Introduction
Mental health is nothing to take lightly. It’s no secret that our mental condition affects everything that happens in our life. Whether it is our social environment, our professional life, our relationships or passions, and our goals, if you’re not doing mentally well, your life is going to be problematic.
Different psychological disorders can affect various people of different ages and situations. It’s not entirely related to genetic inheritance, and it’s certainly not something that can heal overnight.
Therefore, careful analysis, diagnosis, and treatment are necessary if you wish to lead a normal life. To that effort, let’s discuss some of the most commonly occurring psychological disorders that you should watch out for:
Anxiety Disorders:
Anxiety is the constant feeling of dread, fear, and stress that doesn’t go away. Patients suffering from anxiety often talk about how they feel restless. Moreover, they also feel tense, and their heartbeat grows faster. Many people confuse anxiety with depression even though they’re very different conditions. You might have an anxiety disorder if you have a steady state of anxiety. The thing about these disorders is that they can get worse with time.
Anxiety disorders can take a nasty toll on your well-being. There are three major types of anxiety disorders:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Phobias
Depression:
Depression is not merely a case of the casual ‘blues’ that hit us all every now and then. For patients with depression, despair and sadness are permanent. This is one of those disorders that are likely to affect all aspects of a patient’s life.
People with depression can display symptoms like feeling sad or empty and losing interest in all activities. Patients of depression don’t even work on their passions and goals they’ve set for themselves. Another symptom can be a total loss of appetite or overeating. Similarly, people also experience difficulty sleeping.
Whereas some may sleep for longer durations of time. A common symptom for all is the constant burden: this, and headaches followed by cramps or even digestive problems. The most threatening symptom is the tendency to think about suicide.
These are all signs of the mental disorder taking its toll. Ultimately, it affects the overall life of the person. There are many causes and sources of getting depression, including:
- Genetics
- Biological
- Environmental
- Social
- Psychological factors, etc.
More often than not, it exposes itself to teenagers and young adults. Most cases of depression show patients to be women. Another kind of depression that is solely related to women is post-partum depression. This is a specific type that happens after giving birth. Depression also happens to be one part of bipolar disorder.
Many people try different tactics and strategies to cope with depression. Therapy, prescription drugs, and change in social and professional environments are some examples. Other than that, people also use drugs to deal with the problem. Teenagers mostly resort to using marijuana and cannabis. However, they then have to worry about how to pass a drug test for marijuana later.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:
OCD is a serious mental sickness in which patients have thoughts or obsessions and rituals or compulsions. This is a mental disorder that you get from either brain chemistry, biology, or even your environment.
Obsessions mean getting repetitive anxiety, urges, or even mental images. Things such as:
- Germs
- Misplacing something,
- Fear of harm,
- Unwanted thoughts of perversion or blasphemy, etc
A reaction to this can be in the form of aggression towards self or others or obsession with organizing everything.
Similarly, compulsions can be certain patterns of behavior that you repeat over and over again. Patients with OCD do this in an effort to reduce or cope with anxiety. Attitudes can involve:
- Excessive handwashing and cleaning
- Conducting repetitive checks on doors, ovens, etc.
- Counting whatever is in front of them repeatedly.
This disorder mostly starts developing in the teenage. Boys are more likely to get OCD at an earlier age than girls. One of the major risk factors is a family history of the mental condition. There are some cases when the person in the family with OCD developed it at a young age. In such cases, the odds of developing OCD rise exponentially in the next of kin.
Another factor that plays a crucial role in developing OCD is brain chemistry. Imaging reports show that people with the disorder have differences in various parts of the brain. Moreover, patients suffering from childhood trauma are likely to develop OCD later in life.
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder):
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental state that comes from experiencing traumatic situations. It’s not something that can only affect you at an early age. Even grown-ups can develop PTSD if they experience or witness a traumatic event. These events can include anything from natural calamities, and accidents to assaults of any kind.
Even traumatic events that aren’t threatening, such as the death of a close relative, can trigger PTSD.
For patients suffering from the condition, the fear and paranoia they felt at the time of the event persist. The ‘flight or fight’ state of the body stays even after the event. Experts say that it’s a defense mechanism of the body. Therefore, it triggers some serious physiological changes in the body. The results can include an increase in alertness, blood pressure, and rapid heart rate.
The effects of the disease can come and go at random intervals. They can even start showing at a later date after the event. Some of the indications of PTSD can include reliving the situation in the form of flashbacks. People also report seeing nightmares. Almost all patients have constantly frightening thoughts. Along with that, patients also try to isolate themselves. They resort to isolating their selves.
People with this mental disorder are likely to stay away from most activities. Furthermore, patients also show extreme fear and a state of alertness. They feel paranoid to the point that it makes it difficult to sleep.
Also included in the symptoms are cognitive and mood changes such as:
- Difficulty in remembering events of the trauma
- Negativity with respect to self-concept and towards everyone else
- The feeling of immense guilt and blame
- Staying away from all activities, especially those that the patient was once passionate about.
- Consistent anxiety makes it difficult to concentrate.
Treatments:
Depending upon the type of mental disorder you have, treatments can vary. Firstly, you should check in with a psychologist to discuss your symptoms if you experience any. Then, you should seek the best counsel regarding what sort of therapy you should get.
Considering the situation, you might even have to visit a psychiatrist who will be able to prescribe medications. Although it’s not ideal for people to resort to medications, however, in certain situations, it’s inevitably for the best.
So, if you or anyone around you is experiencing or showing symptoms of any disorder, it’s best to seek help. The point about mental disorders is that they can worsen over time without proper diagnosis and treatments.
