Counseling Associates

What Are Mental Illnesses and How Do I Get Help? 

What Are Mental Illnesses?

In general, they are disorders of the brain, your body’s most important organ.  A mental illness is a health condition, much like heart disease or diabetes.  It is no one’s fault—not the person’s, nor the family’s.

There are many causes of mental illness including birth trauma, chemical imbalances in the brain, and other biological, environmental, social and cultural factors.

Mental Illnesses are treatable.  With the proper treatment, many people with a mental illness experience improvement and lead productive lives.

What are Some Common Types of Mental Illness?

Affective Disorders (also called mood disorders)

Depression: Depression is more than a sad feeling from time to time.  Depression is a lasting feeling of great sadness or hopelessness.  A person with depression finds it hard to get pleasure from life.  They may sleep a lot or very little, lack energy, feel worthless, and may think about death and suicide.  A person with suicidal thoughts should get help right away.

Bipolar Disorder: Bipolar Disorder is also called manic-depression.  The person has extreme mood swings (highs and lows).  A person with Bipolar Disorder has periods of mania.  This may look like a lot of energy, wild behavior, racing thoughts, less need for sleep, and overconfidence.  They have periods of normal energy and feelings, and periods of depression.  Each of these periods may last days or months.

Possible causes of affective disorders include biological illness, a chemical imbalance in the brain, heredity, stress and other factors.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a group of disorders marked by unusual thoughts, actions and emotions.  It is not the same as a “split” or “dual” personality.

A person with schizophrenia often can’t get along with others.  They may be unable to take care of themselves, may not make sense when talking and often withdraws from everyday life.  They may also have strong fears, hallucinations (experiences of voices or visions), obsessions and delusions (false beliefs).

Possible causes of schizophrenia include a chemical or hormonal imbalance, genetic abnormalities of the brain, infections and other the factors.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety diorders result from fear or anxiety that is severe or lasting.  They include:

General Anxiety Disorder: tension or irritability that lasts a month or more

Phobias: strong fears about an object, place or situation (for example, fear of heights)

Panic Attacks: sudden fear or terror, which causes heart flutters, dizziness, sweating, etc.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: thoughts, images or actions that are constantly repeated

Possible causes of anxiety disorders include many factors, such as the brain’s inability to chemically control anxiety.

Some other types of mental illness:

Alcoholism and other drug dependencies

Dementia (such as Alzheimer’s disease)

Personality Disorders

Eating Disorders (such as Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Psychoses

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Conduct Disorder

Intermittent Explosive Disorder

Mental Illnesses are Treatable

Treatment methods usually include a combination of:

Psychotherapy: this includes individual, family and group therapy.  Psychotherapy can help people understand the illness.  Learn how to deal with any problems the illness causes, and make positive changes in their lives.

Medication: Many mental illnesses and their symptoms can be treated with medications.  Medication can help correct chemical imbalances, enabling most people who receive treatment to stop suffering and lead productive lives.

Most people with mental illness are treated as outpatients.  However, for some, hospitalization is an effective part of a treatment plan.

The Warning Signs of Mental Illness

Changes in daily routine (such as sleeping or eating more or unexplained physical problems)

Confused thinking or speech

Delusions

Denial (refusing to admit there may be a problem or to seek help)

Abuse of alcohol or other drugs

Lasting depression

Hallucinations

Inability to cope with daily activities

Mood swings

Excessive fears worries or anxiety

Strong feeling or anger

Suicidal thoughts or threats

Withdrawal from life, friends and usual activities

These signs may indicate other physical problems besides mental illness.  If warning signs are lasting or severe, seek professional help.

How to Get Help

If you or someone you know has signs of a mental illness, or if you would like more information, contact:

Your Health Care Provider

Community Mental Health Centers

Crisis Hotlines

Professional Counselors

Marriage and Family Therapists

Psychologists

The National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (800-950-6264)

What are the Symptoms of Mental Illnesses? 

Do you or someone you love have a mental illness?  After reviewing the symptoms, if you think you could have a mental illness, you should seek a professional assessment.  It is not necessary to be experiencing all of the symptoms in order to be experiencing distress.  Counseling Associates would like to invite you to contact us for your assessment.

Depression       

For at least two weeks there has been:

____Depressed mood most of the day, nearly everyday (in children this can look like anger/irritablity)

____Decreased interest in activities you once enjoyed

____Significant weight changes (gain or loss)

____Difficult going to sleep or sleeping too much

____Changes is activity level (restless or slowed down)

____Fatigue or loss of energy

____Feelings of worthlessness or guilt

____Difficulty with concentration

____Difficult with making decisions

____Thoughts of death (including suicidal thoughts)

Bipolar Disorder (Mania is described)

For at least one week there has been:

____Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity

____Decreased need for sleep

____More talkative than is normal

____Racing thoughts

____Increased distractibility

____Increased activity

____Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a potential for painful consequences

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

For at least six months there has been:

____Excessive anxiety and worry

____Difficult to control the worry

____Restlessness or feeling on edge (this is why some children seem hyperactive, when they are actually experiencing anxiety)

____Easily fatigued

____Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank

____Irritability

____Muscle tension

____Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or restless unsatisfied sleep

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

____Exposure to a traumatic event that involved threat of serious injury to self or others and experiences intense fear, helplessness or horror

For at least one month after the event there are:

____Recurrent and intrusive images thoughts, or perceptions of the event

____Distressing dreams of the event

____Acting or feeling as if the event is recurring (includes hallucinations and flashbacks to the event)

____Intense distress when exposed to a cue that symbolizes or resembles the event

____Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings or conversations associated with the event

____Efforts to avoid activities, places or people that arouse memories of the event

____Inability to recall details of important aspects of the event

____Decreased interest participation in activities

____Feeling detached from others

____Restricted range of feelings

____Sleep disturbance

____Irritability

____Difficulty concentrating

____Easily startled or “always on edge”

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

The following exists and consumes at least an hour per day or significantly interferes with your normal routine, job/school functioning, social activities or relationships

EITHER

____Recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are not simply excessive worry and that are intrusive, inappropriate and causes distress

____Attempts to ignore, suppress or neutralize the thoughts with some other thought or action

____Recognizing the thoughts, impulses or images are a product of your own mind

OR

____Repetitive behaviors (example: hand washing), or mental acts (example: counting) that you feel driven to perform

____Behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or a dreaded event, but are not realistically connected to what they are designed to prevent

Anorexia Nervosa

____Refusal to maintain body weight at or above minimally normal weight for age and height

____Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though under weight

____Distorted view of one’s weight or body shape

____Absence of three consecutive menstrual cycles

Bulimia Nervosa

 At least twice a week for 3 months there has been:

____Eating in a specific period of time (example: a 2 hour period) and amount of food that is larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time or under similar circumstances

____Feels a sense of lacking control over eating during the episode described above

____Engaging in inappropriate compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain because of the episode described above:

          ____Self induced vomiting

         ____Misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas

         ____Fasting

        ____Excessive exercise

____Distorted view of one’s weight or body shape

Schizophrenia

For a significant portion of time during a 1-month period, the following have been experienced:

____Delusions (unrealistic and irrational thought processes)

____Hallucinations (hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting things that no one else experiences)

____Disorganized speech

____Extremely disorganized behavior

____Seems to experience “no emotions”

Autism

____Does not take an interest in other children

____Does not ever PRETEND, for example, to make a cup of tea using a toy cup and teapot, or pretend other things

____Does not ever use his/her index finger to point, to ASK for something

____Does not ever use his/her index finger to point, to indicate INTEREST in something

____Cannot play properly with small toys (e.g. cars or bricks) without just mouthing, fiddling or dropping them

____Does not ever bring objects over to you (parent) to SHOW you something

____Seems overly sensitive to sound

____Does not make eye contact for longer than one or two seconds

____Does not imitate parents

____Delayed or total lack of verbal communication

____Engages in Stereotypic Behaviors such as:

A Final Word About Treatment

Even if you do not have all of the symptoms described in any given mental illness, if you are experiencing distress you may benefit from counseling services.  Often having an objective person who is outside of any given situation aids in finding solutions.  If you are in emotional distress, please seek professional services.