A psychological illness is a disorder that affects your mood and behavior. It can be treated with medication, therapy, and social support. A person may also need to stay in a psychiatric hospital for treatment if the symptoms are severe.
The most common psychological illnesses include depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and PTSD. These illnesses are characterized by extreme moods that can disrupt daily functions, such as sleep and critical thinking. In addition, they can cause people to become unmotivated and unable to enjoy any activity.
Often, a person with PTSD experiences recurring feelings of intense distress, like flashbacks and nightmares, which can last for months. They may also have sensory impressions of the traumatic event, such as intrusive images or flashbacks. They also have difficulty concentrating and a heightened startle response. They are able to recover from the effects of the condition in time.
Bipolar disorder is a mental illness characterized by periods of extreme highs and lows. These episodes can occur several times a year and are often accompanied by a feeling of hopelessness. This is a condition that requires medication to control its symptoms.
Anxiety disorders are characterized by feelings of extreme fear and phobias. These are generally related to a traumatic experience or an abusive event. The symptoms of anxiety can vary in severity, but they include intrusive thoughts, apneas, and hypervigilance of threat.
Persistent pain is common in many types of psychiatric patients. It can be related to neurosis, endogenous depression, hysteria, and schizophrenia. It can also be associated with anterograde amnesia, which is the inability to remember events that occurred in the past.
There is no single cure for depression. This disorder is characterized by feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and lack of energy. It is treatable to a great extent with medicine and therapy. A depressive episode may also include thoughts of death.
Anxiety disorders are characterized in part by a pattern of obsessive-compulsive behaviors, which are often ritualistic. They often involve the use of sedatives. This type of psychiatric disorder is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Another type of psychiatric disorder is a factitious disorder. It is a disorder that causes unclear symptoms that may appear when the patient is alone. It can also be associated with a refusal to allow health professionals to discuss a medical problem with family or friends. This type of psychiatric illness has the potential to be more serious than other types.
In the United States, one in five adults is affected by a mental illness at some point in their lives. Most cases begin in childhood. The DSM-V, which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, explains that a mental disorder is a clinically significant disturbance in cognition.
Some psychiatric illnesses are treatable, but they can have a serious impact on a person’s life. They can require intensive treatment, including hospitalization, in order to be healed. However, the effects of the condition can be short-lived or even permanent.