In this article, we will discuss the 8 major types of Mental disorders that affect mood, behavior, feeling, or way of thinking. Mental disorder may be long-term or temporary. You should know about them so you can easily know if you or anyone around you is suffering from them.
Mental illnesses or mental disorders are a group of health disorders that affect the brain. And lead to some persistent and different behavior patterns that affect a person’s ability to perform daily tasks efficiently. There are many types of mental illnesses, and one may suffer from More than one psychological disorder in some cases. Before examining the symptoms of these diseases. As the doctor is the only person who is able to correctly diagnose the disease. Also, he takes the symptoms into consideration. And performs a number of examinations according to what he deems appropriate for the case.
What Are The 8 Major Types Of Mental Disorders?
Mental disorders, as we mentioned earlier, are disorders that affect behavior, thinking, and feeling. There are many types of them. The following points summarize the 8 Major Types Of Mental Disorders:
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders are the abnormal or disproportionate reactions of people who suffer from them. As they often deal with things with fear and dread. They may show physical signs as a result of this dread, such as: increased heart rate and sweating. Examples of such disorders include panic attacks and social anxiety disorders.
Mood Disorders Are One Of The Major Types Of Mental Disorders
Mood disorders or emotional disorders are psychological conditions that include sadness. As in depression, or a state of mood swings between sadness and mania. These mood disorders may be accompanied by changes in perception and physical symptoms that affect the individual’s performance and activities.
Mood disorders include:
- Major depressive disorder.
- Persistent depressive disorder (chronic depression).
- Seasonal affective disorder.
- Postpartum depression.
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
- cyclothymia
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders involve an unhealthy obsession with food or body weight and shape that leads to under or over-eating and can lead to serious health problems. Common eating disorders include:
- anorexia nervosa.
- Bulimia nervosa.
Addictive Disorders Are One Of The Major Types Of Mental Disorders
There are many forms of addiction disorders. These are addiction to a certain thing and indulging in it without controlling to quit doing it. Such as:
- Pyromania is when a person, without being able to control their actions, starts a fire.
- Kleptomania, which a person cannot leave every time he steals.
- Alcohol and drug addiction.
- This type of mental disorder is accompanied by social consequences. As the person with such disorders begins to abandon his responsibilities.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is also classified as a type of psychological disorder. People with this type of disorder suffer from fears and thoughts that invite them to practice certain rituals routinely and continuously. Such as a person who is exaggeratedly afraid of germs, which calls for him to wash his hands constantly.
personality Disorders
Personality disorders are one of the types of mental illnesses that have a certain pattern of thinking and different behavior that affects the individual’s social relationships. People with personality disorders have difficulty dealing with the pressures of daily life. Also, these people may not even realize that they have a mental disorder.
Types of personality disorders fall into 3 groups, and they include:
- Group A: Personality disorders in this group are bizarre or different behavior, and include schizotypal personality disorder, and schizoid personality disorder.
- Group B: This group involves dramatic and overly emotional behaviors and includes antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and histrionic personality disorder.
- Group C: characterized by anxious or apprehensive behavior, and includes avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a type of mental illness, and it results from a person’s exposure to or witnessing a severe experience, such as wars, natural disasters, and physical or sexual abuse. So, people with this disorder suffer from disturbing feelings related to the traumatic event and try to avoid any situation that reminds them of it.
Post-traumatic stress disorder may be divided into several types, including:
- Complex posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Delayed posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Dissociative post-traumatic stress disorder.
Other Types of Mental Disorders
There are a number of other mental disorders, such as:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder: It is a psychological disorder that affects some people after they have experienced a major event, such as the death of a loved one, or physical abuse during childhood.
- Stress response: this is represented by a person showing a behavioral reaction to pressure he may have been subjected to, such as leaving a job, an earthquake, or a car accident. It often begins after 3 months and ends after 6 months.
- Factitious disorders: Disorders in which a person intentionally pretends physical or emotional symptoms in order to play the role of the patient.
- Sexual disorders: These are disorders that affect sexual desire and orientation, such as gender identity disorders.
- Somatic symptom disorder: A person feels excessively the symptoms of a particular disease even though the doctor may not find a medical reason for this feeling.
What Is The Treatment For Mental Disorders?
After finishing talking about the types of mental disorders, we will move on to talking about treatment methods, which depend on the type of mental disorder, and it may be any of the following:
Medications
Medicines do not help stop mental disorders, but may help reduce their symptoms, and may help more when used with other psychological therapies. So, examples of such medicines include:
- Antidepressant medications are aimed at relieving symptoms of depression or sometimes anger.
- Anti-anxiety medications are used to treat anxiety and sometimes panic attacks or insomnia.
- Medications that help improve mood and are used to treat or relieve symptoms.
- Antipsychotic medications are used to treat schizophrenia.
Other Treatments
There are other treatments used for all types of mental disorders, such as:
- Psychotherapy: which consists in talking about psychological disorders with a specialist and shedding light on methods of treatment and coexistence.
- Treatment through brain stimulation: which is used in the event that other methods fail for some cases of depression or mental health disorders, such as electric shocks, or magnetic stimulation.
- Hospital: Lastly, hospital care is important if a person cannot take care of himself or if he becomes a danger to himself or to those around him.
