How is a mental illness diagnosed
Mental Illness Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment | Merck Manual Consumer Version
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mental illness the quick facts
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what is mental illness mental illness
includes a wide range of disorders of
thinking emotion and or behavior there
are many different types of mental
illness and it can be short-lived or
long-term
sometimes it can be hard to tell the
difference between mental illness and
normal worry or sadness but mental
illness is more severe
lasts longer and significantly affects a
person's ability to cope with life
almost half of adults experience
symptoms of mental illness at some point
depression is very common
the main treatments are medicines and
counseling
family friends and support groups can
also help people cope with mental
illness
what are the types of mental illness
mental illness is really many different
disorders these disorders fall into
broad categories including anxiety mood
disorders such as being too sad or too
excited schizophrenia
personality disorders and
obsessive-compulsive disorders
other mental health disorders include
eating disorders stress disorders such
as ptsd and suicidal behavior
what causes mental illness
mental illness is probably caused by
many things in combination including
inherited factors life stresses the
environment and culture you live in and
health problems that affect your brain
many stresses such as losing a job
getting divorced or taking too many
drugs increase the risk of mental
illness
certain health problems that affect a
baby's brain such as complications
during birth or a brain infection by a
virus increase the risk of mental
illness later on in life
mental illness doesn't occur because
people are lazy or irresponsible it is
not something people do on purpose
symptoms are different depending on what
kind of problem you have they may
include major changes in personality or
behavior especially if they happen for
no clear reason
confusion and cloudy thinking
odd disorganized thoughts such as
jumping from topic to topic or answering
simple questions with long confusing
answers
inappropriate behavior such as
undressing in public
seeing or hearing things that aren't
there
believing things that aren't true
despite strong evidence to the contrary
and extreme moods
how can doctors tell if someone has a
mental illness
doctors diagnose mental illness by
talking to the person sometimes they'll
also talk to caregivers or family
members
sometimes it's obvious that symptoms are
caused by a mental illness
for example people insisting that
they're the president or that their
thoughts are being controlled by a radio
implanted in their brain
other times it's hard to distinguish
mental illness from normal reactions for
example it can be hard to tell normal
grief from depression after the death of
a spouse or child because both involve
sadness and a depressed mood
likewise the line between being neat or
orderly and having obsessive-compulsive
disorder can be blurry any dividing line
is usually based on how severe the
symptoms are how long the symptoms last
and how much symptoms affect the ability
to function
doctors have made a great deal of
progress in successfully treating mental
illness
the main treatments include medicine and
talk therapy
for most mental health disorders a
combination is more effective than
either one by itself
other treatments include
electroconvulsive therapy and
transcranial magnet stimulation
in the past people with mental illness
were often placed in institutions or
hospitals today people are more likely
to live productively in the community
but many people with mental illness
still don't get the care and support
they need
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