Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Disorders
Disorders
Bulimia nervosa
Individuals with bulimia nervosa typically alternate dieting, or eating only low
calorie “safe foods” with binge eating on “forbidden” high calorie foods. Binge
eating is defined as eating a large amount of food in a short period of time
associated with a sense of loss of control over what, or how much one is eating.
Binge behavior is usually secretive and associated with feelings of shame or
embarrassment. Binges may be very large and food is often consumed rapidly,
beyond fullness to the point of nausea and discomfort.
Possible signs that someone may have bulimia nervosa include:
Frequent trips to the bathroom right after meals
Large amounts of food disappearing or unexplained empty wrappers and food
containers
Chronic sore throat
Swelling of the salivary glands in the cheeks
Dental decay resulting from erosion of tooth enamel by stomach acid
Heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux
Laxative or diet pill misuse
Recurrent unexplained diarrhea
Misuse of diuretics (water pills)
Feeling dizzy or fainting from excessive purging behaviors resulting in dehydration
Pica
Pica is an eating disorder in which a person repeatedly eats things that are not
food with no nutritional value. The behavior persists over for at least one month
and is severe enough to warrant clinical attention. Typical substances ingested
vary with age and availability and might include paper, paint chips, soap, cloth,
hair, string, chalk, metal, pebbles, charcoal or coal, or clay. Individuals with pica
do not typically have an aversion to food in general.
Anxiety disorders
People with anxiety disorders have intense, excessive and persistent worry and
fear about everyday situations. Anxiety disorders involve repeated episodes of
sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within
minutes.
Ocd
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) features a pattern of unwanted thoughts
and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
These obsessions and compulsions interfere with daily activities and cause
significant distress. You may try to ignore or stop your obsessions, but that only
increases your distress and anxiety. Ultimately, you feel driven to perform
compulsive acts to try to ease your stress. Despite efforts to ignore or get rid of
bothersome thoughts or urges, they keep coming back. Obsessive-compulsive
disorder usually includes both obsessions and compulsions. But it's also possible
to have only obsession symptoms or only compulsion symptoms. You may or may
not realize that your obsessions and compulsions are excessive or unreasonable,
but they take up a great deal of time and interfere with your daily routine and
social, school or work functioning.
Ptsd
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered
by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may
include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable
thoughts about the event. Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms may start
within one month of a traumatic event, but sometimes symptoms may not appear
until years after the event. These symptoms cause significant problems in social or
work situations and in relationships. They can also interfere with your ability to go
about your normal daily tasks.
PTSD symptoms are generally grouped into four types:
intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and
changes in physical and emotional reactions. Symptoms can vary over time or
vary from person to person.
Panic disorder
If you have a panic disorder, you get intense, sudden panic attacks. These attacks
often feature stronger, more intense feelings than other types of anxiety
disorders. The feelings of terror may start suddenly and unexpectedly or they may
come from a trigger, like facing a situation you dread. Panic attacks can resemble
heart attacks. If there’s any chance you’re experiencing a heart attack, go to the
emergency room. It’s better to err on the side of caution and have a healthcare
professional check you.
During a panic attack, you may experience:
Sweating.
Heart palpitations (feeling like your heart is pounding).
Chest pain.
Feeling of choking, which can make you think you’re having a heart attack or
“going crazy.”
Panic attacks are very upsetting. People with panic disorder often spend a lot of
time worrying about the next panic attack. They also try to avoid situations that
might trigger an attack.
Phobia
Phobias are an intense fear of certain situations or objects. Some of these fears
may make sense, such as a fear of snakes. But often, the level of fear doesn’t
match the situation. Like with other anxiety disorders, you may spend a lot of
time trying to avoid situations that may trigger the phobia. A specific phobia, or a
simple phobia, is an intense fear of a particular object or situation. It may cause
you to avoid everyday situations.
Gad
With GAD, you may feel extreme and unrealistic worry and tension — even if
there’s nothing to trigger these feelings. Most days, you may worry a lot about
various topics, including health, work, school and relationships. You may feel that
the worry continues from one thing to the next. Physical symptoms of GAD can
include restlessness, difficulty concentrating and sleeping problems.
Mood disorders
If you have a mood disorder, your general emotional state or mood is distorted or
inconsistent with your circumstances and interferes with your ability to function.
You may be extremely sad, empty or irritable (depressed), or you may have
periods of depression alternating with being excessively happy (mania).
Depression
major depressive disorder is a common and serious medical illness that negatively
affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act.
Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:
Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
Loss of energy or increased fatigue
Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., inability to sit still, pacing,
handwringing) or slowed movements or speech (these actions must be severe
enough to be observable by others)
Feeling worthless or guilty
Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
Thoughts of death or suicide
Dysthymia
Persistent depressive disorder, also called dysthymia (dis-THIE-me-uh), is a
continuous long-term (chronic) form of depression. You may lose interest in
normal daily activities, feel hopeless, lack productivity, and have low self-esteem
and an overall feeling of inadequacy. These feelings last for years and may
significantly interfere with your relationships, school, work and daily activities.
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition
that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or
hypomania) and lows (depression). When you become depressed, you may feel
sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood
shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), you may feel euphoric,
full of energy or unusually irritable. These mood swings can affect sleep, energy,
activity, judgment, behavior and the ability to think clearly. Episodes of mood
swings may occur rarely or multiple times a year. While most people will
experience some emotional symptoms between episodes, some may not
experience any.
Psychotic disorders
Psychotic disorders are severe mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and
perceptions. People with psychoses lose touch with reality. Two of the main
symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. Delusions are false beliefs, such as
thinking that someone is plotting against you or that the TV is sending you secret
messages. Hallucinations are false perceptions, such as hearing, seeing, or feeling
something that is not there.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality
abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations,
delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior that impairs daily
functioning, and can be disabling.
Symptoms may include;
Delusions
Hallucinations
Disorganized thinking (speech)
Extremely disorganized or abnormal motor behavior.
Negative symptoms.
Paraphrenia
Paraphrenia is a type of mental disorder characterized by paranoid delusions. The
affected individual experiences imaginary fears or anxieties that are often
exaggerated, but do not undergo significant loss of intellectual capabilities, such
as memory and daily routine habits.
The distinguishing signs of paraphrenia comprise the following:
Paranoid delusions, that something is very wrong with the current scenario,
although things are otherwise normal
Hallucinations, involving perceiving objects or situations that neither currently
exist, nor ever took place in the past
Hearing unreal sounds, noises, voices and conversations
The illusion of strong fragrances or unpleasant smells, when there is no odour
Feeling unusual, often irritating sensations on the body, even though no object or
person is initiating such instances
Delusional disorder
Its main symptom is the presence of one or more delusions. A delusion is an
unshakable belief in something that’s untrue. The belief isn’t a part of the
person’s culture or subculture, and almost everyone else knows this belief to be
false. People with delusional disorder often experience non-bizarre delusions.
Non-bizarre delusions involve situations that could possibly occur in real life, such
as being followed, deceived or loved from a distance. These delusions usually
involve the misinterpretation of perceptions or experiences. In reality, these
situations are either untrue or are highly exaggerated.
Early symptoms of delusional disorder may include:
Feelings of being exploited.
Preoccupation with the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends.
A tendency to read threatening meanings into benign remarks or events.
Persistently holding grudges.
A readiness to respond and react to perceived slights
Personality disorder
A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and
unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. A person with a
personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people.
This causes significant problems and limitations in relationships, social activities,
work and school.
Types of personality disorders are grouped into three clusters, based on similar
characteristics and symptoms. Many people with one personality disorder also
have signs and symptoms of at least one additional personality disorder. It's not
necessary to exhibit all the signs and symptoms listed for a disorder to be
diagnosed.
Cluster A personality disorders are characterized by odd, eccentric thinking or
behavior. They include paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality
disorder and schizotypal personality disorder.
Cluster B personality disorders are characterized by dramatic, overly emotional or
unpredictable thinking or behavior. They include antisocial personality disorder,
borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder and narcissistic
personality disorder.
Cluster C personality disorders are characterized by anxious, fearful thinking or
behavior. They include avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality
disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Misophonia
Misophonia is a condition in which individuals experience intense anger and
disgust when they are confronted with sounds made by other human beings1. In
particular, sounds like chewing, lip smacking or breathing may cause intense
anger and physical arousal
If you have a mild reaction, you might feel:
Anxious
Uncomfortable
The urge to flee
Disgust
If your response is more severe, the sound in question might cause:
Rage
Anger
Hatred
Panic
Fear
Emotional distress
ppd
Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental health condition marked by a
long-term pattern of distrust and suspicion of others without adequate reason to
be suspicious (paranoia). People with PPD often believe that others are trying to
demean, harm or threaten them.
Pyromania
Pyromania is a rare impulse control disorder where people become fascinated by
fire and all things related to fire. They often have a compulsion to set things
alight. Pyromania is more common in teenagers and adults, while males are more
likely to have this condition than females.
Signs and symptoms of pyromania include:
tension just before setting a fire
feeling a compulsion to set fires
fire-setting that is not a response to anger or vengeance
Trichotillomania
Trichotillomania, also known as trich, is when someone cannot resist the urge to
pull out their hair. They may pull out the hair on their head or in other places,
such as their eyebrows or eyelashes.
Symptoms
People with trich feel an intense urge to pull their hair out and they experience
growing tension until they do. After pulling their hair out, they feel a sense of
relief.
A person may sometimes pull their hair out in response to a stressful situation, or
it may be done without really thinking about it.
Bald patches on the head may have an unusual shape and affect 1 side of the
head more than the other.
Trich may cause feelings of shame and low self-esteem. Those affected may try to
keep their condition to themselves.
Sleep disorders
Sleep disorders (or sleep-wake disorders) involve problems with the quality,
timing, and amount of sleep, which result in daytime distress and impairment in
functioning. Sleep-wake disorders often occur along with medical conditions or
other mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or cognitive
disorders. Sleep difficulties are linked to both physical and emotional problems.
Sleep problems can both contribute to or exacerbate mental health conditions
and can be a symptom of other mental health conditions.
Insomnia
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to
stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to
sleep. You may still feel tired when you wake up. Insomnia can sap not only your
energy level and mood but also your health, work performance and quality of life.
Sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. It occurs when
a person passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. During these
transitions, you may be unable to move or speak for a few seconds up to a few
minutes. Some people may also feel pressure or a sense of choking.
Parasomnia
A parasomnia is a sleep disorder that involves unusual and undesirable physical
events or experiences that disrupt your sleep. A parasomnia can occur before or
during sleep or during arousal from sleep. If you have a parasomnia, you might
have abnormal movements, talk, express emotions or do unusual things.
Types of parasomnias
Non-REM parasomnias involve physical and verbal activity. You are not
completely awake or aware during these events, are not responsive to others'
attempts to interact with you and you usually don't remember or only partially
remember the event the next day
Parasomnias that happen during Non-REM sleep include:
Sleep terrors
Sleepwalking
Confusional arousals
Sleep-related eating disorder
Parasomnias happen during the latter part of the night. If awakened during the
event, it’s likely you’d be able to recall part or all of the dream.
Parasomnias that happen during REM sleep include:
Nightmare disorder
Recurrent isolated sleep paralysis
REM sleep behavior disorder (RSBD)
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime
drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep. People with narcolepsy often find it
difficult to stay awake for long periods of time, regardless of the circumstances.
Narcolepsy can cause serious disruptions in your daily routine.
Dissociative disorders
Dissociative disorders are mental disorders that involve experiencing a
disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings,
actions and identity. People with dissociative disorders escape reality in ways that
are involuntary and unhealthy and cause problems with functioning in everyday
life. Dissociative disorders usually develop as a reaction to trauma and help keep
difficult memories at bay.
Dissociative amnesia.
The main symptom is memory loss that's more severe than normal forgetfulness
and that can't be explained by a medical condition. You can't recall information
about yourself or events and people in your life, especially from a traumatic time.
Dissociative amnesia can be specific to events in a certain time, such as intense
combat, or more rarely, can involve complete loss of memory about yourself. It
may sometimes involve travel or confused wandering away from your life
(dissociative fugue). An episode of amnesia usually occurs suddenly and may last
minutes, hours, or rarely, months or years.
Adhd
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects people's
behaviour. People with ADHD can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating
and may act on impulse.
Other
Dementia
Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and
reasoning — to such an extent that it interferes with a person's daily life and
activities. Some people with dementia cannot control their emotions, and their
personalities may change.
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking
skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people
with the disease — those with the late-onset type symptoms first appear in their
mid-60s.
Alexithymia
Alexithymia is a broad term to describe problems with feeling emotions. People
who do have alexithymia may describe themselves as having difficulties with
expressing emotions that are deemed socially appropriate, such as happiness on a
joyous occasion. Others may furthermore have trouble identifying their emotions.
Such individuals don’t necessarily have apathy. They instead may not have as
strong of emotions as their peers, and may have difficulties feeling empathy.
Capgras syndrome
Capgras syndrome is a rare condition in which someone believes that their loved
ones or others they know have been replaced with doubles or imposters. The belief
is so real that nothing can correct this illusion.
Stockholm syndrome
Stockholm syndrome is a coping mechanism to a captive or abusive situation.
People develop positive feelings toward their captors or abusers over time. This
condition applies to situations including child abuse, coach-athlete abuse,
relationship abuse and sex trafficking.
Tourette's syndrome
Tourette's syndrome is a condition that causes a person to make involuntary
sounds and movements called tics. It usually starts during childhood, but the tics
and other symptoms usually improve after several years and sometimes go away
completely.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that mainly causes problems with reading,
writing and spelling. It's a specific learning difficulty, which means it causes
problems with certain abilities used for learning, such as reading and writing.
Unlike a learning disability, intelligence isn't affected.
conversion disorder
conversion disorder, formerly called hysteria, a type of mental disorder in which a
wide variety of sensory, motor, or psychic disturbances may occur. It is
traditionally classified as one of the psychoneuroses and is not dependent upon
any known organic or structural pathology.
Factitious disorder
Factitious disorder is a serious mental disorder in which someone deceives others
by appearing sick, by purposely getting sick or by self-injury. Factitious disorder
also can happen when family members or caregivers falsely present others, such
as children, as being ill, injured or impaired