Mental Health Disorders

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Anxiety

Anxiety is an emotion that can feel like a sense of dread or fear about something that might happen in the future

Symptoms

  • Restlessness
  • Feeling “on edge”
  • Easily tired
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Irritability
  • Trouble falling or staying asleep
  • Panic attacks (an abrupt surge of intense fear or physical discomfort that is over in a few minutes)
  • Phobia (persistent fear of a specific object or situation)

Resources

Bipolar Mood Disorder

A mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration. These shifts can make it difficult to carry out day-to-day tasks.

There are several types of bipolar and related disorders. They may include mania or hypomania and depression. Symptoms can cause unpredictable changes in mood and behavior, resulting in significant distress and difficulty in life.
  • Bipolar I disorder. You've had at least one manic episode that may be preceded or followed by hypomanic or major depressive episodes. In some cases, mania may trigger a break from reality (psychosis).
  • Bipolar II disorder. You've had at least one major depressive episode and at least one hypomanic episode, but you've never had a manic episode.
  • Cyclothymic disorder. You've had at least two years — or one year in children and teenagers — of many periods of hypomania symptoms and periods of depressive symptoms (though less severe than major depression).
  • Other types. These include, for example, bipolar and related disorders induced by certain drugs or alcohol or due to a medical condition, such as Cushing's disease, multiple sclerosis or stroke.

Manic Symptoms:

  • Euphoria (everything is unrealistically great)
  • Irritability
  • Hostility
  • Speeded up thinking
  • Inflated self-esteem
  • High risk taking
  • Little need for sleep, going days without sleep
  • Increased sexual behavior
  • Hyperactivity
  • Rapid speech
  • Increased shopping sprees
  • Increased gambling

Depressive Symptoms:

  • Appearing more sad than normal
  • Sleeping more or less than normal
  • Slower than normal to think and/or respond
  • Focusing on negative aspects
  • Lack of interest in work, social or enjoyable activities
  • See also: Depression Symptoms

Resources

Borderline Personality

A mental disorder characterized by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships.

Symptoms

  • Frantic efforts to avoid being abandoned
  • Unstable personal relationships
  • Distorted and unstable self-image
  • Impulsive behaviors
  • Intense depressed mood, irritability or anxiety lasting a few hours to a few days
  • Chronic feelings of boredom or emptiness
  • Inappropriate, intense or uncontrollable anger
  • Feeling detached, unreal, or separate from one's body
  • Stress-related paranoid thoughts
  • Suicidal and self-harming behavior (e.g., cutting)
For information to help assess for suicidal ideation check the Suicide Assessment page

Resources

Depression

A mental illness with feelings of sadness and/or loss of interest in activities.

Symptoms

  • Appearing more sad than normal

  • Sleeping more or less than normal

  • Irritability

  • Feeling more overwhelmed than normal

  • Slower than normal to think and/or respond

  • Focusing on negative aspects of themselves, their environment and/or their future

  • Weight gain or loss

  • Trouble concentrating

  • Diminished desire for sex

  • Lack of interest in work, social or enjoyable activities

  • Thoughts of suicide

For more information to help assess for suicidal ideation check the Suicide Assessment page 

Resources

Post-partum Depression

A type of depression that affects people after childbirth.

Symptoms

  • Being unable to sleep even when baby is asleep

  • Having trouble bonding or forming an emotional attachment with baby

  • Doubting ability to care for baby

  • Thinking about harming self or baby

  • Showing too much (or not enough) concern for baby

Resources

Psychosis

A mental illness that includes disturbed perceptions and thoughts that make it difficult for an individual to understand what is real and what is not real. Sometimes associated with depression, Bipolar Disorder, drug intoxication, or severe stress.

 

Symptoms

  • Delusions (false beliefs)
  • Hallucinations (seeing and/or hearing things that others cannot see)
  • Incoherent speech
  • Odd or inappropriate behavior
  • Withdrawal, loss of interest

Resources

 

PTSD

A mental illness caused by a traumatic event — either witnessing it, experiencing it, or hearing about it.

 

Symptoms

  • Negative mood
  • Loss of memory for parts of event
  • Detachment
  • Self-blame
  • Anger outbursts
  • Recklessness
  • Jumpy or easily startled
  • On edge, alert, or watchful of danger
  • Feeling like the event is happening again
  • Unwanted, intrusive memories
  • Avoidance of reminders of the trauma

Resources

Schizophrenia

A serious mental illness that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality, which can be distressing for them and for their family and friends.

 

Symptoms

  • Hallucinations. These include a person hearing voices, seeing things, or smelling things others can’t perceive. The hallucination is very real to the person experiencing it, and it may be very confusing for a loved one to witness. The voices in the hallucination can be critical or threatening. Voices may involve people that are known or unknown to the person hearing them.

    Delusions. These are false beliefs that don’t change even when the person who holds them is presented with new ideas or facts. People who have delusions often also have problems concentrating, confused thinking, or the sense that their thoughts are blocked.

    Negative symptoms are ones that diminish a person’s abilities. Negative symptoms often include being emotionally flat or speaking in a dull, disconnected way. People with the negative symptoms may be unable to start or follow through with activities, show little interest in life, or sustain relationships. Negative symptoms are sometimes confused with clinical depression.

    Cognitive issues/disorganized thinking. People with the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia often struggle to remember things, organize their thoughts or complete tasks. Commonly, people with schizophrenia have anosognosia or “lack of insight.” This means the person is unaware that he has the illness, which can make treating or working with him much more challenging.

Resources

Suicide

According to the CDC and NIMH, nearly 46,000 lives were lost to suicide in 2020 alone. Comments or thoughts about suicide, also known as suicidal ideation, can begin small — for example, “I wish I wasn’t here” or “Nothing matters.” But over time, they can become more explicit and dangerous.

Warning Signs

Here are a few other warning signs of suicide:

  • Increased alcohol and drug use
  • Aggressive behavior
  • Withdrawal from friends, family and community
  • Dramatic mood swings
  • Impulsive or reckless behavior

Suicidal behaviors are a psychiatric emergency. If you or a loved one starts to take any of these steps, seek immediate help from a health care provider or call 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:

  • Collecting and saving pills or buying a weapon
  • Giving away possessions
  • Tying up loose ends, like organizing personal papers or paying off debts
  • Saying goodbye to friends and family

Resources

  • Grassroots  24-hour crisis hotline at 410 531-6677  or 1-800-422-0009 
  • National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-784-2433 or 1-800-273-8255 
  • National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988
    • Press 1 for Veteran Crisis Line
    • Press 2 for Spanish
  • Crisis Text Line – text HOME to 741741 or text AYUDA for help in Spanish
  • The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386
  • Local resources: Maryland Community Services Locator:  http://www.mdcsl.org/ 
    • Approximately 9,000 health, social service and criminal justice resource programs in Maryland  
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