I think my wife is acting very strange. She has not been sleeping and is "full of energy". she talks really quickly and doesn't stick to just one subject at a time. She's irritable and says she hears voices. She's not on any medication, and doesn't do other drugs. I fear she's going crazy. What should I do?
Hi,
Thank you for your question.
Your wife needs to be seen by her doctor as soon as possible.
There are several possibilities here. Either she is manifesting symptoms of psychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia(hearing voices, delusions, hallucinations) and mania(no sleep, full of energy, shopping sprees, inappropriate sexual behaviors), OR she has a medical illness(e.g. a brain tumor or blood chemistry imbalance) that is causing her symptoms.
Go with her to the appointment and tell the doctor what you have observed. She needs to have blood tests and a brain scan to rule out medical diseases. She most likely would need medication as well.
Call her doctor as soon as possible before her symptoms get out of controlled.
There are a number of schizophrenic diagnosis, and I'm not sure I'm clear on what mania is, could you clarify these for me please?
You asked a very good question. There are many different types of schizophrenia disorders. I suspect your wife has schizoaffective disorder.
Schizoaffective disorder is a condition in which a person experiences a combination of schizophrenia symptoms - such as hallucinations or delusions - and of mood disorder symptoms, such as mania or depression.
Now you asked about mania. Some signs and symptoms of the manic can include:
Schizoaffective disorder is usually treated with a combination of medications and psych therapy.
Is there any chance that it could be bipolar 1 with manic episode?
I was wondering if bipolar 1 with manic episode could also be a diagnosis to consider?
If she has episodes of depression(loss of appetite, loss of interest, tearfulness, suicidal thoughts), then bipolar 1 is certainly a possibility. However, if she never seems depressed, and is always full of energy and hyper, then schizoaffective disorder is more likely.