Mental Illness, Mental Disorders

Mental Health Organizer (click on topic): Suicide and Suicide Prevention

Mood disorders: bipolar disorder , cyclothymic disorder , depression , dysthymic disorder , postpartum depression , substance induced mood disorder

Somatoform disorders: body dysmorphic disorder , conversion disorder , hypochondriasis , pain disorder , somatization disorder

Changes in eating patterns : eating disorders , anorexia nervosa , binge eating disorder , bulimia nervosa ,

Anxiety disorders : acute stress disorder , agoraphobia , anxiety disorder with medical condition , generalized anxiety disorder , obsessive compulsive disorder (=OCD) , panic disorder , posttraumatic stress disorder (=PTSD) , social phobia , specific phobia , substance-induced anxiety disorder

Developmental Disorders : ADHD , Autism , Learning disabilities

Schizophrenic disorders : bizarre delusion symptoms , catatonic schizophrenia , delusional disorder , disorganized schizophrenia , paranoid schizophrenia , psychotic disorder , psychotic disorder with medical condition , residual type schizophrenia , schizoaffective disorder , schizophrenia , schizophreniform disorder , substance-induced psychotic disorder , undifferentiated schizophrenia , schizophrenia treatment

Mental Illness, Mental Disorders

Introduction:

Mental illness or mental disorder still has a stigma for many people. Medical science has made a lot of progress with regard to psychotropic medications, which are medications that stabilize mental disorders. In the following I will discuss briefly what is known about the most common mental conditions.

This has been arranged by way of links to many subchapters that you can access through the above table entitled "mental health organizer". You can see that mental disorders have been categorized in the DSM-IV (Ref.2), which is the standard classification system that psychiatrists and psychologists use, into five major categories. They are: Mood disorders (depression, bipolar disease etc.), somatoform disorders, anxiety disorders, changes in eating patterns and schizophrenic disorders. All in all there are 31 subchapters to which this table links. In my opinion it is important that the public learns as much as they can about mental illness, how to recognize symptoms and why the psychiatrist or physician uses certain drugs to control the mental condtion. We are also learning through metabolic studies of the brain, through PET scanner research and others that brain hormones can be selectively disbalanced and in schizophrenia and depression this newer knowledge has already led to newer antipsychotic and antidepressant medications. Mental disease may also be less frequent on a population basis with a more balanced diet that avoids refined sugar and limits the amount of refined carbohydrates (rice, pasta, bread, potatoes). Hyperinsulinism and a lack of omega-3-fatty acids can play havoc with the balance of our brain hormones. Avoidance of abuse of any kind in a person's life, regular exercise and enough quality sleep coupled with enough leisure time and hobbies to balance the stress from work are also essential. Many studies throughout the world have also shown that the relaxation response from such diverse activities like prayer, meditation, interaction with friends, partners and family may prevent mental disease to a large extent.

Eating Disorders

Introduction

A special case are eating disorders as they affect appearance, yet they may not get recognized, particularly among manequins, actors, athletes and young females where a lot of emphasis is put on slim appearance. It often gets brought to the attention of a physician only when a significant amount of weight has been lost and metabolic changes make it much more difficult to treat.

Eating disorders are abnormal behavior patterns around food intake and body image. Two of them, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, affect mainly women. The third diagnosis of "binge eating disorder" affects men and women equally. All of these disorders are psychiatric conditions that have been defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (Ref.1). They are important to diagnose properly, as failure to do so invariably causes harm. Early eating disorder treatment will result in a favorable response and a successful outcome.

For further details of these three eating disorders see the links in this table:

Eating disorders (click on a link):

Anorexia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa

Binge Eating Disorder

Other Mental Disorders (back to table above)

This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.

References

  1. Dr. David Burns: "Feeling good --The new mood therapy", Avon    Books, New  York,1992.

  2. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth    Edition, (DSM-IV),American Psychiatric Association,    Washington,DC,1994.

  3. Dr. Shaila Misri at the 46th St. Paul's Hosp. Cont. Educ. Conference,    November 2000, Vancouver/B.C./ Canada.

  4. JM Loftis et al. J Neurochem 2000 Nov 75(5): 2040-2050.

  5. B. Zilbergeld et al. "Hypnosis - Questions& Answers", W.W. Norton    & Co, New York,1986: 307-312.

  6. MH Erickson & EL Rossi:"Hypnotherapy, an exploratory casebook",     Irvington Publishers Inc., New York, 1979: chapter 8, 314-363.

  7. G Steketee et al. Compr Psychiatry 2001 Jan 42(1): 76-86.

  8. DS Mennin et al. J Anxiety Disord 2000 July-Aug 14(4): 325- 343.

  9. J Hartland: "Medical &Dental Hypnosis and its Clinical Applications",     2nd edition, Bailliere Tindall,London,1982, page: 326-336.