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Mental health disorders (or psychiatric illnesses) are conditions that can impact your thinking, the way you feel, your mood, and behavior. A mental health disorder may be occasional (intermittent or seasonal) or long-lasting (chronic). Depending on the disorder, it can have affect your quality of life, relationship with others, and your ability to function optimally each day. Like a physical health condition, a mental health disorder is caused by a problem in the brain, and requires proper treatment by a specialist in psychiatry.
Anxiety disorders are conditions in which you have anxiety that does not go away and can get worse over time.
Depression is a serious medical illness. It’s more than just a feeling of being sad and does not just go away.
Eating disorders are serious mental health disorders that involve severe problems with thoughts about food and your eating behaviors.
Personality disorders are a group of mental illnesses that involve patterns of thoughts and behaviors that are unhealthy and inflexible.
Depression is a serious medical illness. It’s more than just a feeling of being sad and does not just go away.
Psychotic disorders are severe mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions. People with psychoses lose touch with reality.
There are several types of anxiety disorders that includes:
is also a form of anxiety disorder. OCD involves thoughts (obsessions) and rituals (compulsions) that are repeated over and over, and interfere with your life. People with OCD are unable to control or stop the obsessions and compulsions.
The cause of an anxiety disorder remains unknown. It is believed that factors such as genetics, brain biology and chemistry, stress, and your environment may play a significant role in the development of an anxiety disorder.
The primary treatment for anxiety disorders involves a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medications. However, certain medications that can help with the symptoms associated with anxiety are used with caution (i.e., benzodiazepines), as these medications can lead to dependence. Therefore, psychotherapy and other medications should be considered first.
If you are one of the more than 19 million teens and adults in the United States who have depression, the feelings do not go away. They persist and interfere with your everyday life. Depression can be situation, seasonal, or chronic.
Symptoms can include:
Depression is a disorder of the brain with a variety of possible causes, including genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors. Depression can happen at any age, but it often begins in teens and young adults. It is much more common in women.
Treatment depends on the severity, but medications and psychotherapy are generally the first line of treatment. For severe or treatment resistant depression, TMS therapy is the most effective form of treatment for long-term relief.
An eating disorder may include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating. Depending on the type of eating disorder you suffer from, you may eat much less or much more than you need.
Eating disorders are medical conditions; and are not a lifestyle choice, but involve a psychiatric condition. They affect your body’s overall health both mentally and physically, and proper nutrition is the primary concern. Eating disorders can lead to serious health issues, such as heart and kidney problems, or sometimes even death. But with proper psychiatric and medical care, there are treatments that help a person overcome this serious condition.
The exact cause of an eating disorder is not known. However, researchers believe that eating disorders are caused by a complex interaction of factors, such as genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors.
Individual treatment plans for eating disorders are tailored to the patients needs and involve a team of care providers including medical doctors, a psychiatrist, a therapist experienced in eating disorders, and nutritionists.
The behaviors related to a personality disorder can create serious problems in a persons life, specifically with relationships and work. People with personality disorders have difficulty with effectively handling stress and other problems or situations that often arise throughout life. They tend to have stormy relationships with most people and often do things that end in poor relationships with others.
The cause of a personality disorder is unknown, but genes and childhood experiences may play a significant role.
The symptoms of each personality disorder are different. Symptoms can mild or severe; however, people with a personality disorder typically fail recognize that they have a problem. In fact, to them, their thoughts are normal, and they often blame others for their problems. They may try to get help because of their problems with relationships and work.
Treatment usually includes long-term, intensive psychotherapy. For some individuals medications may help.
It’s normal to feel afraid during and after a frightening and/or traumatic situation. Fear triggers a “fight-or-flight” response, which is your body’s normal response and helps to protect itself from possible harm. This normal response causes a release of certain hormones and increases alertness, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. In time, most people recover from a frightening event naturally, but some people develop PTSD. With PTSD, a person feels stressed and frightened long after the trauma is over, such as in the military and those who’ve been abuses or violated sexually. In some cases, symptoms of PTSD are fleeting, but for some, the symptoms can significantly impact a persons quality of life.
Effective treatment for PTSD usually involves a combination of medications and psychotherapy. PTSD affects everyone differently and the severity of symptoms are often directly related the the severity of the trauma. What works for one individual may not work for someone else.
Two of the main symptoms of a psychotic disorder are delusions and hallucinations. Delusions are false beliefs about reality, such as thinking and believing that the FBI is following you or plotting against you. Hallucinations are false perceptions that affect your senses, such as hearing, seeing, or feeling something that is not real.
Schizophrenia is one type of a psychotic disorder. People with bipolar disorder or prolonged, severe depression may also have psychotic symptoms. Other problems that can cause a state of psychosis includes alcohol and illicit drugs, and certain physical conditions, such as a urinary tract infection in the elderly.
Treatment of a psychotic disorder depends on the cause. It might involve medications to control symptoms and psychotherapy. Sometimes hospitalization is necessary in cases where the psychosis presents as a threat to self or others.
The Generalized Anxiety Screening (GAD-7) helps to evaluate the severity of symptoms associated with anxiety.
This anxiety screening is not intended to diagnose an anxiety disorder or should not take the place of a thorough evaluation.
If you are in a crisis situation we encourage you to call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a simple depression screening used to evaluate the severity of depressive symptoms a patient may experiencing. This depression screening is not intended to diagnose a condition or take the place of a thorough evaluation. If you are experiencing symptoms of depression beyond two weeks we encourage you to give us a call and schedule an appointment for a comprehensive evaluation.
If you are in a crisis situation, experiencing symptoms of self harm, or suicidal thoughts, we encourage you to call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 770-837-9710
While an eating disorder does cause a focus on diet and food, this classification of disorders involves much more than food. Eating disorders are part of complex mental health conditions that often required a strong collaboration between a team of healthcare providers, such as a primary care doctor, psychiatrist, nutritionist, and therapist. Examples of the majority of eating disorders includes anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating.
Eating disorders are not reserved for females, as one of these conditions not only affect approximately 20 million females, but also 10 million males in the United States. If you feel that you may be experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder, please be sure to seek help and communicate with your doctor or health care provider
Personality disorders are considered a group of mental health conditions that involve patterns of thoughts and behaviors that are inflexible and unhealthy, and often create poor relationships and problems in the workplace. People with these types of disorders struggle with dealing with everyday
The cause of personality disorders is unknown. However, genes and childhood experiences may play a role.
Symptoms can vary from one personality to another, and can range from mild to severe. People with a personality disorder may not realize they have a problem. In fact, to them, they feel there thought patterns are normal and tend to blame others for their problems.
The cause is unknown, but it is believed that personality disorders may have a genetic link and often result from childhood upbringing. Treatment involves intense psychotherapy.
Helps diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder based on DSM-5 criteria via 17 self-report standardized questions.
A psychotic disorder is a term used to describe multiple types of psychiatric conditions that involve psychosis. Psychosis refers to impairment with reality, and can include paranoia, auditory or visual hallucinations, delusional thought processes, or confusion.
Psychosis can be related to a psychiatric diagnosis, such as schizophrenia, and can also result from substance abuse., which is more commonly referred to as substance-induced psychosis as opposed to a psychotic disorder.
Approximately 3 in 100 people will experience a psychotic disorder. Psychosis is not something that is present in other psychiatric disorders, and is generally related to a severe condition. Psychosis may present itself in a person suffering from severe, prolonged periods of depression, but does not mean that person has a psychotic disorder. Psychosis is more common in disorders such as schizophrenia.
If you re experiencing symptoms of psychosis you are encouraged to seek help, schedule a visit, go to the nearest emergency room, and call 911. Often times an adjustment in medications is needed, or psychosis can develop from physical conditions, such as a urinary tract infection in the older adult.