Psychomotor Disorders: Types, Characteristics And Symptoms
Movement is part of human behavior, and accompanies the actions we perform when we express desires, needs, etc., as well as when we communicate or interact with others. When this is altered in some way, the so-called psychomotor disorders appear.
In this article We will know the main psychomotor disorders , as well as its most characteristic symptoms. Additionally, we will talk about what psychomotor skills mean.
Psychomotor skills involve the person’s performance in interaction with cognitive and affective experiences, and includes two elements: muscle tone and kinetic harmony
Muscle tone evolves throughout life, although it is in the first months of life when it is most important and when changes occur most quickly. For its part, kinetic harmony is what allows us to chain gestural or motor movements and locate them in time and space.
What are psychomotor disorders?
Psychomotor disorders involve the alteration or psychopathology of psychomotor skills In other words, they involve abnormalities, deficits or alterations in movement.
These alterations translate into difficulties in neurodevelopment, which affect the person’s perceptual-motor adaptation.
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The main psychomotor disorders (and their symptoms) are the following:
1. Psychomotor agitation
It is the most common psychomotor disorder. It is a type of motor hyperactivity, in which the person emits gestures, movements and behaviors quickly and successively and without a specific objective
Stupor implies psychomotor inhibition or delay, and is characterized by a state of consciousness where an absence (akinesia) or reduction (hypokinesia) of movement and reactions predominates.
The person remains indifferent, alien or distant from the environment that surrounds them. Furthermore, there is an absence of relationship functions and an absolute paralysis of the body Mutism is also usually associated (the person does not speak).
3. Tremors
The tremors are oscillatory muscle movements, around a fixed point of the body, in the form of involuntary jerks , rhythmic and fast. The jerks that occur are caused by alternating contractions of muscle groups.
They appear mainly on the head, face, tongue and extremities (especially the upper ones). These psychomotor disorders are more uncommon in the trunk. They can be of three types: resting, postural and intentional.
4. Seizures
These are muscular movements in the form of violent and uncontrollable contractions of voluntary muscles They manifest themselves in one or more muscle groups or generally throughout the body.
They may appear associated with some diseases related to toxic-infectious conditions with brain involvement. Also, and especially, in epilepsy.
5. Tics
Tics are local, rapid, spasmodic muscle movements that They manifest themselves in an involuntary, isolated, unexpected, repetitive, frequent way , without purpose and at irregular intervals. They occur in one or more parts of the body; They rarely affect the muscles below the shoulders.
The most frequent tics are: winking of the eyes, stretching of the neck, movements of the head to one side, frowning of the eyebrows, twisting of the corners of the lips and blinking.
They affect men more than women, and frequently appear for the first time in childhood (around age 7). A well-known psychomotor disorder with tics is Gilles de Tourette Disorder.
6. Spasms
These are involuntary, exaggerated and persistent muscle contractions that are located in the voluntary muscles and in the muscle fibers of the internal organs. A specific and common type of spasm is toricular spasm, consisting of a rotation movement of the head to one side.
We can differentiate several types of spasms: professional, Bamberger’s Saltatory and Salaam’s Saltatory
7. Catatonia
It is a syndrome that encompasses a series of symptoms: catalepsy, negativism, stupor, mutism, muscle rigidity, stereotypies and echosymptoms
The person with catatonia shows an immobile attitude and maintains rigid muscles; Thus, it is possible to place the individual in a forced, uncomfortable or antigravity position and for him to remain in the same posture without trying to recover the original position for an indefinite time (this is the so-called waxy flexibility).
8. Stereotypes
Continuing with the psychomotor disorders, the eighth is stereotypies, that is, the continuous and unnecessary repetition of movements or gestures that, Unlike tics, they are organized and generally complex
They typically appear in facial or general body mimicry. They are typical of disorders such as autism or schizophrenia. But we must differentiate two types: the simple ones (they appear in organic brain disorders) and the complex ones (they are observed in non-organic psychotic disorders).
9. Mannerisms
Mannerisms are movements called “parasites”, that is, What they do is increase the expressiveness of gestures and mimicry They appear above all in psychopathological conditions similar to those that generate stereotypies (especially in psychotic disorders).
Examples of mannerisms are unmotivated or meaningless smiles, as well as forced postures.
10. Dyskinesias
Are involuntary movements of the tongue, mouth and face There are two types: acute and late. The late ones are caused as side effects of some antipsychotics.
11. Apraxias
The last of the psychomotor disorders, apraxias, involves difficulty carrying out purposeful activities that require orderly sequencing and coordinating a series of movements (such as getting dressed, sending a letter, etc.)
It translates into a difficulty performing activities that require a certain level of psychomotor complexity Apraxia in children is called “developmental dyspraxia.”
