Depression

For anyone who has experienced depression, there is a noticeable difference between that deep and sometimes manic emotion versus a rational sadness. Depression is a mood disorder that most people know to be characterized by extreme bouts of melancholy, grief or despair. Depression can range from moderate to severe, and can make a definite impact on the way a person thinks, feels and behaves. Typically people with severe depression find it almost impossible to go about their day to day activities, or to find any type of joy. Many times people with depression will feel like life is not worth living and thoughts of suicide may persist as well.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, which has also been referred to as manic depression, is a very serious mental disorder. It is most commonly characterized by intense and unpredictable swings in mood, behavior and energy. Someone with bipolar disorder experiences alternating “highs” (called “mania“) and “lows” (also known as depression), that can be brief, from just a few hours to a few days, or longer, lasting up to several weeks or even months.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience, or witnessing, of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. Most survivors return to normal given a little time. However, some people will have reactions that don’t go away on their own or may even get worse overtime. These people may develop PTSD.

When someone has PTSD it can be hard for them to deal with their past and instead of telling others how they feel they keep it bottled up inside. There are specialized treatments for PTSD that will allow a person to target their trauma and begin to heal.

Anxiety

Anxiety is something that is pretty common. It only becomes a problem (an anxiety disorder) when it begins to occur frequently and interferes with daily life. Fears are our reaction to a present threat. It is how we cope with danger. Anxiety is anticipation of a threat.  Almost 20% of the population is affected by an anxiety disorder. Usually when a person is suffering from an anxiety disorder, there is a chemical cause in the brain. When certain neurotransmitters get out of sorts, anxiety can reach a problematic level.

Anxiety is not the same as fear. Anxiety is the anticipation of an event that will cause fear. Anxiety is a general term for several disorders that cause nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. Anxiety can affect how we act and can manifest in real, physical symptoms. Common anxiety disorders include phobias, panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. There are a lot of different factors that can contribute to an anxiety disorder. For this reason, anxiety disorders are often difficult to diagnose and treat.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has best been defined as a severe, chronic, and generally disabling brain and behavior disorder. Schizophrenia is also described as a psychosis, which is a type of illness that causes severe mental disturbances that disrupt normal thoughts, speech, and behavior.

Although schizophrenia can occur at any age, the average age of onset occurs in the late teens to the early 20’s for men, and the late 20’s to early 30’s for women.There may be additional disorders that accompany schizophrenia, which include substance abuse, post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or major depression.