Overall Health by A. Louis Blackwell - HTML preview

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Chapter 5:

The Basics On Mental Disorders

Synopsis

A mental disorder is defined as a condition that affects how a person feels, thinks and behave with or without the influence of other people around them. The person who is suffering from a mental disorder might show some mild to severe signs of mental disability, depending on the person’s condition. Most of the sufferers finds it hard to cope with even the simplest routines and demands from work and home.

Develop A Healthy Mind

There is no exact cause of mental illness. However, studies show that mental malady is triggered by one of the following factors or combined psychological, biological, hereditary and environmental problem and not really a personal weakness. Thus, in most cases this condition cannot be alleviated by simple self-discipline as it apparently needs the intervention of doctors and medicine.

Following the cause is the types of mental disease. Mental conditions can be treated effectively using the right approach. Thus, knowing its type can help enhance the recovery process. Below are the most known types of mental disorders.

Psychotic disorders – It is described as having a distorted thinking and awareness pattern. Its most common symptom is hallucinations. The person with a psychotic disorder may experience weird images and sounds that they perceive as true events despite their clear notion of delusion. One known example of a psychotic disorder is schizophrenia.

Personality disorders – These disorders are characterized by extremely stubborn personalities that causes the person or the people around to feel stressed and upset. This is the reason why people with personality disorders always encounter problems at work, school, home and even personal and social relationships with people. This is because the way they think and behave is extremely different from the normal individuals. Some examples of this condition are obsessive- compulsive personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder.

Mood disorders – These disorders are also known as affective disorders. They are described as having a relentless feeling of sadness or happiness or fluctuation of the two extreme emotions. For instance is the condition of being extremely happy to feeling extremely sad. Examples of this disorder are bipolar disorder and depression.

Anxiety disorders – A person with an anxiety disorder responds to certain situations with great fear and horror resulting in serious nervousness, sweating and rapid heartbeat. Examples includes but are not limited to specific phobia, panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorders and social anxiety disorder.

Addiction disorders – These are characterized by uncontrollable urges to perform things that are detrimental to our own self and others. Examples are stealing, gambling, alcohol and drug dependency.

Eating disorders – These disorders are characterized by extreme attitudes, emotions and behaviors relating to food and weight. Examples of this include Bulimia Nervosa, binge eating disorders and Anorexia Nervosa.