A mental illness, also called a mental disorder or psychiatric disorder, is a mental or behavioural pattern that causes significant impairment or glitching of personal functioning, it refers to a wide range of mental health conditions that can affect your mood, and thinking. Many disorders have been described, examples of mental illness include eating disorders, depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and addictive behaviours. Such disorders may be diagnosed by a mental health professional. In most cases, symptoms can be treated with a combination of both medications and psychotherapy.
Image Credit: pixabay
Mental Illness (Psychiatric Disorder): Symptoms and Causes
The causes of mental disorders are often unclear. Mental illness, depending on the disorder, is usually defined by a combination of circumstances and other factors such as, how a person perceives, behaves, feels, or thinks.
Examples of mental illness signs and symptoms include:
- Feeling sad or down
- Detachment from reality (delusions), paranoia or hallucinations
- Problems with alcohol or drug use
- Withdrawal from friends and activities
- Significant tiredness, low energy or problems sleeping
- Excessive anger, hostility or violence
- Suicidal thinking
- Extreme mood changes of highs and lows
- Trouble understanding and relating to situations and to people
- Excessive fears or worries, or extreme feelings of guilt
- Major changes in eating habits
- Confused thinking or reduced ability to concentrate
- Inability to cope with daily problems or stress
- Sex drive changes
This may be associated with a particular part or function of the brain, often in a social context. In addition to psychotherapy and psychiatric medication, other treatment options include peer support, social interventions, lifestyle changes, and self-help. Sometimes the symptoms may appear as physical problems, such as back pain, headaches, stomach pain, or other unexplained aches and pains.
Patients with Mental Illness can have suicidal thoughts
It is common having suicidal thoughts and behavior in people with mental illness symptoms. If you have any thought of hurting yourself or attempt suicide, get the expert help immediately as possible.
- Reach out to a close friend or loved one.
- Seek help from your primary care provider.
- Call your mental health specialist.
- Call a suicide hotline number.
- Call your local emergency number immediately. 911 (US), 022 2754 6669 (India)
If you have serious suicidal thinking, you cant heal your own - so get help.
Help someone with suicidal thinking
Have an open and honest discussion with your loved one if they suffer from mental illness such as behavioural problems or suicidal thinking. You may not be able to get them into professional care, but you can offer better support and encouragement, help them to find a qualified mental health professional, go along to the appointment.
Once if they had hurt themselves, take the person immediately to the hospital or call for emergency help.
Causes lead to mental illness.
Mental illnesses are thought to be caused by a variety of genetic and environmental factors such as Inherited traits, Environmental exposures before birth, Brain chemistry.
Inherited traits: The risk is higher for people who have blood relatives with mental disabilities. Certain genes or your life situation may trigger the illness.
Environmental exposures before birth: Environmental conditions such as toxins, alcohol, or drugs while in the womb can sometimes lead to mental illness.
Brain chemistry: Neurotransmitters are the natural carrier of brain signals, back and forth of your brain and body. In any circumstances, the function of nerve systems change, the neural transmission networks involving these chemicals are damaged or the reduced the neurotransmission rate, leading to depression anxiety and other emotional disorders.
