Causes of Poor Hygiene
Poor hygiene can be traced to many things, but most commonly self-neglect, this is the inability or unwillingness to attend to one’s personal needs. Poor hygiene can also be a result of certain mental and emotional disorders, such as psychotic disorders and severe depression.
Another common cause of poor hygiene is dementia. Other people may develop poor hygiene habits due to social factors like poverty or inadequacy of social support. Your risk of poor hygiene also increases when you have a physical disability. This is because one is unable to care for themself which may result in them being unable to attend to personal hygiene. There’s no particular treatment for hygiene, although your doctor may recommend antipsychotic and antidepressant medications in cases in which certain mental illnesses are the cause of this behavior.
Mental illnesses that may result in poor hygiene Include:
- Delusional disorder [7]
- Brain trauma
- Physical disability
- Vascular dementia [8]
- Drug-induced psychosis
- Lack of social support
- Poverty