Organic Mental Disorder

Organic mental disorder, which is also referred to as organic brain syndrome, can be described as a set of different conditions which alter the proper functioning of the brain due to a variety of causes. The different organic mental disorder causes include metabolic irregularities, aging, cardiovascular disorders, regenerative diseases, drug abuse, etc. In organic mental disorder, a temporary or permanent dysfunction of the brain is caused. Specific causes of this medical problem determine their associated symptoms. The symptoms of organic mental disorder that are commonly observed include the following: confusion, dementia, impaired memory, agitation, impaired judgment & logic, etc. Some of these are transient organic mental disorders (i.e., they affect the patient for a temporary period). The organic mental disorder definition and related facts presented above provide us with an overview of this health problem. Let us obtain more details through following paragraphs.

What is Organic Mental Disorder?

Organic mental disorder is not just a psychological, but also a physical disorder that affects the functioning of brain. The normal working of the brain is, therefore, altered. Functional mental disorder is a bit different in nature. The important difference between organic and functional mental disorder is that the latter is caused by the malfunctioning of the mind. There is no damage caused to the brain in functional mental disorder. Some of the examples of organic mental disorder are given below.

Delirium

The state of delirium is characterized by confusion of an acute nature. Attention deficits are observed in patients. Infection and drug abuse are amongst the important causes of delirium. It is not a psychiatric disorder, however, a clinical syndrome. Delusions and hallucinations are observed in delirium, but are not, however, necessarily a part of it.

Dementia (Alzheimer's Type)

In this type of dementia, there is a decline in the mental abilities of the patient. This condition hampers the patient's ability to think, memorize, make decisions and the ability to learn. Physical manifestation of this of dementia is seen in the form of amyloid plaques and fiber tangles (between nerve cells). Deposits of proteins found in between nerve cells are referred to as amyloid plaques.

Schizophrenia

In this mental disorder, the thought processes of the patient undergo disintegration. The ability of emotional responsiveness too is hampered to a great extent. Symptoms of schizophrenia include the following: paranoid delusions, auditory hallucinations, disorganized speech, etc. The age group between teenage and adulthood is the most susceptible to the problem of schizophrenia.

Alcohol Amnestic Disorder

In this disorder, the patient suffers from loss of memory. Alcohol intake for a prolonged period is the cause of this mental disorder. Deficiency of thiamine is caused by alcohol abuse. As the level of thiamine is lowered, the patient suffers from the above mentioned problems. Neuronal damage, along with alcohol abuse, is one of the causes of memory loss that occurs in this disorder. Usually, nutritional therapy is used to treat this problem.

Multiple Sclerosis

In this inflammatory disease, the myelin sheaths that are present near the spinal cord and the brain get damaged. These myelin sheaths are present around the axoms of the brain and spinal cord. This disease is characterized by physical and cognitive disability. Since the ability of nerve cells to communicate with each other is affected, this disease can manifest itself through any of the organic mental disorder symptoms.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

This disorder is characterized by repetitive behavior, fear, apprehension and other such symptoms. Obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms include extensive hoarding, repetitive handwashing, preoccupation with particular religious beliefs, aggressive impulses, etc.

A short list of some of the other organic mental disorders is presented below:

    Schizophrenia

    Autism

    Mental Retardation

    Bipolar Disorder

    Depression

    Alzheimer's Disease

    Anxiety Disorders

The organic mental disorder causes, symptoms and related facts presented in this article should help in understanding these diseases in a better manner. There are many diseases classified under organic mental disorders. The above mentioned ones are amongst the most important ones.