A Comprehensive Guide to Mental Health Conditions

Mental health issues are so common today but many people are not aware of it. Recognizing the early symptoms can help you take the right actions at the right time. In this blog, we will learn about mental health disorders and when you need treatment. Whether it is you or any of your loved ones, ensuring good mental health is essential for our overall health. Let’s delve into the types of common mental illnesses and the treatments available.

What is Mental Health?

Mental health also known as behavioral health is our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Our mental health affects how we think, feel, and act. This even affects the way we deal with stress. Mental health is vital in every age. Our mental health condition is related to our overall health. Both physical and mental health are vital components of our overall health. For ex- anxiety may cause heart disease, diabetes, or stroke. Likewise, your physical health condition like chronic diseases can cause mental illness.

What is Mental Health Disorder and When You Need Treatment?

Before we discuss the symptoms to look for mental health disorders and the right treatment for them, it’s important to know about mental health disorders. Your mental health determines how you act or behave and when it is impacted it affects the way you think or behave. You may not be able to function properly at work, home, school, or social gatherings. You might start sounding confused or nervous. Your mental can change over time. 

If we talk about how common mental illness then globally one in every seven 10-19 years olds experiences a mental disorder. There are many types of mental health conditions recognized as mental illnesses or disorders. The most common ones are as follows:

• Anxiety disorders: People who are diagnosed with anxiety disorders often act frightened. Their response to certain objects or situations is more related to fear with some physical signs of panic and anxiety.

• Bipolar disorders: This is also known as a mood disorder where an individual faces unusual shifts in his mood, energy, concentration, and activity level. Their moods shift from extreme sadness to happiness which causes difficulty in carrying out the day-to-day tasks.

• Depression: Depression is a state of mental illness where a person stops having pleasure or interest in any activities for a long period. However, it is different from common mood changes and feelings about everyday life.

• Schizophrenia: It is a serious mental health disorder that affects how an individual behaves, acts, thinks, and feels. This involves a disconnection from reality including hallucination and delusion. The patient is not even able to recognize the symptoms. Although a serious problem, it is treatable.

• Post-traumatic stress disorder: It is a mental health disorder that develops after experiencing a traumatic event. This usually happens when an event affects your emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. This affects people of all ages.

• Personality disorder: This is a type of mental illness where a person behaves, thinks, and reacts differently from an average person. This type of mental illness involves long-lasting disruptive patterns of thinking, mood, and interaction with others. Personality disorder patients often don’t realize how problematic their behavior is.

• Eating disorders: This mental health condition is related to severe disturbances in eating behavior. It is a serious and complex condition that affects one’s emotional and physical health.

• Substance use disorders: It is a problematic pattern of substance use in excessive quantity that affects your mental and physical well-being. This mainly includes drinking alcohol, opioids, and marijuana.

• Neurodevelopmental disorders: This is the type of mental disorder that affects the development of nervous systems. This can range from mild impairment to severe disorders that require lifelong care.

What Causes Mental Disorder

Well, there are no particular reasons that cause mental disorders. Different episodes of life can impact our mental health condition and cause mental illness. Here are a few factors that can contribute to mental disorder:

• Feeling loneliness or isolation
• Trauma or history of abuse
• Chronic medical conditions
• Biological factors like chemical imbalances in the brain
• Alcohol or drug addiction

When To Seek Professional’s Help for Mental Health

Well, it is difficult to know whether you are experiencing a natural response to a stressful event in life or facing the major signs of mental illness. While a few are the common mental conditions that every individual faces, some symptoms are more serious mental health issues that seek professional mental help. Below are the common symptoms that indicate you need to see a psychiatrist or need professional mental help:

• Stress is now unbearable for you.
• Due to anxiety, you are unable to function and face problems in your daily activities.
• Depression symptoms have increased and you are facing problems in social meetings, sleeping, weight gain, body aches, or pain.
• If your stress is causing mood swings
• Loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy earlier
• Changes in eating and sleeping patterns
• Thoughts of self-harm or feeling suicidal
• Auditory or visual hallucination

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms then it’s time to get professional help. Meet the best psychiatrist in Delhi, who will recommend the best treatment for your problem by recommending medications or therapies.

How Mental Health Conditions Are Diagnosed?

Mental health disorders are treatable. The help is available, you must acknowledge the problems you have. It’s crucial to get diagnosed by a healthcare professional with experience in behavioral health disorders. Early diagnosis is helpful in early detection of the root cause of the problem and choosing the right treatment.

Your healthcare professional or the best psychiatrist will carefully review your symptoms and evaluate your mental health to suggest therapies or medications.

Well, there are no medical tests to diagnose a particular mental illness. However, the healthcare professional will take a test such as blood work or imaging exams to know what things can trigger you and affect your mental health.

Treatment and Management

Mental illness or disorders are treatable. Your healthcare provider will suggest you the treatment that is best for your condition. After diagnosing the type of mental health disorder, he will suggest the right treatment for you which may include:

• Medication
• Psychotherapies
• Brain stimulation therapies
• Alternative therapies

Types of Medications Used for Mental Health Disorder

Medication is effective in treating health problems. Similarly, medication is crucial in treating any mental health condition. This helps reduce symptoms, improves overall functioning, and enhances quality of life. The types of drugs that alleviate the symptoms and cure different types of mental disorders are as follows: 

• Antidepressants: These are the types of medicines used to cure clinical depression. This is also beneficial in treating other mental health disorders like OCD, anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

• Antipsychotics: These are the type of drugs that are available on prescription to psychosis patients. Antipsychotics are primarily used to treat schizophrenia bipolar disorder, and other psychotic disorders but can also work in severe depression and anxiety.

• Mood Stabilizers: This medication is used to treat mood disorders like bipolar disorder. This is also helpful in treating other mood disorders like mania, hypomania, and depression.  

• Anxiolytics: These are the medicines that are used to prevent anxiety, panic disorders, or symptoms of other mental disorders. It is also known as anti-anxiety medicine.

• Stimulants: Stimulants are the class of medicines that are prescribed to patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Narcolepsy, a sleep disorder. This medication speeds up the messages traveling from the brain to the body. 

These are the medications prescribed by a mental healthcare professional or a psychiatrist. However, which medicine will work for an individual is quite difficult because different medications may work for one person than for another. Hence, you must consult your healthcare provider to determine which medicine will work best for you. Be persistent until you find the right medicine for you. Your doctor will consider your medical records to prescribe the best medication (or combination of medications). Therefore, it’s crucial to choose the best psychiatrist near you in Delhi. Sometimes for better results, the mental healthcare specialist may recommend changing medication or dosage from time to time, which aids in improving mental health conditions. Your provider will start with a low dose and gradually increase the dosage depending on your symptoms.

What may work for another person may not work for you. Hence, it is important to get the right help from the right provider. Ensure you are seeking the best psychiatrist help to treat your mental health conditions. Your doctor will help you by providing the right medication or therapy, whatever works best for you. Dr. Shashi Bhushan Kumar is always there for immediate support. Call to book your appointment today!