Psychological disorders include mood, anxiety, and eating disorders. They can be caused by chemical imbalances or environmental factors, and genetic factors can contribute. Common disorders include clinical depression, SAD, bipolar disorder, OCD, panic disorder, and PTSD, which can be managed with counseling and medication.
Psychological disorders fall into many different categories. These categories include mood, anxiety, and eating disorders. Some psychological disorders are caused by an imbalance of chemical neurotransmitters in the brain and others are the result of environmental factors such as trauma. Genetic factors often contribute to the manifestation of psychological disorders, since parents with a mental illness can pass it on to their offspring.
Clinical depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and bipolar disorder are common mood disorders. Everyone experiences an occasional bout of depression, but a person with clinical depression remains depressed for more than two weeks and exhibits other symptoms, such as sleeping too much and an inability to experience pleasure. SAD is caused by decreased hours of natural sunlight as the days get shorter in the fall and winter and is characterized by depression. The mood of a person whose SAD is not accompanied by other psychological disorders will generally improve as daylight hours increase.
A person with bipolar disorder, on the other hand, exhibits extreme mood swings. One moment he might be severely depressed, and then the next he might go into a state of mania. During a manic state, the person may be full of energy and unable to sleep. Thoughts may race through his head and he may become irrational. With a combination of counseling and medication, many people with a mood disorder are able to manage their symptoms and live productive lives.
Some common anxiety disorders are obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Once known as battle fatigue and bullet shock, PTSD sometimes develops after life-threatening trauma. The person with PTSD may experience feelings of extreme fear or guilt and may have nightmares or keep reliving the traumatic events in their mind. For PTSD to be diagnosed, the person must have been showing symptoms for more than a month and not be able to function normally. Psychological therapy is generally recommended for PTSD sufferers and is sometimes combined with drug treatment.
OCD is characterized by repetitive and unwanted thoughts and behaviors that make normal functioning difficult. People with OCD often establish rituals or routines. For example, a germ-obsessed person might wash their hands repeatedly, while a security-obsessed person might keep checking to see if all doors and windows are locked. OCD causes a great deal of anxiety and, like other psychological disorders, is often treated with medication and psychological therapy.
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