By Ratidzo Makombe
Overview
Mental health disorders, refer to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behaviour. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, dementia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many people have mental health concerns from time to time. But a mental health concern becomes a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect your ability to function. This article seeks to raise awareness on this topic of mental health.
Mental illness can make you miserable and can cause problems in your daily life, such as at school or work or in relationships. In most cases, symptoms can be managed with a combination of medications and talk therapy.
General Causes of mental illness
Mental illnesses, in general, are thought to be caused by a variety of genetic and environmental factors:
Inherited traits- Mental illness is more common in people whose family members also have a mental illness. Certain genes may increase your risk of developing a mental illness, and your life situation may trigger it.
Environmental exposures- Exposure to environmental stressors, inflammatory conditions, toxins, alcohol, or drugs can sometimes be linked to mental illness.
Brain chemistry- Neurotransmitters are naturally occurring brain chemicals that carry signals to other parts of your brain and body. When the neural networks involving these chemicals are impaired, the function of nerve receptors and nerve systems change, possibly leading to depression and other emotional disorders.
Types of mental illness
Anxiety
It is normal to feel anxious from time to time, especially if your life is stressful. However, excessive, ongoing anxiety and worry that are difficult to control and interfere with day-to-day activities may be a sign of a broader anxiety disorder. It is possible to develop an anxiety disorder as a child or an adult. Generalised anxiety disorders have symptoms that are similar to panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other types of anxiety, but they're all different conditions. Living with anxiety disorders can be a long-term challenge. In most cases, anxiety improves with psychotherapy or medications. Making lifestyle changes, learning coping skills and using relaxation techniques also can help.
Depression
Depression is a common mental disorder affecting more than 264 million people worldwide. It is characterised by persistent sadness and a lack of interest or pleasure in previously rewarding or enjoyable activities. It can also disturb sleep and appetite; tiredness and poor concentration are common. Depression is a leading cause of disability around the world and contributes greatly to the global burden of disease. The effects of depression can be long-lasting or recurrent and can dramatically affect a person’s ability to function and live a rewarding life. The causes of depression include complex interactions between social, psychological and biological factors. Life events such as childhood adversity, loss and unemployment contribute to and may catalyse the development of depression.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder affecting 20 million people worldwide (WHO 2019). Schizophrenia is characterised by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behaviour. Common experiences include hallucinations (hearing voices or seeing things that are not there) and delusions (fixed, false beliefs). Worldwide, schizophrenia is associated with considerable disability and may affect educational and occupational performance. Schizophrenia is treatable with medicines and psychosocial support being effective.
Dementia
Dementia is an umbrella term for several diseases affecting memory, other cognitive abilities and behaviour that interfere significantly with a person’s ability to maintain their activities of daily living. Although age is the strongest known risk factor for dementia, it is not a normal part of ageing. Dementia is a syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities. Although dementia mainly affects older people, it is not a normal part of ageing. Worldwide, around 50 million people have dementia, and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases. Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide and has a physical, psychological, social, and economic impact, not only on people with dementia but also on their careers, families and society at large.
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), you may feel euphoric, full of energy or unusually irritable. These mood swings can affect sleep, energy, activity, judgment, behaviour and the ability to think clearly. Episodes of mood swings may occur rarely or multiple times a year. While most people will experience some emotional symptoms between episodes, some may not experience any. Although bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition, you can manage your mood swings and other symptoms by following a treatment plan.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) features a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviours (compulsions). These obsessions and compulsions interfere with daily activities and cause significant distress. You may try to ignore or stop your obsessions, but that only increases your distress and anxiety. Ultimately, you feel driven to perform compulsive acts to try to ease your stress.This leads to more ritualistic behaviour — the vicious cycle of OCD. OCD often centres around certain themes — for example, an excessive fear of getting contaminated by germs. To ease your contamination fears, you may compulsively wash your hands until they are sore and chapped. It is also possible to have only obsession symptoms or only compulsion symptoms.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event - either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms may start within one month of a traumatic event, but sometimes symptoms may not appear until years after the event. These symptoms cause significant problems in social or work situations and even in relationships. These can also interfere with your ability to go about your normal daily tasks. Most people who go through traumatic events may have temporary difficulty adjusting and coping, but with time and good self-care, they usually get better.
This article seeks to raise awareness of mental health because it is an area that requires attention and prioritisation. Where illness is suspected, seek a professional healthcare practitioner for a proper diagnosis.
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