What causes mental health?
Psychological factors that may contribute to mental illness include: Severe psychological trauma suffered as a child, such as emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. An important early loss, such as the loss of a parent. Neglect.
Five Warning Signs of Mental Illness
Long-lasting sadness or irritability.
Extremely high and low moods.
Excessive fear, worry, or anxiety.
Social withdrawal.
Dramatic changes in eating or sleeping habits.
What are the 7 types of mental disorders?
What are some types of mental disorders?
Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias.
Depression, bipolar disorder, and other mood disorders.
Eating disorders.
Personality disorders.
Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia.
What are the 4 types of mental health?
There are five major categories of mental illnesses:
Anxiety disorders.
Mood disorders.
Schizophrenia and psychotic disorders.
Dementia.
Eating disorders.
What's a mental breakdown like?
A nervous or mental breakdown is a term used to describe a period of intense mental distress. During this period, you're unable to function in your everyday life. This term was once used to refer to a wide variety of mental illnesses, including: depression.
How can I test my mental health?
Mental illness
A physical exam. Your doctor will try to rule out physical problems that could cause your symptoms.
Lab tests. These may include, for example, a check of your thyroid function or a screening for alcohol and drugs.
A psychological evaluation.
What is the hardest mental illness to live with?
Personality disorders are among the most difficult forms of mental illness to treat. Often, people with these disorders don't seek help because they are able to function in their day-to-day lives.
What is the scariest mental disorder?
10 Weird Brain Disorders That Totally Mess With Your Perception of Reality
Cotard's syndrome: this disorder makes people think that they're dead. ...
Prosopagnosia: some people can't remember others' faces. ...
Mirror-touch synaesthesia: this disorder makes people feel what other people are feeling.
What is the most painful mental illness?
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has long been believed to be the one psychiatric disorder that produced the most intense emotional pain, agony, and distress in those who suffer with this condition. Studies have shown that borderline patients experience chronic and significant emotional suffering and mental agony.
What are the symptoms of poor mental health?
Examples of signs and symptoms include:
Feeling sad or down.
Confused thinking or reduced ability to concentrate.
Excessive fears or worries, or extreme feelings of guilt.
Extreme mood changes of highs and lows.
Withdrawal from friends and activities.
Significant tiredness, low energy or problems sleeping.
Bipolar disorder types and symptoms
There are four common types of bipolar disorder, but two of these types are most often diagnosed.
Bipolar I
This classic form of bipolar disorder used to be called “manic depression.” In bipolar I, manic phases are clear. The person’s behavior and shifts in mood are extreme, and their behavior quickly escalates until they’re out of control. The person may end up in the emergency room if left untreated.
To have bipolar I, a person must have manic episodes. In order for an event to be considered a manic episode, it must:
include shifts in mood or behaviors that are unlike the person’s usual behavior
be present most of the day, nearly every day during the episode
last at least one week, or be so extreme that the person needs immediate hospital care
People with bipolar I typically have depressive episodes as well, but a depressive episode isn’t required to make the bipolar I diagnosis.
Bipolar II
Bipolar II is considered more common than bipolar I. It also involves depressive symptoms, but its manic symptoms are much less severe and are called hypomanic symptoms. Hypomania often becomes worse without treatment, and the person can become severely manic or depressed.
Bipolar II is harder for people to see in themselves, and it’s often up to friends or loved ones to encourage someone with this type to get help.
Rarer types of bipolar disorder
There are two other types of the disorder that are less common than bipolar I and II. Cyclothymic disorder involves changes in mood and shifts similar to bipolar I and II, but the shifts are often less dramatic in nature. A person with cyclothymic disorder can often function normally without medication, though it may be hard. Over time, a person’s changes in mood may develop into a diagnosis of bipolar I or II.
Bipolar disorder not otherwise specified is a general category for a person who only has some symptoms of bipolar disorder. These symptoms are not enough to make a diagnosis of one of the other three types.
What bipolar disorder feels like
Hear from real people who live with bipolar disorder.
Bipolar Disorder Quote Gallery
VIEW GALLERY
3
Bipolar diagnosis and treatment
While bipolar disorder can be difficult to diagnose, once it’s identified, it can be treated.
Bipolar diagnosis
Unless you have severe mania, the symptoms of bipolar disorder can be hard to spot. People who have hypomania may feel more energized than usual, more confident and full of ideas, and able to get by on less sleep. These are things that hardly anyone complains about.
You’re more likely to seek help if you’re depressed, but your doctor may not observe the manic side then. Learn how bipolar disorder is diagnosed.
Treatment for bipolar disorder
Once you have a diagnosis, your doctor will decide on a treatment program that works best for you. Treatment for bipolar disorder may include:
medication
behavioral therapy
substance abuse treatment
electroconvulsive therapy
A licensed psychiatrist usually manages your treatment. You may also have a social worker, psychologist, or psychiatric nurse practitioner involved in your care. Learn more about treatments for bipolar disorder.
Talk with your doctor
If you think that you or a loved one has signs or symptoms of bipolar disorder, your first step should be to talk to your doctor. Only a trained medical professional can diagnose this disorder, and diagnosis is key to getting proper treatment. Medication, therapy, or other treatment options can help you or your loved one get symptoms under control and live a full, satisfying life.
Q&A
Q:
How do symptoms of bipolar disorder in children and teens differ from symptoms of bipolar disorder in adults?
A:
Children may demonstrate different depressive symptoms, if present in bipolar. For instance, children and adolescents may demonstrate an irritable mood, instead of a typical depressed mood. Similarly, instead of weight loss, they may fail to meet expected weight gain that’s considered normal for their particular developmental period. Specific to the manic stage of the illness, children may appear silly or goofy — beyond what would be expected as “appropriate” to the setting or developmental level of the child. In other words, at parties or other social events, children tend to be silly and elated, having a good time. But if they’re acting this way in school or at home when the current activity is not one that lends itself to these expected behaviors, the child may meet the “A” criterion for bipolar disorder. Similarly, children may overestimate abilities to the point of danger. They may begin elaborate and unrealistic plans for projects that are clearly beyond their abilities. The child may also abruptly begin sexual preoccupations which are inappropriate to the child’s developmental level (assuming of course that the child hasn’t been sexually abused or exposed to sexually explicit materials).
Dr. Timothy Legg, PhD, PsyD, CRNP, ACRN