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Confusion
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
Many people still consider confusion to be a character trait and nothing more. But in reality, this is not the case, or almost always not quite the case.
Especially if a person who was responsible and disciplined in the recent past has become absent-minded.
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Epidemiology
As for epidemiology, which is related to the spread of infectious diseases, in some cases causing a pandemic, it has nothing to do with confusion. Although there are theories, the essence of which is that mass confusion in the face of global anomalies of a natural or social nature can develop into panic. But panic is not a subject of study in medicine.
Causes confusion
What makes a person confused – this question can be answered based on a medical point of view and a widespread everyday one. The first one means the following reasons:
- acute schizophrenia;
- manic-depressive illnesses;
- organic psychoses.
These are diagnoses of serious diseases that require long-term treatment with subsequent rehabilitation. And, unfortunately, not always ending successfully.
Here is an explanation for confusion that is almost always resorted to at the everyday level:
- fear;
- astonishment;
- misunderstanding of the situation;
- helplessness in a certain situation, often the first one in life.
Risk factors
There are risk factors that are the same for different social groups, nationalities, places of residence and time. They may shift in the list, but do not go beyond it. These are:
- loneliness;
- fears – hunger, war, natural disaster;
- diseases;
- personal dramas.
There is another factor that has appeared relatively recently: the fear of unemployment. Unlike schizophrenia, these factors can be overcome. Most often, by concentration of will and logic, not just of behavior, but of lifestyle. This is a proven way to overcome confusion.
Pathogenesis
The study and analysis of biochemical, physiological mechanisms that provoke the development of pathology has a special term - pathogenesis. With regard to confusion, pathogenesis is mainly based on the state of the psyche or, if confusion is a synonym for schizophrenia, on a complex of processes occurring in the brain.
Symptoms confusion
There are two types of confusion: verbal and non-verbal. Both cannot go unnoticed: it is difficult to hide the signs of confusion. If it is verbal, i.e. there is a breakdown in communication using speech, then contact between the interlocutors is difficult or completely absent. The one who is confused will be confused, painfully searching for words, demonstrating a complete or partial lack of orientation in time. Such a state can last from several hours to several days.
Non-verbal signs of confusion
Communication occurs not only through speech, but also with the participation of information provided by the human body. Whether there are non-verbal signs of confusion will be indicated by facial expressions, gestures and gait. They will be supplemented by movements called "tactile": shaking hands, a friendly pat on the shoulder or back, touching and other direct contacts.
A look will say a lot - its direction and duration. In addition, non-verbal signs are visible even in where exactly: how a person is positioned at the table, the distance, what exactly he is focusing on. Several previously unusual poses or movements, even without verbal contact, can characterize that a person is at a loss.
Panic and mental confusion
These terms do not require decoding: their meaning has been known for a long time. The key definition of "panic confusion" is the word "panic". If we take the literal translation from Greek "panikon" - "unaccountable horror, it becomes clear that we are talking about a psychological mood, or more precisely - a state provoked by external circumstances. They are filled with fear, which affects a huge number of people. This fear is dominated by the uncontrollability of a dangerous situation, the inability to manage it. A typical example is a flood or a volcano that suddenly "awakened".
Mental confusion is inferior in its scale to panic: it is inherent to a specific individual. But mental confusion can knock you off track, for a long time and with, sometimes, tragic consequences. It can make a person helpless at the most crucial moment.
Diagnostics confusion
To determine at what stage confusion, if a person clearly shows its signs, diagnostics can be used. It is prescribed by a specialist after examination and anamnesis. There are several methods that are used depending on the person's condition. Examination is possible both in specialized clinics and in a district clinic. It is important that this is done by a professional.
How to examine?
Who to contact?
Treatment confusion
The most effective means of combating confusion are will and a wealth of knowledge. We must proceed from the fact that a confused person can be easily deceived and persuaded to take actions that will not only not adorn him, but will depress him for a very long time, if not forever. A confused person is often pitiful and ridiculous, he is simply absurd. It is not surprising that not everyone from his environment will spare him. The question "How to combat confusion?" suggests an answer that is called the method by contradiction. Knowing the consequences of confusion, we must act alternatively to the consequence. Standing on the only true platform: knowledge and will.
Prevention of confusion plays a major role. It is based on the upbringing of the child: without violence, with constant readiness to introduce him to the world around him, to elevate the child's dignity and to encourage his knowledge and skills.
Exception: mental disorder or schizophrenia and other organic psychoses. Here the prognosis may be unfavorable. But not 100 percent negative. Such a prognosis is made by specialists, taking into account the diagnosis, the prescribed course of treatment and subsequent rehabilitation.