Commonly Diagnosed Mental Health Disorders:

ADHD- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is one of the most common mental disorders among children. Those who suffer from ADHD often experience the inability to sit still, plan ahead, finish tasks, or be fully aware of what’s going on around them. To their family, classmates and coworkers, they may seem to exist in a whirlwind of disorganized activity. Without appropriate prevention, intervention and support, these individuals are at risk for future adjustments including education and employment problems.

Bipolar Disorder- is a mental illness that causes extreme mood swings. These mood swings range from periods of mania to periods of depression. A manic phase can be described as a frantic “high.” The person experiencing this is overly energetic, very confident and excited about life, even euphoric. This mania often leads to reckless and dangerous behavior. The opposite pole, depression, is described as a devastating “low” where the person loses interest in life and other people, is unusually tired and has feelings of worthlessness. Depression may lead to thoughts of or attempts at suicide. Bipolar disorder can cause mental suffering, problems with family, friends and co-workers, loss of job productivity, financial problems or death from reckless behavior or suicide.

Depression- A depressive disorder is an illness involving the body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way they feel about themselves, and the way he or she thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood. People with a depressive illness cannot merely “pull themselves together” and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years.

General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)- When persistent and unrealistic worry becomes a normal way of approaching situations, an individual may be suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Many individuals with this disorder constantly anticipate disaster and often worry excessively about health, money, family or work. Experts believe GAD is caused by a combination of biological factors and life events.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)- Anxious thoughts or rituals a person feels they can’t control characterize obsessive-compulsive disorder. If a person has OCD, they may be plagued by persistent images or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals. The disturbing thoughts or images are called obsessions, and the rituals that are performed to try to prevent or dispel them are called compulsions. The disorder is diagnosed only when such activities consume at least an hour a day, are very distressing and interfere with daily life.

Panic Disorder- Panic disorder strikes between three and six million Americans. Individuals with panic disorder have sudden and repeated feelings of terror known as panic attacks. These attacks can occur at any time and usually last a few minutes. Not everyone who experiences panic attacks will develop panic disorder – for example, many people have one attack but never have another. It is important for those who do have panic disorder to seek treatment.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)- PTSD is a debilitating condition that follows a terrifying event. People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to. This disorder can result from any number of traumatic incidents (kidnapping, serious accidents, natural disasters, rape).People with PTSD repeatedly relive the trauma in the form of nightmares and disturbing recollections during the day. They may experience sleep problems, depression, feeling detached or numb, or being easily startled. They may lose interest in things they used to enjoy, have trouble feeling affectionate or may feel irritable or more aggressive than before. PTSD can be accompanied by depression, substance abuse, or anxiety.

Schizophrenia- is a severe, chronic brain disorder that alters the way a person acts, thinks, perceives reality, express emotions and relates to other people. Schizophrenia affects people of all gender and races. People suffering from Schizophrenia believe that other people have a capacity to read their mind, control their thought patterns or are scheming to harm them. In other cases, they may smell odors or hear voices that other people don’t smell or hear. These experiences leaves a person withdrawn, frightened of extremely agitated. Just like cancer or diabetes, Schizophrenia is a long life disease that has no known cure but it can be controlled with the correct treatment.

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder in that a person may not differentiate the reality from imaginations; this usually leads to change in a person’s behavior and personality. When the change is sudden, it is referred to as psychotic episode. Sufferer of Schizophrenia experience different psychotic episodes during their lifetime, making the severity of the disorder to vary from one person to the other.