Emotional Disturbance is a general term that may be used to describe the

following specific disturbances:

1. Anxiety Disorders
a. Having fear of everyday situations that are hard to explain. This is
highly treatable.

2. Bipolar Disorder
a. A serious medical condition that leads to dramatic mood swings from
being “high” and/or irritable to being sad and hopeless, and then back
again.
b. A combination of medication and psychosocial treatment can help an
individual with these mood swings.
3. Conduct Disorder
a. Having great difficulty following rules and behaving in a socially
acceptable way.
b. This is difficult to treat but there are services available to help children
cope with this disorder such as family therapy, problem solving skills
training, and etc.

4. Eating Disorders
a. Eating either too much or too little and having feelings of extreme
concern about body weight or shape.
b. The most common types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa (self-
starvation) and bulimia nervosa (cycle of binge eating, then self-
induced vomiting or purging).
c. These are potentially life-threatening.
d. Individuals with this disorder can avail of some form of psychotherapy
or counseling together with careful attention to medical and nutritional
needs.
5. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
a. Having recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive
behaviors (compulsions) such as hand washing, counting, checking, or
cleaning.
b. Not performing these increases one’s anxiety.
c. This is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.
d. The available treatments for this are behavior therapy, cognitive
behavior therapy, and medication

6. Psychotic Disorders
a. A big term for severe mental disorders that lead to abnormal thinking
and perceptions.
b. Two of the main symptoms are delusions (false beliefs) and
hallucinations (false perceptions).
c. Schizophrenia is under this category.
d. This can be treated with medications and psychotherapy.