Mental Health
Overview
Sometimes in our lives, we feel sad, low, and angry. However, these feelings are normal and usually go away in a short time. Depression otherwise known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression is different because one experiences severe symptoms that affect how he/she feels, thinks, and handles activities of daily living such as sleeping, eating, cleaning, grooming, or working.
Depression is mental ill-health that can affect anyone—regardless of culture, race, education, income, and age. It is linked to one’s genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological backgrounds that play various roles in depressive disorder
Depression sometimes occurs with other illnesses, such as chronic pain, lupus, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. It can also be caused by other mental disorders such as anxiety and psychosis. At times, the medications taken for illnesses can cause side effects that may contribute to depression symptoms.
Symptoms of Depression:
Some of the common symptoms include:
- Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” mood
- Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies or activities
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
- Decreased energy, fatigue, or being “slowed down”
- Lack of concentration, remembering, or making decisions
- Lack of sleep or sleeping too much
- Loss of appetite or eating too much
- Thoughts of hurting self or hurting others, suicide attempt or death
All these symptoms must have been experienced up to 2 weeks or more
***Please Note: If you or someone you know is in immediate distress or is thinking about hurting themselves, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You also can text the Crisis Text Line (HELLO to 741741) or use the Lifeline Chat on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website.
Types of Depression: Major depression disorder, Seasonal depression, Post-partum depression etc.
For more information on depression go to – https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression
Anxiety Disorders
Overview
Anxiety is an expected part of life, and it is ok to feel anxious when you are occasionally faced with a problem at home, work, before taking a test or a major exam or before making important decisions in your personal life or that of a group.
However, Anxiety disorders involve more than occasional worries or fears because it stays and can get worse over time with the symptoms that may interfere with daily activities such as relationships, schoolwork, and job performance.
Types of anxiety disorders include:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder – GAD, (When Worry Gets Out of Control)
Example:
Feeling restless, wound-up, or on-edge, Having difficulty concentrating; mind going blank, Being irritable, Having muscle tension
Difficulty controlling feelings of worry
Having sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, restlessness, or unsatisfying sleep
- Panic anxiety disorder – PAD, ( When Fear is recurrent and Overwhelming)
Examples:
Heart palpitations, a pounding heartbeat, or an accelerated heartrate
Sweating, Trembling or shaking
Sensations of shortness of breath, smothering, or choking, Feelings of impending doom
Feelings of being out of control
- Social anxiety disorder (A general intense fear of, or anxiety toward, social or performance situations)
- Phobia-related disorders. ( Intense fear of—or aversion to—specific objects or situations that is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by the situation or object.
Examples – Fear of Flying, Heights, enclosed space, with a crows, specific animals, as spiders, dogs, or snake, Receiving injections, sight of blood etc.
For more information on Anxiety Disorders, go to https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-PTSD
Overview
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is caused by a shocking, scary, or dangerous traumatic events. These events may include natural disasters, terrorism, serious accidents, combat, and physical or sexual assault.
It is natural to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation. Fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to help defend against danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a typical reaction meant to protect a person from harm. Nearly everyone will experience a range of reactions after trauma, yet most people recover from initial symptoms naturally. Those who continue to experience problems may be diagnosed with PTSD. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened, even when they are not in danger.
Symptoms of PTSD
PTSD symptoms usually start within 3 months of the traumatic event but may start years afterward. PTSD symptoms last more than a month and may become serious enough to interfere with work and relationships The course of the illness depends on the individual because some people may recover within 6 months, while others last much longer and can become chronic in some people.
Symptoms of PTSD in Adults
To be diagnosed with PTSD, an adult must have all of the following for at least for 1 month:
One re-experiencing symptom
One avoidance symptom
Two arousal and reactivity symptoms
Two cognition and mood symptoms
PTSD Symptoms in Children <6years
The symptoms include:
- Bed wetting after toilet training
- Forgetting how to or being unable to talk
- Acting out the scary event during playtime
- Unusually clingy to a parent or other adult
PTSD Symptoms in Older Children and Teens:
- Development of disruptive behaviors
- Disrespectful, or destructive behaviors.
- Feeling guilty for not preventing injury or deaths.
- Having thoughts of revenge.
For more information on PTSD, go to:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd
Schizophrenia
Overview
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with symptoms of schizophrenia may lose touch with reality, and if left untreated, can be disabling.
Symptoms
Schizophrenia is typically diagnosed in the late teen years to the early thirties. It shows up earlier in males (late adolescence – early twenties) than in females (early twenties – early thirties). There are gradual changes in thinking, mood, and social functioning which often begin before the first episode of psychosis. Schizophrenia in younger children before late adolescence is rare, but it usually starts in mid-adolescence
The symptoms of schizophrenia:
Psychotic symptoms include:
- Hallucinations, e.g. , – hearing voices or seeing things that aren’t there.
- Delusions, which are firmly held beliefs not supported by objective facts (e.g., paranoia – irrational fears that others are “out to get you”
- Thought disorder, which includes unusual thinking or disorganized speech
- Negative symptoms include loss of motivation, “Flat affect,” or reduced facial expression of emotions
- Disinterest or lack of enjoyment in daily activities, social withdrawal, and difficulty functioning normally.
- Cognitive symptoms such as problems in attention, concentration, and memory. Interference with activities like following conversations, learning new things, or remembering appointments.
- Difficulty processing information to make decisions
- Problems using information immediately after learning it
For more information on Schizophrenia, go to
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia