Cyclothyme: Characteristics and Features

Cyclothyme or cycloid is a concept in psychiatry that characterizes wavelike mood swings and character instability, during which periods of activity and emotional lift are suddenly replaced by depression and depression. The range of change of states can vary from several days to weeks. Cyclothymics are at risk for people who may develop manic-depressive psychosis. But in bipolar disorder, psychopathy has the indicated forms of behavior, while cycloids continue to clearly evaluate and analyze the situation.

Cyclothymicism in psychology is a state in which a person experiences first euphoria and jubilation, and then suddenly feels a strong aversion to life and to himself. This concerns not only mood, but also character traits. Sociability gives way to loneliness, activity - loss of strength, bright living prospects - a feeling of deep hopelessness. Hyperthymia (active) in an instant turns into a hypothymus (without initiative). The speed of alternation of these states depends on provoking factors:

• violation of sleep and rest;
• physical and emotional overload;
• troubles at work, poor study;
• sad events (dismissal, divorce, illness or death of a loved one).

Cyclothic psychopathy may manifest itself in the opposite way: a person is depressed and experiences complete indifference to the events taking place, but at the same time he continues to joke and be active or, against the background of a good mood and optimistic mood, stops communicating with people and goes into himself. Personality disorder leads to a sense of injustice and meaninglessness of the whole surrounding.

If cyclothymia is manifested in a teenager, against the background of depressive states, there is a desire to commit suicide, and with an emotional lift, to perform an extreme act (go on a hitchhiking trip, jump from a height, conquer a mountain peak, dive from a tower). And only at this moment, most adults begin to understand that the child needs psychological help. Does this mean that he is sick? Scientists still have not come to an unequivocal conclusion whether cycloid disease is a disease or a mental disorder that can be dealt with through psychological training.

The accentuation on Leonhard considers cyclotext as an extreme variant of the norm, and not the disease. From the category of people with affective psychosis, there are 2 groups:

• typical;
• labile

A typical cyclothymic individual is a person whose periods of rise and fall of mood are noted with the same frequency - 2-3 weeks. The first crisis is observed in adolescence. An active and active teenager suddenly ceases to be interested in what is happening around, avoids peers, spends time alone.

He thinks about the meaning of life, he is not satisfied with the existing state of affairs, there is a feeling of his own inferiority. Any criticism in his address is perceived very painfully and can be the impetus for a suicide attempt. The very fact of the desire to leave the life is not advertised, the action takes place under the influence of affect.

Depression gives way to emotional recovery, this can be affected by a new acquaintance, a long-awaited letter, financial encouragement — that is, any pleasant event that becomes a trigger for the transition from the hypothymic to hyperthyme phase. A person is actively interested in current events, empathizes, jokes, is in the center of attention. He is sociable, cheerful, he manages to do a lot of work for the day, returns to his former hobbies, shows affection for people who are sympathetic to him. After 2-3 weeks, in a typical cyclothymics, the light bulb is turned off again, and the whole world for it becomes dull and gray.

In labile cycloids, downturns and mood swings occur at small intervals: each period lasts for 2-3 days. These are mobile, inquisitive, funny, charming people who have an unstable character. They are easily grieved or hurt, they feel subtle about what is happening, they react sensitively to a change in attitude towards themselves, they are painfully sensitive to dramatic changes in their lives. They are depressed deeply, hopelessly, and attempts to bring them out of this state do not lead to anything: the cyclothyme at this moment is convinced that life is over for him and there is nothing to rejoice in it.

It takes 2-3 days and close people note that cycloid has a shine in his eyes, he plans some meetings, talks on the phone a lot, makes grandiose plans for the future. A typical feature of labile cyclothymics is a reassessment of one’s own capabilities. They cannot realistically assess the current situation and at this time often commit expansive, risky acts that threaten their health and life.

The main cause of cyclothymia is a hereditary factor. Among the relatives there are necessarily people with an unstable temper: hot-tempered, emotional, unbalanced. In anger, they commit acts that they later regret, and in a peaceful, calm state they become like angels.

Such mood swings in adults necessarily affect the psyche of a teenager. He does not know what awaits him in the next moment: “stick” or “gingerbread”. Stress, deep heartache, suffered in childhood and adolescence, are a contributing factor to the fact that a person has a mental disorder.

Stress and negative experiences lead to the fact that a person reacts painfully to any changes in his life. He is looking for stability, calm and measured life, and with life "shocks" he is lost and does not know how to respond to the situation. Among women, there are 2-3 times more cyclothymics because of a thin, vulnerable psyche: they perceive the surrounding events through the prism of the senses and only then analyze them with the mind.

Signs of cyclothymia are difficult to determine if a person’s behavior fits into the concept of “normal”. Outbreaks of aggression or a state of euphoria and joy occur in all people. But the cycloid personality type, unlike the others, is characterized by extreme manifestations of emotions. Psychopathy may be indicated by:

• causeless and frequent mood swings;
• anger in which a person ceases to control himself (affect);

• constantly changing self-esteem - too low or too high;
• abrupt change of preferences and interests (a woman loves to knit, but after a day, “in the hearts”, the almost finished product cuts to shreds);
• the inability to bring things to the end: first, the cycle is taken for it enthusiastically, but the fuse quickly disappears, and to the old lesson it no longer returns;
• the inability to focus on one thing, to focus on the object or task.

The period of apathy and inaction is characterized by signs:

• difficulties in communicating with people;
• fluctuations in making a specific decision;
• feeling of hopelessness and meaninglessness of what is happening;
• helplessness;
• memory problems;
• hate yourself and other people;
• ideas of self-destruction;
• indulging bad habits;
• gluttony or refusal to eat;
• fatigue, chronic fatigue, feeling of powerlessness;
• insomnia or drowsiness.

Symptoms in the period of hyperthymia:

• speech excitement - cyclothymic speaks a lot, but it is not meaningful, without logical connections and a specific meaning;
• emotional lift - life is seen in bright, iridescent colors;
• vigor, vigor, lift of forces;
• excessive familiarity with people, violation of their personal space, lack of respect;
• increased sexual desire;
• desire to make a feat, a memorable act;
• outrageous behavior;
• quick change of interests;
• lack of introspection.

Cyclothymics is difficult to build strong relationships with people, because they do not know what to expect from him at the next moment. Cycloid is so unpredictable in its speech or behavior that friends and acquaintances prefer to stand aside to avoid the troubles that constantly haunt their unbalanced acquaintance.

The cyclotymic complexity of communication lies in the fact that he does not build any particular line of conduct, he does not have a specific goal, to which he would strive every day. His plans for the future are too ghostly or frightening with their grotesque and unrealizability. It is difficult for people to understand cyclothymics, living with dreams and idealizing people of the opposite sex, to whom he feels sympathy.

This is a man-chaos, a storm, sweeping away everything in its path and not thinking about the consequences. The difficulties are that the cycloid does not analyze what is happening with cold and calm mind, but rushes into a new life battle, leaving behind it the “ashes” and beloved beloved people.

The difficulty of treatment lies in the fact that the cycloid is not aware that he is sick. Close people blame mood swings on his personality traits. They begin to sound the alarm only when the cyclothymic commits acts that threaten his health and life. Often, the first appeal to a psychologist occurs after the first suicidal attempt. It is important to understand the peculiarities of cycloid behavior, because each case is individual.

With abrupt changes in the emotional state, when a person experiences a strong fear and an irrational feeling of anxiety (against this background, there may be bouts of ESR - vegetative-vascular dystonia), light antidepressants may be prescribed, which the patient takes in courses. When psychomotor agitation prescribed treatment with neuroleptics. The duration of medication and their dosage is adjusted by a specialist.

A cyclothymic can help himself in overcoming a mental disorder. It is important to learn to analyze what is happening, to establish logical chains between actions and words. To do this, follow the recommendations below.

• Keep a personal diary in which, in addition to describing events, you need to record a personal attitude and your reaction to what happened. When reading the diary is easier to analyze, which caused a sharp change in mood and behavior.
• Cyclothimics first say, then think about what they said. Need to learn to articulate thoughts and phrases.
• Every new business must be completed. If there is no 100% confidence in this, then a new task should be formulated.
• In a relationship, one must learn to put oneself mentally in the place of the interlocutor.If you develop in character such features as empathy and compassion, communication problems will be much less.

For information on what type of personality is cyclothymic, see the next video.