The review also mentioned that mental illness can lead to worsening of autonomic nervous function (increased blood pressure variability, decreased heart rate variability), which makes the bodies of patients with mental illness less able to cope with daytime stress. This in turn exacerbates the negative effects of stress on the body. At the same time, it will also cause blood pressure to not drop sufficiently at night when the heart should be fully rested. In addition, sleep disorders and other problems associated with mental illness can also affect the body's rest and recovery at night.
In short, mental health not only affects the mental state, but also affects physical health through various regulatory mechanisms of the body. But the good news is that we can detect and treat it early to reduce the risk. We call on everyone to pay attention to "health" and not only pay attention to physical discomfort, but also pay more attention to your own psychological abnormalities, listen more to your inner "voice", and seek medical treatment as soon as possible if necessary.
It is not uncommon for the elderly to experience hallucinations and delusions. In terms of hallucinations, in addition to auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations may also occur. For example, some elderly people claim to have seen things that do not actually exist when they are unconscious. Delusions are more common than hallucinations. In addition to delusions of persecution, delusions of being stolen often occur.
In fact, these may be early manifestations of mental illness in the elderly. In addition to the above symptoms, elderly patients with mental illness may also experience persistent low mood in the early stages, which is obviously inconsistent with their situation. For example, the family has enough food and clothing, and the family relationship is harmonious, but the old man just feels wronged and sad and cannot be happy. In addition, decreased memory and cognitive function, low back pain, neck pain, etc. may also be early symptoms of mental illness.
In the home scenario, family members need to bear the burden of patient care, which consumes a lot of time and energy costs, and at the same time increases the mental burden of family members. In addition, even if a nanny is available to reduce the burden on family members, it is often difficult to afford the patient's rehabilitation services due to their lack of professional medical care knowledge.
In the nursing home scenario, general nursing homes usually lack relevant medical service support for the mental disorders associated with Alzheimer's disease. Currently, most Alzheimer’s patients are cared for by nursing homes. Although this measure can reduce the care burden of some family members, the facility level of the nursing home itself will determine whether other corresponding services can be provided to the patients.
These early manifestations are very meaningful for timely detection of the disease. Many patients' conditions develop over a period of time before reaching a more serious level, and then symptoms of hallucinations and delusions appear. Therefore, family members should pay attention to the elderly's mood, sleep, memory, diet, and interpersonal interactions. If there are obvious changes without obvious inducements, they need to be alert to whether the elderly suffer from mental illness.
Clinically, it is not uncommon for the elderly to suffer from mental illness. The body functions of the elderly are declining, thereby increasing the risk of mental illness. If combined with physical diseases such as cerebral infarction, hypertension, diabetes, etc., the patient is more likely to develop mental illness. The mental illness at this time may be a complication of the physical disease or an independent organic mental illness.