Disorders Are Commonly Linked With Thought Disorders?
Symptoms of thought disorders are mostly the outcome of an underlying mental health issue. Listed here are the most common mental illnesses linked to this condition:
Schizophrenia
It is a debilitating mental health disorder where a person tends to interpret reality in abnormal ways. The illness can lead to a mixture of delusions, hallucinations, and tremendously disorganized behavior, speech, and thinking, which can damage day-to-day functioning and can be debilitating.
Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia can benefit from consistent and lifelong treatment. The sooner the symptoms are detected and treatment starts, the sooner they can be brought under control before more severe issues develop. In most cases, people with schizophrenia also experience disjointed and illogical thought processes and incoherent speech.
Bipolar Disorder
It is a mental health disorder that results in rapid mood changes typified by extreme highs and lows. When experiencing an extreme low, the person with schizophrenia is likely to feel hopeless or unexplained sadness, losing interest in activities that would have otherwise been enjoyable.
When going through hypomania, on the other hand, the individual gets a boost of energy feeling euphoric and easily irritable. The unexplained shifts in moods to extremes can interfere with social relationships, cause sleep deprivation, distort speech, and interfere with the capacity to make a judgment and think clearly.
Persons going through a bipolar disorder can go through mood swings that happen several times every year or with more regularity. While the illness has no defined cure as yet, research shows that patients can benefit from symptom management. Combinations of drug therapy and counseling have also been shown to show a high level of efficacy in terms of managing signs of bipolar disorder.
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)
Speech and thought disorders also affect people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Persons diagnosed with ADHD often have attention problems and find it hard to control impulsive behaviors. In other words, these individuals tend to act without giving a thought to what outcomes their actions may cause. Although there is no therapy for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it is possible to effectively manage the symptoms, which tend to show improvement as one gets older.
Although it is normal for most children to have concentration and behavior problems at some stage in their lives, those with ADHD do not outgrow such habits. The symptoms may even become worse as one grows if no therapy or treatment is sought.
This neurodevelopmental complication has its roots from the development of the brain and impedes one’s ability to manage impulsive behavior. Those with ADHD tend to undergo signs similar to those associated with thought disorders, including the difficulty when it comes to engaging in logical conversations as well as disjointed speech.
What Treatment Options Are Available as a Help
The only way to effectively treat thought disorders is to get help and manage to treat the underlying conditions. Therapy for this condition tends to focus on counseling and drug medications.
Medications for Treating Thought Disorders
When medications are used in treating thought disorders, the objective is to manage the symptoms caused by underlying conditions like ADHD and schizophrenia. The drugs have been proven by scientific research to be effective in symptom management and can improve the overall quality of life.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is another effective strategy in the management of the symptoms of thought disorders. Evidence shows that cognitive behavior therapy, or CBT, is highly effective when it comes to managing or treating underlying mental health problems like anxiety and depression.
CBT is also helpful when it comes to identifying false thought processes as patients learn to substitute them with actual thoughts. For schizophrenia and ADHD, CBT is more effective when used alongside other treatment options like drug medications.
Why Is It Important to Get Help?
Those with thought disorders indeed tend to struggle with usual conversations and social interaction. The disorder interferes with the way an individual processes issues and communicates ideas. The disorder makes it hard to engage in academic pursuits, get jobs, or even start and maintain healthy relationships. Therapy allows persons with thought disorders to improve their quality of life and become more productive as society members.
The very first step when seeking treatment for thought disorders is to seek a competent therapist for help. If you suspect that a person close to you is struggling with this disorder, seek help as soon as possible. There could be underlying conditions that require immediate treatment and symptom management.
How to Choose a Competent Therapist and Get Help
If you or a member of your family needs urgent help with mental health issues, don’t hesitate to engage a trained therapist. Although there are many therapists that can help persons with thought disorders, you need to make sure that you only engage competent professionals. Since there are many underlying complications, make sure your therapist is experienced in treating thought disorders. Use the database to search for competent therapists and get help.