A person repeats the same thing several times - what does this mean?

Representatives of different generations often do not understand each other very well. The younger generation often cannot accept the outdated views of their grandparents, so they jokingly accuse them of dementia. Unfortunately, this disease is completely serious. According to statistics, about 1% of the total population of our planet suffers from this disorder. The disease is quite serious, so it is very important to diagnose it in time. If your loved one repeats the same thing several times, it’s worth taking a closer look at him. The women’s website “Beautiful and Successful” will tell you on this page what to do in such a situation.

What is perseveration

A condition in which a person repeats a thought, phrase or action several times in a row is called perseveration. It was described in ancient times by Aristotle, but the term itself appeared only in 1894 by the German physician A. Neisser. Modern doctors distinguish motor, sensory, emotional and intellectual perseverations. The most common are sensory perseverations, which are the repetition of visual, tactile or sound images in the imagination. They are typical for sensitive people who are very stressed or offended.

Speech perseveration is also a common disorder. However, it does not always indicate serious problems.

Obsessions in illness of people who repeat the same action several times

Patients with OCD are constantly haunted by intrusive, unpleasant thoughts or obsessions that make the person irritable. Absolutely any event can cause these thoughts:

• Stranger's cough
• Man standing close
• Closed space
• Insects
• Touching a shared object

But most often, OCD begin in a public place with a large crowd of people, since there are many provoking factors there. The patient can focus his attention on any of them.

Causes of this disorder

The main factor of perseveration is the inability to switch from one action to another. It may be associated with changes in brain activity. Severe mental disturbances indicate problems with the functioning of the nervous system, for example, organic brain damage. There are perseverations of physiological, psychopathological or neurological etiology.

• Physiological perseveration can appear in any person at certain periods of life. It is usually associated with inertia of nervous processes or overwork. Perseveration in children is also physiological. The need to repeat the same phrases or actions in this case should not cause anxiety.
• Neurological perseveration is one of the most common pathologies, which is caused by damage to the anterior parts of the cerebral hemispheres. If areas of the premotor zones and underlying subcortical structures are affected, the person begins to experience elementary motor disorders. If the lower parts of the premotor cortex of the left hemisphere are damaged, speech disorders will appear. This pathology can be caused by various reasons, among which doctors note brain tumors, cerebral atherosclerosis, traumatic brain injuries, strokes and dementia.
• Psychopathological factors of perseveration include autism, mental retardation, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia.

Signs of onset of dementia

Even the most experienced doctor will not be able to immediately understand what caused a person to repeat the same action without an examination. To diagnose a person with dementia or another age-related disorder, they must be thoroughly evaluated. However, the first signs of age-related changes in a person are noticed not by the doctor, but by close people.

Why does a person copy another?

Copying behavior is a complex psychological process, the main goal of which is to facilitate a person’s adaptation in society. Let's try to figure out the specific reasons that make him behave like others.

Desire to please

Psychologists have confirmed the fact that people prefer the person who moves like them and uses the same gestures and facial expressions. Unconsciously, a feeling is born that you can trust him, he is the same as you, does not oppose you, does not pose a danger.

Please note that couples who have lived together for many years become similar to each other. The main similarity is due to the same movements and gestures. The spouses have similar smiles, similar gaits

Diffidence

A person who does not understand himself, does not know who he is in this world, or is afraid to admit his shortcomings, automatically begins to copy others. This makes it easier for him to adapt, make a decision, make a choice. He does what those around him do, and therefore does not stand out from their mass, and is not responsible for anything.

Imitation in psychology

Conscious Strategy

There are people who consciously choose behavior that repeats the actions of others. The goal is to demonstrate conformity, obedience, to prove that they are no different from others and have every right to be members of a group, company, society. Sociological researchers, psychologists when conducting experiments, and representatives of law enforcement agencies can also behave this way.

Imitation may be intended to laugh at or even mock others. A person chooses a victim, repeats its gestures and facial expressions, often exaggerating some features.

Education

The next important reason for copying behavior is learning. In practice, students, willy-nilly, begin to behave like a teacher or senior specialist. They imitate movements, gait, and voice timbre. This is especially noticeable in hospitals, when a flock of students sedately enters the room with the senior doctor.

Development

This reason is very similar to training, but it is connected with other emphases. As a person develops, he acquires not only new knowledge and skills; he grows as a person.

There are people who, from childhood, know what they are like, what interests them and what they want to become. Others go through a thorny path in which they have to compare themselves with others and force themselves to copy them. Only after passing it do they realize their uniqueness and difference from others, and begin to appreciate it.

Problems with information

The problem can be twofold - sometimes there is too much information, in other situations there is very little.

For example, you came to a large clothing store, where your eyes widen from the variety of products. There are thousands of them in the blouse department, all made of different materials, different styles, and quality. You cannot look through and check each one; you will unconsciously begin to look at what others choose and try on. At the same time, you think that perhaps they somehow filtered the information and chose the best product.

With a lack of information, you again find it difficult to choose. You have no solid reason to take this or that step, you begin to fuss, succumb to panic and fear. And then, like a breath of air, someone appears who has not lost his head, has made a decision and is ready to become an example. To restore peace of mind, even if imitation is contrary to your nature, you copy his actions.

The desire to be like someone

There are times in life when you want to be like someone. This is especially pronounced in adolescence and youth. But older people are no strangers to this either.

Imagine an elegant lady of 40 years old, thin as a birch tree, well-groomed, in beautiful clothes with a neat hairstyle. Her easy walk attracts men and women. People turn to her and talk about her. Admit that you caught yourself thinking about how you would like to be just like her.

Signs of dementia

It is worth noting that forgetfulness and memory problems are not symptoms of senile dementia. This is how age-related sclerosis appears. You can suspect dementia in a person based on the following signs:

• Speech problems. With dementia, a person may experience disorders such as spontaneous speech and aphasia, which are manifested by errors in the construction of phrases, incorrect use of words, and confusion in speech.
• Difficulty watching television.
• Forgetfulness. With dementia, people forget the names of even the most common objects that they use every day.
• Difficulty reading or writing.
• Mood swings. With dementia, a person may become aggressive.
• Apathy. Age-related changes can make a once energetic person apathetic, depressed, and lethargic. He loses interest in his favorite activities and even in close people.
• Problems with orientation in space. It is because of age-related changes that older people often get lost.
• Repetition of actions, phrases, gestures. Dementia is one of those disorders in which a person repeats actions several times. This is due to an imbalance in neurotransmitter systems.

As the website sympaty.net found out, factors in the development of dementia can be age-related changes in the brain, Alzheimer's disease, HIV infection, Pick, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, and Parkinson's diseases.

Depending on the intensity of symptoms, dementia can have varying degrees of severity.

There are preclinical, mild, moderate and severe degrees of the disease. The neglected form is dangerous. It not only disrupts brain function, but also negatively affects a person’s overall well-being. It is difficult for him to communicate with people, problems arise with taking medications, personal hygiene, and nutrition, which affects the patient’s condition. He begins to lose weight and loses his social image.

Classification of dementia

Severe dementia leads to exhaustion and apathy of a person. He practically stops getting out of bed, as a result of which he may develop bedsores, develop pneumonia or cachexia. It is not uncommon for people with dementia to die in an accident due to their injuries.

Article:

What is echolalia?
Echolalia is a term used to describe a situation where a child repeats or imitates the speech of another person. For example, if you ask him “Do you want a cookie?” he says “cookies” and not “yes, I want it.” There is also so-called “delayed echolalia,” when a child repeats something that he heard once, not necessarily just now. For example, he can repeat lines from his favorite movie, even if it is not currently on TV.

Is echolalia normal?

In short: sometimes

Echolalia - repeating what you hear - is a normal part of speech development. Children who are learning to speak constantly repeat after others. If I ask my one-year-old son if he wants to go swimming, his immediate response is “kupaaaa” (he doesn’t quite understand endings). He cannot yet say “yes”, but simply repeats the last word in the question. Children learn to speak by repeating what they hear around them. Over time, they learn to construct their own statements and you can see how echo reactions arise less and less and the need for them decreases.

However, some children do not outgrow echolalia. They continue to mostly repeat what other people say and rarely say anything on their own. Many children say nothing at all, except for lines from films or TV shows they have watched previously. This form of echolalia indicates that the child’s speech development is impaired and for some reason it is difficult for him to learn to speak.

When should echolalia stop? Children aged 1-2 years should repeat a lot and often after those around them. This is part of the learning process. However, by age two they should also be able to speak on their own. Children may continue to repeat after you and use echolalia when asked a difficult question or given instructions, but they also need to do a lot of talking on their own. A two-year-old child should not communicate only by repeating after adults.

By age three, echolalia should appear only occasionally. 3-year-olds must independently construct simple sentences in the process of communication. Echolalia may occasionally occur here and there, but the bulk of speech should consist of independent statements.

Delayed echolalia (for example, quoting movies and TV shows) is characteristic of the speech of many children, but a situation where a child communicates primarily through quotations can become a problem. Your child can quote movies and cartoons, acting out their favorite episodes. This is fine! However, if he is “stuck” on one episode and endlessly repeats the same phrase, this is a problem.

There is nothing wrong if a child is EXTREMELY impressed by a new film or program, and can only talk about it for some time, but over time, when the novelty of the sensation wears off, this topic should appear less and less often. For example, many little girls are now crazy about the song “Let it go” from the cartoon “Frozen” and repeat the words all the time, but this does not mean that they have any problems with speech. However, if a child constantly quotes something, but otherwise his speech remains very poor, there is clearly something wrong with his language development.

How to work with echolalia

Dealing with echolalia is not as easy as it seems. Mainly because it has many different functions. And in order to understand how to solve this problem, first of all you need to understand why the child uses echolalia. In a situation where he repeats after you because he doesn’t know how to say it correctly, you will work differently than in a situation where he just likes to quote a familiar movie over and over again. For this reason, I strongly insist that echolalia be treated by a licensed speech therapist who can understand exactly what it is used for. As mentioned, below you will find several strategies that can help reduce echolalia, either as a process or in combination with therapeutic intervention. When echolalia is a consequence of delayed speech development

Most often, I see echolalia in a child in situations where he has a delay in speech development and he simply does not know what or how to say. My one-year-old baby repeats after me for the same reason - his speech is not developed enough. For a one-year-old child this is not a problem, but if the child is older, he will obviously need the help of a speech therapist.

In such a situation, I usually do not work specifically with echolalia, but try to improve speech development in general. I analyze in which areas of the child’s speech development there is a delay and try to improve the situation. For example, if the child does not have the necessary skills to ask, answer a question, etc. my work will be aimed primarily at building these skills. If a child answers questions using echolalia, I will teach him to answer questions. In short, I will work on all areas in which the child feels insecure, and hope that this will help reduce echolalia. If not, after all the “lagging” skills have been worked out, we will work on echolalia in a more targeted manner.

If a child uses echolalia as a request

Has a child ever told you “hug” or “do you want to be held”? Probably in this case, he wanted you to hug him, or take him in your arms, but instead of asking, he repeated what he heard from others in a suitable situation (“Do you want to hug you?”, “Do you want to be held?”)

If you are working with a child with delayed echolalia who repeats sentences or entire phrases after you, you can model for him the correct form of response to repeat. For example, if a child comes up to you and says “hug,” you can say “hug” and help him repeat what you said.

After you have done this procedure several times in a row, you can begin to respond to what your child says literally so that he understands the true meaning of what he is saying. For example, if he asks you “do you want cookies,” you can answer “I don’t want cookies, but you probably want them, ask.” This will help the child understand that what he says does not always carry the same meaning that he puts into the spoken phrase.

When a child answers questions using echolalia

The most common situation is when a child uses echolalia when answering questions. This problem usually occurs because the child doesn't really know what to answer, but it's very difficult to teach him to answer questions if all he does is repeat the last words in your sentence. Here's what I do (remember that each step may require many weeks of training; you won't be able to solve the problem in one session).

• Choose one type of question (such as “do you want this?” or “what is this”) to work on first.
• and immediately say a one-word answer (without pausing). It should sound something like “You want this.” Ideally, the child will repeat only the last word (yes). If not, help him repeat the answer after you. Continue training until the child learns to answer such questions on a regular basis.
• again, but now say only the first sound of the desired answer, something like this: “Do you want it?” ha...” Help your child answer “I want” by continuing after you. If it takes you a couple of minutes to answer, that's okay, but hold out the first sound until the child starts repeating it. Continue until the child begins to respond, picking up the first sound of the answer after you.
• Ask the question again, but this time simply articulate the first sound of the answer, do not say it out loud. You just have to move your lips as if you want to say it. Draw your child's attention to your mouth using a pointing gesture so that he notices that you are starting to speak. Help your child say the word he needs after you articulate his first sound. Continue doing the same, but gradually reduce the articulation until the child learns to respond independently.

Having mastered the independent answer to one type of question, switch to the next and continue until you have mastered a sufficient number of questions and answers so that they arise spontaneously, without the help of echolalia.

When your child repeats your praise

My favorite because it's so cute. Such echolalia sounds something like this:

Therapist: Kevin, what does the dog say?

Kevin: Woof, woof...good job Kevin!

And at that moment you realize, “Damn, I say “good job Kevin” every time he gives the right answer.” But no matter how nice it may be, such an answer is not very functional and should be removed as soon as possible. The first thing to do is to stop saying anything that the child might associate with the consequences of answering correctly. Instead, repeat the correct answer, pause, and then praise. It might look like this

Therapist: Kevin, what does the dog say?

Kevin: Woof, woof...good job Kevin!

Therapist: Woof-woof! The dog says “Woof-woof”…. You are right.

If this doesn't solve the problem after a while, go back a few steps to answering the questions and use a similar hint system. For example, after the question “how does the dog say - woof-woof”, try to “screw in” woof-woof again after he answers, but before he says “clever Kevin.” It may take some time until your child gets used to not saying the whole phrase, but keep trying and sooner or later the unnecessary “tail” will disappear.

When echolalia is self-stimulation

Some children use echolalia because they enjoy it. Through repetition, they give themselves the stimulation they need, which feels good. Some children swing or wave their arms for the same purpose. In short, this behavior is called stimming. Echolalia can also be a form of stimming.

I often see this behavior in children who are under stress; familiar and familiar phrases help them calm down. If the world around becomes unpredictable and dangerous, the child clings to something permanent - for example, he remembers the script of his favorite cartoon and repeats it. This helps you come to your senses, because a cartoon is something unchanging, regardless of the situation it will sound the same.

Children may turn to echolalia if they are bored or what is happening does not attract their attention. In this case, they plunge into their inner world, where the Frozen verses play non-stop and they can endlessly “press” the repeat button to be entertained.

Remember that such an activity gives the child a lot of pleasure and there is nothing wrong with it. A child should have some time during the day to have fun with echolalia, just as you would probably allow a child who likes active games to play basketball in the yard during his free time.

However, there are certainly times when such echolalia would be inappropriate: in the classroom during a lesson, in the library or in church. It would be unfair to deny your child access to these areas because of echolalia, so you need to work to keep it under control.

The key to stopping echolalia, which is used as self-stimulation, is to understand why it occurs. If a child is stressed, see if there is another way to help him calm down. You can read him a social story about what's going on around him, or teach him quieter ways to calm himself.

If a child is bored or not included in what is happening, you can help him become involved. For example, if in class he endlessly repeats quotes from cartoons, the tutor sitting next to him can remind him from time to time that he needs to participate in the lesson. Or the teacher can ask the child questions and give tasks more often to keep his attention. A small fidget will also help the child concentrate better on the teacher.

If a child does not understand that he is using echolalia, but continues to do so out of habit, rules should be introduced regarding when and where he can and cannot speak. Then, during the lesson, the teacher will only need to gently remind the child that speaking during “silent” times is prohibited. Properly presented rules that everyone follows will help the child stay on course.

Diagnosis of disorders

To determine the presence of serious brain disorders, doctors use several techniques to determine not only the degree of development of the disease, but also the etiology of the disorder. The first is the different scales. For example, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) can detect Alzheimer's disease in a patient, and the Khachinsky scale can detect vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disorders.

If infectious lesions of the brain are suspected, a technique such as differentiated diagnostics is used, including general and biochemical blood tests for electrolytes, creatine, glucose, tests for syphilis and HIV, and urine analysis.

An instrumental examination, including an electroencephalogram, computed and electrical resonance tomography, single-photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography, will also help make the correct diagnosis.

A doctor can correctly diagnose a person who repeats the same thing only after a complete examination.

Only a complete clinical picture can tell which area of ​​the brain was affected by the disease and what caused the disorder. Depending on why a person is sick, the doctor will prescribe different treatments.

Check your loved ones with a simple test

The course of the disease when a person repeats the same action several times

Unfortunately, complete cure is very difficult to achieve, but long-term stabilization of the condition is possible. It also depends on the severity of the disease.

• In mild forms of OCD, it can be treated at home and quite successfully; symptoms may return within 1-5 years .
• More severe forms of OCD , for example, phobias of sharp objects, infections, pollution, frequent rituals, on the contrary, may be resistant to treatment, and there may be a tendency to relapse.

If the dynamics of treatment are negative, this indicates a complication of the clinical picture of the disease as a whole.

Dementia therapy

If the cause of the thought disorder is Alzheimer's disease, the patient is prescribed a number of medications that slow down the progression of the disorder. These are drugs that improve blood circulation in the brain, cholinesterase inhibitors, and NMDA receptor antagonists. It is impossible to cure a patient suffering from such a disorder.

Today, medicine can only alleviate symptoms and prolong the patient’s life. Unfortunately, today people experience Alzheimer's disease at a fairly young age.

Vascular dementia is treated with vasodilators, antiplatelet and anticoagulants, and antihypertensive drugs.

Pick's disease is corrected with antipsychotics; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is combated by resorting to symptomatic treatment with brefeldin A, calcium channel blockers, NMDA receptors, tilorone. For dementia caused by HIV infection, antiviral drugs are used.

Dementia statistics in the world

Prognosis for OCD disease

When treating OCD, in 2/3 of cases the disease begins to develop positively within a year. Experts give good forecasts. If the disease progresses for more than a year, then dynamics will be observed, that is, there will be both exacerbations and long periods of improvement in health. If the disease is not fully treated, there is constant stress in the patient’s life – there is no need to think about positive dynamics. Working with consciousness is a very difficult process in which you need to make every effort to achieve remission of the disease.

Prevention of age-related brain disorders

Currently, there are no methods that can 100% protect a person from developing Alzheimer's disease. However, there are measures that can be used to delay the onset of the disease in people predisposed to the disease. These include:

• Physical activity. An active lifestyle promotes good blood circulation, which provides the brain with sufficient oxygen. In addition, good blood circulation helps to increase the thickness of the cerebral cortex.
• Proper nutrition. A deficiency of certain microelements accelerates the wear and tear of the nervous system, so proper nutrition helps protect neurons from premature death. A good diet, rich in nutrients, micro- and macroelements, various acids, improves the functioning of blood vessels.
• Brainwork. Memorizing texts by heart, reading books, solving puzzles, crossword puzzles - all these exercises develop the functioning of the brain and slow down the aging process. It has been scientifically proven that people who engage in intellectual work all their lives suffer from dementia much less often than their peers who neglect reading.
• Hormone replacement therapy. One of the causes of dementia in women is hormone deficiency, so hormone replacement therapy is an opportunity to prevent various disorders, ranging from osteoporosis to Alzheimer's disease.
• Controlling cholesterol levels in the blood. This helps improve vascular function and prevent atherosclerosis, one of the common causes of thinking disorders in older people.

Friends who don't feel heard

If you're having some trouble when it comes to listening to your friends, you may find that people repeat themselves because they can never finish a story, or because they just don't feel like you're hearing them.

They might start the story all over again the next time you see them. Because they think that because you didn't let them finish, you didn't hear anything they said. Listening is a skill that develops over time, so try to become a better listener in these situations.

How to help a sick person

If the reason that a person repeats phrases or actions several times is due to dementia, and your close relative is diagnosed with this, you need to be prepared for the fact that he will have to be constantly monitored and cared for. There is no point in expecting the patient to get better: every day the elderly relative will feel worse and worse. Along with medications, proper care will help slow down the progression of the disease:

• help the patient eat and perform hygiene procedures;
• go for walks with him;
• monitor medication intake;
• show patience and love towards a person.

Simple steps to prevent dementia

One of the biggest challenges of caring for people with dementia is maintaining your own mental health. Caregivers of elderly patients often suffer from chronic fatigue and stress. Therefore, it is extremely important to sometimes allow yourself a break from caring for a sick person by transferring him for a few days to an institution that specializes in caring for the elderly.

Website www.sympaty.net – Beautiful and Successful. Author: Elena Burenyuk. Learn more about the site's authors.

Compulsions in OCD

To combat obsessions with OCD, the patient takes actions called compulsions. Thanks to such actions, a person tries to get rid of obsessions and feel less anxious. For example, constantly washing your hands, taking a shower, checking whether the appliances are unplugged, whether the taps in the house are turned off, the door is closed, repeating the behavior a certain number of times.

Sometimes, to relieve this anxiety, the patient needs to repeat the actions several times. For example, turn off the lights three times or turn off the valves in the bathroom so that obsessive thoughts recede. This is what happens, they go away, temporary relief comes, but soon it disappears. These are thoughts that interfere with life and affect a person’s behavior.

We all need to work on our destination memory.

When it comes to communication, we are more likely to remember the source of information (the newspaper, another friend) than the essence of what we heard. This is called source memory, which one scientific study found to be “relatively weak.” She can make your friend repeat something over and over again.

Although we know that recurrence can occur, we don't know exactly why. Perhaps the focus of information gathering is on our sources. If we're repeating something, we want to make sure the source we're citing is reputable. So we remember where we heard it, so we can attach a little evidence to the story we're telling.

Regardless of why we repeat ourselves, we should better appreciate the attention our friends give us by adding new stories and information to our interactions with them. Remembering is one thing, but repeating history for no reason is something else entirely. If you're listening to a repeat pig, take it easy. But let him know that you've heard his story before. Ask him: “What's new?”

Like our women's magazine on Facebook, Vkontakte and Instagram

We will help you be beautiful, happy and healthy.