There are many types of mental disorders, with different manifestations. They majorly occur with one or combination of abnormal thoughts, perceptions, emotions and behaviour etc. Mental disorders include depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other psychoses, and dementia etc.
“Do you know that the mental health conditions are increasing worldwide? Mainly because of demographic changes, there has been a 13% rise in mental health conditions and substance use disorder in the last decade (to 2017)”…..WHO
We are going to briefly explain these mental disorders experienced within the mid age of life:
DEPRESSION is a common form of mental disorder that is characterized by sadness, sense of regret, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, complaints with no apparent physical cause, tiredness and lack of concentration. According to WHO, an estimated 264 million people are affected worldwide by depression; and more women are affected than men.
“Depression is one of the leading causes of disability”
SCHIZOPHERNIA is a severe form of mental disorder, characterized by distortions in reasoning, speech, emotion and behaviours. Hallucination and delusion are the commonest form of schizophrenia. Hallucination occurs when one hears voices in their head or sees things that are not there, while delusion is a kind of having false thoughts or beliefs.
BIPOLAR DISORDER consists of both manic and depressive episodes in-between periods of normal mood. Manic episodes includes increased or irritable mood, hyperactivity, rapid speech, inflated self –esteem and decreased sleep.
DEMENTIA is mainly associated with aging and degradation of cognitive abilities. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension , calculation, learning capacity, language and judgement. Dementia is caused by a variety of diseases and injuries that affect the brain such as Alzheimer’s disease or stroke.
“People with severe mental health conditions die prematurely – as much as two decades early – due to preventable physical conditions”
But we have good news for you; there is hope for every person facing any form of mental health issues. This hope borders on prompt intervention on behavioural changes, Medical counselling and in extreme cases prescribed psychotic medication.
Take action today; reach out to your doctor or medical counsellor for help. If you are experiencing any form of the fore mentioned symptoms.