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What is Hebephrenia?

Hebephrenia is one of the types of manifestations of schizophrenia, when the behavior of a clown, a tendency to foolishness and grimacing, impulsive unpredictable actions, inappropriate actions, sudden hallucinatory or delusional states are present in a person's behavior.

The speech of such people is replete with distorted words (they can imitate childish lisp or lisp, lisp, humbug) and bizarre jargon (invented words), inconsistent and contradictory. The demeanor resembles a theatrical performance. The mood of a hebephrenic can vary from a state of heightened emotional activity to apathy, he does not have a subtle sensitivity to the emotions of other people, and is indifferent to the interests of family or social life.

It has been observed that hebephrenia develops during puberty in adolescence and is not necessarily preceded by provoking factors. But many psychiatrists attribute the causes of hebephrenia to the period of childhood, when the child was imposed exemplary behavior, he was overly dependent on his parents, led a passive lifestyle. Hebephrenia can also be caused by heredity. If any of the parents showed signs of hebephrenic disorder, then in a teenager they may be hypertrophied.

Deviations in the child's mental development, accompanied by a decrease in intellectual activity, poor academic performance, alienation, isolation, sleep disturbances, poor appetite, and increasing lethargy, should alert parents, as it may be a harbinger of hebephrenia. Paradoxically, deviant behavior is usually first noticed not by the teenager's parents, but by teachers, neighbors, educators, and law enforcement agencies. Parents usually attribute signs of inappropriate behavior to adolescence difficulties.

Hebephrenia is referred to as malignant schizophrenia, which is steadily progressing. The diagnosis of the disease and the final diagnosis is carried out after observing the patient for several months. Treatment of hebephrenia involves the use of antipsychotics. Treatment is carried out either at home under the supervision of a psychiatrist, or in a hospital in severe cases.