Process disorders are varied and don’t necessarily have one root cause. As such, thought process disorder treatment requires a team of trained professionals to accurately assess, diagnose, and observe to ensure treatment has the best possible chance of success.
At Virtues Behavioral Health in Los Angeles, California, we’ve handpicked a team of mental health specialists with decades of experience to ensure that people get the help that they need when they need it. Contact us at 855.579.8599 today to learn more about our mental health treatment programs near you.
Types of Process Disorders
The symptoms of process disorders may include disorganized thinking, speech, or behavior. These disorders can affect our clients’ ability to communicate with others and may seriously disrupt their lives.
Below is more information about some common process disorders, potential causes, and how we treat them at Virtues Behavioral Health:
Alogia
Alogia refers to limited speech. People with alogia often give terse responses to questions and have difficulty maintaining a conversation. When unprompted, they typically hardly speak at all.
Circumstantiality
Circumstantiality describes when people provide excessive levels of detail in their speech or writing. While they can maintain their train of thought, they continually provide unnecessary details and explanations and take a long time to make their original point.
Derailment
Derailment refers to speech that quickly “derails” from the intended subject. A person with derailment will answer questions but quickly divulge from the topic, often in unusual ways. For example, while they might start a conversation about baseball, they can promptly shift topics to World War II, farming practices, then rock and roll.
Distractibility
Distractibility often appears similar to derailment. A conversation with somebody who has distractibility will have the same rapid shifts, but instead of being semi-related to the topic, these shifts will stem from distractions in the environment or speaker’s mind.
A conversation with somebody who is distractible may suddenly veer off course because they noticed your eye color or saw a car driving by outside.
Echolalia
People with echolalia struggle to communicate their thoughts clearly and often repeat sounds or words back to the speaker. Conversations tend to be mirror images of each other, with the person with echolalia repeating back whatever they hear.
Potential Causes of Process Disorder
Historically, process disorders have been considered a symptom of schizophrenia or psychotic disorders, but they can have a variety of causes.
Some potential causes of process disorders include the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Low birth weight
- Premature birth
- Developmental disorders
- Environmental factors
Researchers are still investigating what causes process disorders, but the current consensus is that various factors often contribute.
How to Treat a Process Disorder
People with process disorders can benefit from medical and psychological treatment. Finding out how to treat a process disorder usually means meeting with a team of psychiatric, medical, and psychological professionals who have extensive experience with these disorders.
Antipsychotic and antidepressant medications are often first-line treatments and work best when paired with intensive behavioral therapy.
The level of impairment people experience from their process disorder generally dictates the level of treatment required. Some may need substantial support in activities of daily living. Lastly, others benefit from learning coping skills to help manage their symptoms.
At Virtues Behavioral Health, our trained medical team can assess and diagnose process disorders and work together with our clients to find the best path to recovery.
From partial hospitalization to intensive outpatient therapy to continuing care after receiving treatment, we work diligently to ensure positive outcomes for everyone who receives care with us.
Seek Process Disorder Treatment in Los Angeles, California, at Virtues Behavioral Health
Virtues Behavioral Health provides compassionate process disorder treatment in Los Angeles, California. Contact us at 855.579.8599 today to speak to trained mental health professionals about our treatment options and start seeing relief from symptoms.
