73 Mental Health articles

 

Acute Stress Disorder

Acute stress disorder may be identified by a sudden development of severe anxiety and/or decrease in emotional responsiveness, brought on in direct relation to a traumatic event such as a death, or witness to another…
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Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety

Adjustment disorder with anxiety is a condition that may occur in result of a stressful event in one's life. A significant event that causes stress can be either positive or negative in nature, such as…
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Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood

Adjustment disorder with depressed mood is characterized by an extreme reaction to a life stressor. Stressful events normally produce mild symptoms of sadness, lack of energy or anxiousness, but when symptoms surpass the reaction that…
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Adjustment Disorder with Disturbance of Conduct

Adjustment disorder with disturbance of conduct is usually the diagnosis for children and adolescents who experience temporary symptoms directly related to a stressful life event. Adults may experience this condition as well, but generally will…
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Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood

Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood causes excessive panic and depression in result of a stressful life event. While anyone who faces stress may experience mild symptoms of this disorder, diagnosis for adjustment…
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Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Disturbance of Emotions and Conduct

Adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct is characterized by excessive reaction to a stressful life event which causes negative behavioral changes and impacts emotional stability. Most often, children under the age of…
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Adjustment Disorders

Adjustment disorder with anxiety is a condition that may occur in result of a stressful event in one's life. A significant event that causes stress can be either positive or negative in nature, such as…
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Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder that causes extreme fear of public places, especially those which are unfamiliar. It is believed that this specific phobia is enhanced by the onset of frequent panic attacks. One theory…
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Alcohol dependence

Alcohol dependence, also called alcoholism, has been defined as a psychiatric diagnosis where an individual uses or abuses alcoholic substances despite the negative impact that alcohol has on his or her life. When it is…
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Alzheimers

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in the world today. Nearly half of all people over the age of 85 suffer from this disorder, though it is not a normal part of…
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Amphetamines Dependence

Amphetamines dependence is caused by an addiction to substances that create an effect which is described as highly pleasurable. These drugs are very addictive and the most commonly known amphetamine is referred to as 'ecstasy'.…
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Anorexia nervosa

An eating disorder in which the individual becomes obsessed with food and the amount of food they eat, anorexia nervosa isn’t necessarily a disorder regarding food, but rather is a coping mechanism. Individuals who suffer…
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Antisocial personality disorder

Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by an ongoing pattern of disregard for other people. This includes the purposeful violation of boundaries and lack of respect for family, peers and humanity in general. This disorder begins…
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Aspergers Disorder

A developmental disorder affecting primarily children, Asperger’s Syndrome affects one’s ability to socialize, communicate with others and the use of one’s imagination. Asperger’s is part of a group of developmental disorders called pervasive developmental disorders,…
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (commonly referred to as ADHD) is a condition that causes disruptive behavior in the form of concurrent episodes of hyperactivity, with the inability to keep attention and focus. Attentional problems and…
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Autistic Disorder

Autism is a serious developmental disorder that appears in early childhood, generally by or before the age of three. Regardless the severity of the symptoms, autism affects a child’s ability to interact with others and…
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Avoidant Personality Disorder

Avoidant personality disorder is characterized by the withdrawal from social interaction for the purpose of avoiding feelings of inadequacy and the potential for negative feedback or criticism. People who have this disorder are hypersensitive to…
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Bipolar Disorder

Sometimes referred to as “manic-depressant disorder,” bipolar disorder is marked by extreme mood swings ranging from periods of intense mania followed by or preceded by a period of intense depression. These severe mood shifts generally…
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Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Body dysmorphic disorder causes a person to obsess over a perceived deformity with his or her body or appearance. The deformity may be slight, to the point that it's nearly unnoticeable by others, or it…
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Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) may be better described by the name 'emotionally unstable personality disorder'. While emotional instability is defined as a separate illness, the manual for classification of mental health lists it as an…
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Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is known as “binge and purge” by many. People suffering from bulimia will eat excessive amounts of food and will do something shortly after to rid their bodies of the food. The most…
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Cannabis Dependence

Cannabis dependence is characterized by chronic use of any form of the substance (such as marijuana or hasish) despite the negative effects it may have in a person's life. Dependence creates a compulsive need for…
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Childhood disintegrative disorder

Considered by health care professionals to be the most severe kind of autism, childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD) is also the least common developmental disorder in the autistic spectrum. After a stage of normal development, the…
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Cocaine Dependence

Cocaine dependence is described as continued and increased use of cocaine to assist with daily functioning, despite the negative effects it may be producing in one's life. A person with cocaine dependence builds up a…
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Conduct Disorder

Conduct disorder is more commonly known as antisocial personality disorder, a disorder in which the individual displays severe behavioral and emotional problems. After the age of 18, the disorder is diagnosed as antisocial personality disorder…
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Conversion Disorder

Conversion disorder is a condition that causes physical symptoms as a result of psychological stress. This disorder, also known as pseudoneurologic syndrome, hysterical neurosis or psychogenic disorder, is uncontrollable and usually involves the senses or…
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Cyclothymic disorder

Cyclothymic disorder, or cyclothymia, is a mental illness that is defined in the spectrum of bipolar, but is a milder version of the condition. People with cyclothymic disorder experience sudden mood swings between what could…
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Delusional Disorder

Delusional disorder is characterized by recurrent thoughts of a non-bizarre nature that occur in the absence of other psychopathological symptoms. Non-bizarre beliefs are defined as thoughts that could be possible, but are definitely not true.…
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Dementia

Dementia is the gradual loss of mental skills and abilities that starts off with visible signs of issues with memory loss. There are multiple kinds of dementia such as Alzheimer’s (the most common form of…
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Dependent Personality Disorder

Dependent personality disorder causes a person to be psychologically dependent on someone else, whether it's a family member, boss or significant other. This may materialize in many forms, including the inability to make independent decisions,…
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Dysthymic disorder

Dysthymic disorder, or dysthymia, is a chronic and long-lasting form of low-grade depression. Symptoms are generally not as severe as other disorders within the depression spectrum, such as major depressive disorder, but can fluctuate and…
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Fetishism

Also referred to as paraphilia or compulsive sexual behavior (hypersexuality), fetishism is a disorder involving an obsession with sexual feelings, thoughts and desires that often times involves non-living objects. The person becomes aroused by wearing…
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Frotteurism

Frotteurism is characterized by an obsession that involves rubbing parts of the body against unsuspecting and non-consenting people for the purpose of sexual arousal and gratification. The majority of frotteurs are male, and usually this…
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Gender Identity Disorder

Gender identity disorder is a condition in which the individual feels a strong sexual connection with the sex opposite of their own. A girl feels that she was meant to be a boy or a…
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Generalized Anxiety disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder causes excessive and unrealistic worry, panic or feelings of tension at times when there is little or nothing to cause these feelings. This anxiety becomes uncontrollable, even under normal circumstances, preventing the…
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Histrionic personality disorder

Histrionic personality disorder, also referred to as HPD, is characterized by an excessive pattern of attention-seeking behaviors, such as seductiveness, the constant need for approval, exhibiting forms of hysteria and becoming overly-emotional an inappropriate times.…
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Hypochondriasis Disorder

Hypochondriasis disorder (hypochondria) may also be referred to as a health anxiety. People who are affected by this disorder worry excessively about the presence or possibility of having, contracting or becoming sick from a rare…
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Intermittent Explosive Disorder

Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is the inability to control extreme outbursts, such as rage, anger and violence. These outbursts are generally disproportionate to the situation, no matter if the triggering event is real or only…
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Kleptomania

Kleptomania is described as the inability to resist an urge to collect things. These things are usually acquired by stealing, and are generally items of little to no value. Kleptomania is an impulse control disorder…
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Major Depressive Disorder

Major depressive disorder is sometimes referred to as clinical depression, major depression or unipolar disorder. This mental illness causes loss of interest in pleasing activities and daily routine, due to a very low swing in…
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Mental Retardation

A condition diagnosed before the age of 18, mental retardation is a generalized disorder that is characterized by impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more standard adaptive behavioral areas. In the past, mental…
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is characterized by excessive self-centeredness which leads a person to require constant admiration due to his or her inflated sense of self. People suffering this condition believe they are superior and…
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Narcolepsy

The main symptom which characterizes narcolepsy is excessive daytime sleepiness, or EDS. This causes a person to fall asleep at inappropriate times or in inappropriate places, such as while at work or even while driving.…
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Nicotine Dependence

Nicotine dependence can be defined as a physical and psychological addiction to the continued use of tobacco products, such as cigarettes or chewing tobacco. Nicotine is an addictive and psychoactive chemical that is contained in…
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Nightmare Disorder

Nightmare disorder, also referred to as dream anxiety disorder, causes the recurrence of dreams that may be terrifying in nature and lead the dreamer to awaken with intense feelings of fear. Nightmares usually occur during…
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Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder

Obsessive compulsive personality disorder, commonly referred to as OCPD, is characterized as a mental illness which causes a person to develop an obsession with perfection, organization and structure. This may include obsessions with following rules,…
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Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, also referred to as OCD, is characterized by continual thoughts or fears that cause obsessive behavior. These fears can often be considered unreasonable by the type of reaction they create in the patient.…
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Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is behavioral disorder that generally affects young children and teens. A condition in which the child displays a lack of cooperation, tantrums and hostile behavior, this disorder is often confused as…
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Pain Disorder

Pain disorder is characterized by the ongoing sensation of pain that is not due to any explainable medical or psychological conditions. Pain is now recognized as a multidimensional entity, where it may be caused not…
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Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is characterized by sudden attacks of intense fear and terror. These attacks happen unexpectedly and usually last for at least 10 minutes, but can go on for an hour or more. Often, the…
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Pathological Gambling

Pathological gambling is an impulse-control disorder that results in an irresistible focus on gambling money and betting, despite any negative consequences. Criteria of this disorder generally focus on the negative results of the behavior, rather…
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Pervasive developmental disorders

Pervasive developmental disorders characterize a group of conditions that affect the ability to socialize and communicate and may interrupt normal development of fundamental skills. The most widely known of these disorders is autism. Pervasive developmental…
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Post-traumatic stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder causes problems with the reoccurrence of disturbing memories, dreams and thoughts that interfere with a normal way of life. This disorder generally develops after long term exposure to a situation of extreme…
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Primary Insomnia

Primary insomnia is characterized as a sleep disorder and causes an individual to have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or achieving proper sleep which replenishes the body's store of energy. Insomnia is a symptom of…
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Psychotic Disorders

Psychotic disorders are characterized by a general loss of touch with reality accompanied by periods of brief delusion. To be classified as a psychotic disorder, rather than a  more specific condition, no symptoms of a…
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Pyromania

Pyromania is an impulse-control disorder that causes the inability to fight an urge to set fires. This behavior is not caused by an addiction, but rather by negative feelings or anxiety that can be relieved…
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Retts Disorder

A rare form of autism, Rett’s syndrome affects the way the brain develops and occurs almost exclusively in girls. Babies develop normally at first but when the infant reaches around 18 months, the child starts…
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Schizoid Personality Disorder

Schizoid personality disorder can be identified by the lack of interest in relationships. Those who suffer often seem emotionally cold, secretive and tend to lead their lives in a solitary fashion, preferring to be alone…
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Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia causes abnormalities in perceived reality. This condition usually manifests in the form of hallucinations, delusional thoughts, incomprehensible speech patterns and possible secondary conditions, such as depression or severe anxiety. It involves problems with cognition,…
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Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Schizotypal personality disorder is a condition that causes a person to turn inward, avoid intimate relationships and experience symptoms of extreme social anxiety. Unlike schizoid personality types, people with schizotypal personality disorder find their own…
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Selective Mutism Disorder

Selective mutism disorder is characterized by the inability to speak during certain situations, under certain conditions or to certain people. People with this disorder are otherwise capable of normal speech, and situations which encourage symptoms…
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Separation Anxiety Disorder

Separation anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive worry about being temporarily separated from home, family or loved ones. Separation anxiety is a normal stage of life that may begin with children just before they reach…
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Sexual Masochism

Sexual masochism is described as the feeling of intense sexual arousal that results from physical or psychological pain, suffering and humiliation. These acts are not only imagined, but played out either alone or with a…
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Sexual Sadism

Sexual sadism is characterized by an intense sexual arousal that is derived from delivering physical and psychological pain, suffering and humiliation to another person during sex. These acts are not just imagined or fantasized, but…
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Sleep Terror Disorder

Sleep terror disorder primarily occurs for children, but can affect some adults as well. This disorder causes a person to experience symptoms of extreme fear during sleep, and react abruptly while not fully conscious. Sleep…
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Sleepwalking Disorder

Sleepwalking disorder causes a person to perform activities, such as walking around or sitting up in bed, while still considered to be asleep. This usually occurs during the first third of sleep while the person…
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Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is a mental disorder that causes excessive worry and self-consciousness when around people or involved in common, everyday situations. The excessive fear of embarrassment or judgment by others can cause the sufferer to…
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Somatization Disorder

Somatization disorder causes a person to chronically complain of a variety of symptoms that cannot be linked to any physical cause. People with this disorder generally visit the doctor's office frequently to seek help, and…
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Specific Phobias

Specific phobias are brought about by an extreme and often irrational fear of a particular situation or object. Examples of phobias include fear of flying, fear of birds, fear of heights or fear of leaving…
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Stuttering

For a good number of children, stuttering (also referred to as stammering) is merely a way of learning to put words together properly and use their native language. Not uncommon between the ages of 2…
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Tourettes Disorder

Tourette's disorder causes a person to experience involuntary tics, which are defined as sudden, motor movements or vocalizations that are repetitive and may involve only certain muscle groups. Tourette's generally begins in childhood and may…
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Transvestic Fetishism

Transvestic fetishism is defined as sexual arousal which is derived from fantasizing and wearing clothing designed specifically for the opposite sex. This disorder generally affects only men who prefer women's clothing, undergarments or other items,…
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Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania, better known as hair-pulling disorder, causes a person to pull and twist at his or her own hair obsessively, resulting in hair loss and bald patches. This not only includes the hair on one's…
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