Mental health problems can span a vast spectrum of conditions, but the common aspect is that they influence the affected person’s personality, thought processes, or social relationships. According to SAMHSA data, 20 percent of Americans have a mental disorder, with 5% having a serious enough condition to interfere with school, job, or other elements of everyday life. If you or someone you know has a mental illness, call us right once.
What Are the Causes of Mental Illness?
Mental health diseases are caused by biological, psychological, and environmental variables rather than a single cause. People with a family history of mental illness may be more likely to develop one at some point. Cognitive problems can also be caused by changes in brain chemistry due to substance addiction or dietary changes. Psychological and environmental factors, including parenting and social exposure, can lay the groundwork for negative thought patterns linked to mental illnesses. Only a licensed mental health practitioner can accurately diagnose a disorder’s causes.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of a Mental Disorder?
Mental health difficulties include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, and impulse control disorders. Suppose you notice unusual thought patterns, inexplicable mood swings, a lack of interest in socializing, empathy, an inability to discern truth from fiction, or an apparent loss of control in someone you know. In that case, they may have a mental health problem. This is not an exhaustive list of symptoms.
Physical Signs and Symptoms of Mental Illness
Physical symptoms are not always associated with mental health issues. Depression, on the other hand, can lead to weight loss, fatigue, and a decrease in libido, among other things. Eating disorders manifest in malnutrition, weight loss, amenorrhea in women, and electrolyte abnormalities caused by self-induced vomiting. These places are eating disorders among the most dangerous mental illnesses.
Mental Health Instability’s Short- and Long-Term Effects
Mental health issues might cause persons to become estranged from their peers in the short term due to perceived unfavorable personality features or habits. If the person does not know or comprehend what is going on, they can also trigger anger, anxiety, grief, and emotions of helplessness. Mental illness has the potential to lead to suicide in the long run. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression or another mental disease are factors in almost 90% of suicides.
Is there a test or self-evaluation I can take?
Using an internet quiz to diagnose yourself for mental problems accurately is difficult, if not impossible. You don’t have an objective picture of yourself, so you’re bound to give incorrect answers. Also, internet tests are not comprehensive, so they screen for all probable symptoms. Because that professional has an outside viewpoint and can pick up on minor signs, only a face-to-face session with a certified mental health professional can begin to diagnose a mental health condition with any degree of accuracy.
Medication: Treatment Options for Mental Illness
In conjunction with behavioral treatment or cognitive therapy, prescription medications can treat mental health conditions. Antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics are the most common medications to treat mental illness.
Possible Treatments for Mental Illness
Different drugs will be administered depending on the illness. Depression can be treated with antidepressants such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, and a range of SSRIs, SNRIs, and MAOIs. Bipolar disorder is treated with mood stabilizers like lithium tablets and anticonvulsants like Depakote. Antipsychotic medications such as olanzapine and clozapine treat schizophrenia and psychotic depression.
Side Effects of Medicine
Nausea, headaches, changes in appetite, dry mouth, increased urination, changes in libido, irritability, impaired vision, and sleepiness are some of the side effects of mental health medications. Other side effects are possible; because everyone’s body and brain chemistry are different, it’s difficult to predict how a medicine will affect you or how well it will work ahead of time. People who take these medications should talk to their doctors frequently and report any negative side effects.
Addiction, Dependence, and Withdrawal from Drugs
Because of changes in brain chemistry, some mental health drugs are known to develop physical and psychological dependence. If the person isn’t careful, dependency might turn into an addiction. The withdrawal process might exacerbate the original mental condition because the brain loses some substances like serotonin, dopamine, and other endorphins. The individual may need to be admitted to a drug treatment clinic to detox from prescription drugs in severe circumstances.
Here’s how to check your insurance coverage: Do you have a drug problem? Let us review your insurance coverage for treatment at one of our American Addiction Centers locations. Your personal information is always kept private.
Overdosing on medication
It is possible to overdose on medication to achieve the same effects as when the drug was first given, and this is particularly likely when users are reliant on it. Seizures, comas, slowed heartbeats, and acute paranoia indicate an overdose. If any of these symptoms appear, your local Poison Control Center right away and have the prescription handy.
Depression and Mental Health
Depression frequently coexists with other mental diseases, or certain disorders may have triggered depression. For example, 40 percent of persons with PTSD also suffer from depression.
Addiction and Mental Health Disorders: A Dual Diagnosis
Counselors at drug rehab clinics are frequently trained to recognize multiple diagnosis difficulties. Addiction is either a sort of mental health illness or a sign of another disorder. People may use recreational drugs to help them cope with despair or stabilize mood swings caused by bipolar disorder.
Getting Assistance for a Mental Health Problem
You or a loved one must seek treatment for a mental health problem. A medical examination might first rule out physical ailments. A meeting with a mental health expert often includes an interview and subsequent evaluation to determine the most visible symptoms and the kind and severity of the mental condition. In some circumstances, family and friends may be required to intervene.
