Types of Mental Health Problems - Mental Health Awareness

Different Types Of Mental Health Problems

There are very many different types of mental health problems, some are apparent but not all are outwardly visible. Below are some examples, although this is by no means exhaustive. We hope this helps raise awareness and understanding of these conditions.

GOOD MENTAL HEALTH

Stress & Anxiety

Panic Attacks

Panic attacks are a type of fear response. They’re an exaggeration of your body’s normal response to danger, stress or excitement. If this fear becomes very intense, it can be called agoraphobia.

Stress

Stress can be caused by people or events that put us under pressure, if we struggle to deal with this, it may become overwhelming and making us unable to cope with the situation. Stress can cause many adverse physical and emotional symptoms.

OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder. It consists of both obsessions, (unwelcome thoughts, images, urges, worries or doubts that repeatedly appear in your mind.) and Compulsions, repetitive activities you do to reduce anxiety. It’s not just about being tidy…

Phobias

Phobias are a deep seated fear of something out of proportion to any danger the thing may appear to pose. If this has a severe impact on your life and has been apparent for more than six months you should seek help and counsel.

Depression

SAD

Seasonal affective disorder. Although most people are affected by the seasons for those that experience SAD, the change in seasons will have a much greater effect on their mood and energy levels significantly impacting on their day-to-day life.

Anger

Everyone experiences anger at some point in their lives, it only becomes a problem when it gets out of control and harms you or people around you. Examples are destructive behaviour, unhelpful attitudes and when anger becomes your go-to emotion in a given situation.

Self-Esteem

How we perceive ourselves or how we feel other people perceive us. Low self-esteem, although not a mental health problem, has many of the same negative symptoms of mental health problems and causes and can often be linked with anxiety and depression.

Post-Natal

Having a baby has a big impact on your life, and it’s natural to experience a range of emotions and reactions during and after your pregnancy. But if they seriously change on how you live your life, and how you view your future you might be experiencing postnatel or perinatal depression.

Personality Disorders

Paranoia

Paranoia is an unfounded or exaggerated distrust of others, sometimes reaching delusional proportions. Paranoid individuals constantly suspect the motives of those around them, and believe that certain individuals, or people in general, are out to get them..

Bi-Polar

Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder that causes periods of depression and periods of an abnormally elevated mood. The high and low phases of bipolar disorder are often so extreme that they interfere with everyday life.

Mania

Although mania is often conceived as a “mirror image” to depression, the heightened mood can be either euphoric or irritable, indeed, as the mania intensifies, irritability can be more pronounced and result in anxiety or even violence.

Schizo

Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective disorder are mental behaviours characterised by abnormal social interaction and failure to understand what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing voices that others do not hear, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation.

Other Forms

Self Harm

Self-harm is when somebody intentionally damages or injures their body, often expressed as cutting or burning. It’s usually a way of coping with or expressing overwhelming emotional distress.

Psychosis

Psychosis is a symptom or feature of mental illness typically characterised by radical changes in personality, impaired functioning, and a distorted or non-existent sense of objective reality involving hallucinations or delusions.

Suicidal

Suicidal behaviour, is action aimed to take one’s own life. It is usually tried when a person is going through a depressive episode, but it can also be consequence of other mental illness, like schizophrenia, or as a result of drug abuse.

BPD

Borderline personality disorder, also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder, is a long-term pattern of abnormal behaviour characterised by unstable relationships with other people, unstable sense of self, and unstable emotions, often with a feeling of emptiness and a fear of abandonment.

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What Can You Do?

* Try and find the positive in all you experience
* Make the effort even when you don’t feel like it
* Try and do one new thing every day
* Eat healthily, try a bit of home cooking
* Get out of the house/change your environment for a while
* Set realistic goals
* Read up and research your condition

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People can help

* Try and surround yourself with positive people
* Make an effort to meet people face to face
* Try and support others struggling
* Maybe get a pet or even a plant to look after
* Aim to get involved in activities with others
* Talk to people who will listen
* Join groups with those of similar conditions