This condition causes almost the most lively disputes among both doctors and potential clients themselves. Let's deal with an expert whether there really is vegetovascular dystonia, the symptoms of which in women, men and children are so actively described on the Web.


Vegetovascular dystonia: what is this disease

This is an outdated and unrecognized worldwide theory of the disease that exists in the post-Soviet space. It is believed that this condition is due to the malfunction of the autonomic (autonomic) nervous system, which in our body controls involuntary functions such as heartbeat, blood pressure, digestion and breathing, and so on.


Vegetovascular dystonia in children and adults: symptoms

According to this theory, VSD has many symptoms. Signs of vascular dystonia include:


  • Dizziness or unsteady gait
  • Fainting or fainting
  • Headache
  • Chest pain
  • Cardiopalmus
  • Fatigue
  • Anxiety or even panic attacks
  • sweating
  • Feeling nauseous or even vomiting
  • Stool disorders and abdominal pain

Even the supporters of the theory themselves admit that the cause of vegetovascular dystonia is not clear, and at the same time, each of them can “treat” this condition in their own way. In the course are drugs, the benefits of which are also not proven at the international level.

Is there vegetovascular dystonia: why is this theory obsolete

Is there vegetovascular dystonia: why is this theory obsolete

1. "Diagnostic dump"

This is a phenomenon in which a doctor who does not know what to do with a patient lumps all the symptoms together. Heart pounding? VSD. Pain near the navel before the exam? VSD! Sweating at night ? And this is it too. To explain each of the symptoms, it is necessary to do complex mental work, during which hypotheses are put forward, which are then refuted.

Today, the diagnosis of VVD speaks of a doctor's superficial view of the patient's condition, and the rest of the points also confirm this.

2. Lack of international recognition

Our country is currently working in the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), the transition to which took place in 1988, and is currently preparing to switch to the 11th version of this classification. So, in this classifier there is no such diagnosis. That's why if a person who has been diagnosed with VVD turns to, say, a doctor in China or Spain, these doctors will not understand what is at stake(they won’t even be able to answer the question “vegetovascular dystonia: what is it in simple words”). Perhaps this is some kind of conspiracy? Or evidence of the backwardness of these countries, because, as you know, our doctors are not the worst in the world. But everything is much more trivial - for the concept of VSD there are more logical and simple explanations accepted by the whole world.

3. Anxiety and depression

These are the two simplest concepts that can easily explain what is happening with a patient who is diagnosed with VVD. The question arises - what if, say, pain in the heart is due to heart disease, and not because of anxiety? This is the work of the doctor - to refute or prove the presence of heart disease. We can run a series of tests and see if the patient has or does not have heart disease, and if his suffering cannot be explained by bodily disorder, it can be explained by psychological phenomena. The same thing happens with fatigue, sweating, headaches, and so on - you need to do work to establish the truth, and only then "blame" everything on the VSD or anxiety / depression. In the same time telling a patient that his complaints are of a “mental” nature is sometimes difficult in our country. Much easier to reinforce his belief in a non-existent disease and look for symptoms of vegetovascular dystonia in a teenager or adult.

In the post-Soviet space, most people are aware of the stigmatizing nature of Soviet psychiatry, when they could "revoke a driver's license", "register", "report to work" and so on. People also remember about punitive psychiatry, when dissidents were recognized as mentally ill people and treated forcibly. The fear of this stigma is very strong to this day, so most doctors have to learn how to tell people that they need to see a psychiatrist.

But today psychiatry in UK is a humane, civilized branch of medicine and, say, representatives of the younger generation visit these doctors, receiving relief from their suffering. The rest of the patients, because of the fear of stigmatization, suffer or try to receive medical help within the framework of half-measures: they go to treat their psyche to neurologists (after all, psychiatrists are for psychos), they are treated with drugs that are supposedly not psychotropic, they are treated with herbal preparations (although it has been proven that they aggravate depression), or they are prescribed dummy drugs - remedies with unproven effectiveness or homeopathy . Also, some patients may be afraid of psychiatrists, but they go to psychologists or psychotherapists - although they often turn out to be bad “pill takers”, and “talking” does not cure anyone.

Is it possible to get rid of VSD forever

And yet the question of what to do if you have vegetovascular dystonia is very popular on the net.

In general, you can get rid of it in a second by accepting the illusory nature of this state. However, technically, instead of a ghostly concept, the patient will be left with suffering - and this is the important thing. Many (even doctors) think that the suffering of such patients is a fictional thing, but in fact they are real (symptoms of vegetovascular dystonia in men and women still appear).

To begin with, the patient will need to turn to a good, thinking therapist or general practitioner, who will have to confirm or refute the bodily (somatic) nature of the complaints. It is important that the search be elegant, as this will save the patient time and money. In the event that the somatic cause of the disease is confirmed, a method of its treatment will be proposed by the same doctor or specialist doctor. If it is confirmed (for example, using questionnaires or psychological testing) the psychological nature of the disease The patient will be asked to consider this at a psychiatric appointment. The key word here is consider. The psychiatrist will not wait for the patient with a syringe or a straitjacket, his task is to find the disease - and, if it is confirmed, to find ways to treat it, most often with drugs or cognitive-behavioral therapy, which quickly and in a short time allows you to get rid of destructive behavior patterns. If the psychiatrist tells the patient "this is not mine" - you have to think again. In general, patients who have been diagnosed with VVD by any doctor should be patient, it is almost always rewarded with victory over suffering.