Depressive disorders, which include major depressive disorder (unipolar depression), dysthymic disorder (chronic, mild depression), and bipolar disorder (manic-depression), can have far reaching effects on the functioning and adjustment of young people. Among both children and adolescents, depressive disorders confer an increased risk for illness and interpersonal and psychosocial difficulties that persist long after the depressive episode is resolved; in adolescents there is also an increased risk for substance abuse and suicidal behavior 1,2,3. Unfortunately, these disorders often go unrecognized by families and physicians alike. Signs of depressive disorders in young people often are viewed as normal mood swings typical of a particular developmental
Schizophrenia is a disorder of the thought process where patients lose a normal sense of reality. They also have difficulty with basic cognitive functions such as thinking clearly and have disorganized thoughts, expressing feelings, and using appropriate behaviors. This disorder is characterized by the presence of strong delusions, which are irreversible false beliefs that patient’s entertain, even when their beliefs are disproved by presenting strong evidence. Another very characteristic symptom seen among these patients is the presence of hallucinations, both auditory and sensory, but predominantly auditory, which reflects an impaired perception of reality. There are several variants and subtypes of schizophrenia based on the patient demographics, severity and duration of symptoms and response to
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Causes and Effects of Substance Abuse I. INTRODUCTION Substance abuse greatly impacts many, if not all, aspects of an individual's life is typically linked to behavioral, economic, educational, legal, medical, psychological, public health, and social problems. In the past 10-15 years, attention has been increasingly focused on the correlate between psychiatric disorders and substance abuse. Numerous researchers have discovered a strong contemporaneous relationship between psychiatric disorders substance abuse in both clinical and general population samples of adolescents (Boyle and Offord, 1991; Brook and Brook, 1990; Kessler et al., 1996) and adults (Breslau et1993; Helzer and Pryzbeck, 1998; et al., 1996). For example, Kessler et al.
Substance abuse can cause depression and depression can cause substance abuse. Stress is also associated with deficits in hippocampal functioning, the critical brain structure that inhibits stress reactivity and mediates contextual cues. Moreover, drug withdrawal leads to reduced hippocampal functioning via increased cortisol output (Keith, Roberts, Wiren, & Crabbe, 1995). Severity of declarative memory deficits
CT261 Understanding Mental Health Problems 1.1 Describe the main types of mental ill health according to the psychiatric (DSM/ICD) classification system;- Mood disorders – affects the individual's moods and are more intense and difficult to manage than normal feelings of sadness or mood swings. They include all types of depression and bipolar disorder. Mood disorders are sometimes referred to as affective disorders. Examples include post natal depression which some women experience after giving birth and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) experienced by some people in autumn and winter when the days are shorter and there is less sunlight. Mood disorders are thought to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that involves both manic and depressive episodes. While mania and depression are two extremely different mood episodes, bipolar disorder unifies both. For an individual diagnosed with bipolar, these moods can occur either at the same time or within a few days or weeks of each other. Although bipolar disorder is typically thought of synonymously with the mood disturbance of an individual, in fact, cognition, motivation, and physical functions are majorly affected as well. For example, during a depressive episode, mental processes are slowed down, and are also constituted by feelings of self-worthlessness and anhedonia, loss of pleasure.
Also the brains function of people with bipolar disorder may differ from the brains of healthy person. Bipolar is a complex illness. Therefore there are many different symptoms and several different types of bipolar disorder. The primary symptoms of the disorder are dramatic and unpredictable mood swings. The Mania symptoms may include excessive happiness, excitement, irritability, increased energy, and less need for sleep.
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