Mental health issues can encompass a wide range of conditions, but they all have one thing in common: they all have an impact on the affected person’s personality, mental processes, or social relationships. Unlike physical ailments, they can be difficult to diagnose.
According to SAMHSA(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) data, 20% of persons have a mental condition, and 5% have a problem serious enough to interfere with education, job, or other elements of everyday life.
What Are the Different Kinds of Mental Health Disorders?
Mental health diseases can take many different forms, and symptoms might overlap, making disorders difficult to identify. There are, however, a few prevalent illnesses that afflict people of all ages.
- A.D.H.D. (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) (ADHD)
- Panic/Anxiety Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder
- Mood disorders – Depression, cyclothymic disorders.
- OCD
- Schizophrenia, psychotic disorders, and so on.
What Causes a Mental Health Disorder?
Mental health disorders do not have a single cause; rather, they can be caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors. People with a family history of mental health illnesses may be predisposed to having one at some time in their lives.
Changes in brain chemistry caused by substance misuse or dietary changes can potentially induce mental illnesses. Psychological and environmental variables, such as parenting and social exposure, can provide the groundwork for negative thinking patterns linked to mental illnesses. Only a licensed mental health expert can make an accurate diagnosis of a certain disorder’s etiology.
What Are the Signs of a Mental Health problem?
Anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, and impulse control disorders are the most common types of mental disorders. Someone you know may have a mental health condition if they exhibit irregular thought patterns, inexplicable mood fluctuations, a lack of interest in socializing, a lack of empathy, an inability to distinguish between reality and imagination, or a loss of self-control. This is by no means a complete or total list.
Someone you know may have a mental health condition if they exhibit irregular thought patterns, inexplicable mood fluctuations, a lack of interest in socializing, a lack of empathy, an inability to distinguish between reality and imagination, or a perceived loss of control. This is by no means an exhaustive list of symptoms.
Emotional Signs of Mental Health Issues
Mental health issues can create a wide range of emotional symptoms, some of which are as follows:
- Variations in mood
- Erratic thinking
- Anxiety that persists
- Overestimation of one’s own worth
- impulsive decisions
Physical Signs of Mental Disorder
In most cases, mental health issues do not result in physical symptoms. Depression, on the other hand, can induce weight loss, lethargy, and libido loss, among other things. Eating disorders, a subset of mental health disorders, can result in malnutrition, weight loss, amenorrhea in women, or electrolyte imbalances from self-induced vomiting. As a result, eating disorders are among the most lethal mental health diseases.
Effects of Mental Health Instability in the Short and Long Term
In the short term, mental health issues can cause people to become estranged from their friends due to perceived unappealing personality characteristics or behaviors. If the individual does not know or comprehend what is going on, they can also trigger anger, anxiety, grief, and emotions of helplessness. In the long run, suicide might be fueled by mental health issues. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression or another mental condition is a factor in more than 90% of suicides.
Is there any kind of test or self-assessment I can take?
With an online quiz, it is difficult, if not impossible, to effectively diagnose yourself for mental problems. You don’t have an objective picture of yourself, thus you’re going to provide incorrect answers. Furthermore, because online tests are not exhaustive, they may not screen for all probable symptoms. Only a face-to-face encounter with a skilled mental health expert can begin to diagnose a condition with any degree of precision since that specialist has an unbiased perspective and can detect subtle clues.
Medications: Drug Treatment Options for Mental Health Problems
Fortunately, prescription medicines can be in combination with behavioral or cognitive treatment to address mental health conditions. The most common forms of medicine administered to treat mental illness are antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics.
Different drugs will be administered depending on the illness. Depression can be treated with antidepressants such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, and a range of SSRIs, SNRIs, and MAOIs. Bipolar disorder is treated with mood stabilizers such as lithium pills, as well as anticonvulsants such as Depakote. Antipsychotic medications such as olanzapine and clozapine are for treating schizophrenia and psychotic depression.
Side Effects of Medication
Nausea, headache, changes in appetite, dry mouth, increased urination, change in libido, irritability, impaired vision, and sleepiness are some of the adverse effects of mental health medicine. Other adverse effects may occur; because each person’s body and brain chemistry is unique, it is hard to anticipate how a certain medicine will impact you or how effectively it will function. People who are taking these drugs should interact with their doctors on a frequent basis and report any negative effects.
Addiction, Dependence, and Withdrawal from Drugs
Because of changes in brain chemistry, several mental disorder drugs are popular for developing physical and psychological dependence. If the person is not careful, reliance can develop into addiction over time. The withdrawal procedure may aggravate the symptoms. Also because of the brain’s abrupt loss of hormones like serotonin, dopamine, and other endorphins, the withdrawal process might aggravate the underlying mental condition. In severe circumstances, the individual may need to be admitted to a drug treatment center to detox from prescription drugs.
Overdoes on Medication
It is possible to overdose on medicine in order to achieve the same results as first got, and this is particularly typical in drug-dependent users. Seizures, comas, slowed heartbeats, and acute paranoia is all symptoms of an overdose. If you see any of these symptoms, contact 911 or your local Poison Control Center very once, and have the medication on hand if possible.
Depression and Mental Illness
Depression frequently coexists with other mental diseases, and some conditions may have caused depression to begin with. For example, 40% of patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder also suffer from depression.
Addiction and Mental Health Disorders: Dual Diagnosis
Counselors at drug recovery clinics receive frequent training to recognize dual diagnosis difficulties. This is because addiction is a sort of mental condition in and of itself. It can be a sign of another disorder. People may turn to recreational drugs, for example, to treat despair or to assist stabilize mood fluctuations associated with bipolar illness.
Mothers with depression tend to pass it to their children
Getting Help for a Mental Illness
It is critical that you or a loved one get treatment for any of these mentioned conditions. To begin, a medical examination can rule out physical ailments. A meeting with a mental health expert would often include an interview followed by an examination to evaluate the most visible symptoms as well as the kind and degree of the disease. In certain circumstances, family and friends may be necessary to intervene. If you or someone you know requires assistance, please contact us for more information on treatment options.
