|
|
|
| |
Mental health refers to an individual's emotional and psychological state in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities. Mental health and mental illness are not opposites and the absence of a recognized mental disorder is not necessarily an indicator of mental health.
Classes of mental illness
Mood disorders - disorders that affect how you feel, such as persistent sadness or feelings of euphoria.
Anxiety disorders - anxiety is an emotion characterized by the anticipation of future danger or misfortune accompanied by a feeling of being ill at ease.
Substance-related disorders - problems associated with the misuse of alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and illicit drugs.
Psychotic disorders - disorders that impair the sense of reality.
Cognitive disorders - disorders affecting the ability to think and reason, including delirium, dementia and memory problems.
Developmental disorders - covers a wide range of problems that usually become significant in infancy, childhood, or adolescence, such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities.
Personality disorders - an enduring pattern of inner experience and dysfunctional behavior that leads to suffering or injury, including borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder and avoidant personality disorder.
Mental Health Treatment
Medication is an effective cure to restore the brain chemistry to a more normal state. However, medication does not alter the way patients cope with the stress that might have contributed to the illness. This is where psychotherapy and education helps. Psychotherapy can help change coping behaviors and offer strategies to help understand and modify risk factors for illness.
In actual practice, a combination of medication and psychotherapy is most effective. There are also cases when medication is needless and only psychotherapy can help.
|
| |
|
|
