Mental health disorders are far more common than most people realize. Part of the problem is that people often don't realize what constitutes a mental health disorder. Many conditions that people consider to be eccentricities or oddities are in fact mental health disorders. The most common mental health issues involve anxiety and mood disorders. Most people who are suffering from these conditions never seek treatment for them, this is unfortunate since in most cases these conditions are entirely treatable. There is no reason to suffer with a mental health disorder when treatment is readily available.
The most common mental disorder is anxiety disorders. This would include things like panic attacks, social anxiety disorder or specific phobias. Post traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder would also fall under this category. Everybody experiences anxiety from time to time so it is important to be able to recognize when you might have a problem and when your anxiety is just a normal part of life. An anxiety disorder occurs when the anxiety is chronic and it starts to affect your life. There are usually physical symptoms involved including nausea, fatigue and difficulty concentrating.
Mood disorders are another common type of mental health disorder and this would include things like depression and bipolar disorders. A bipolar disorder is when a person has dramatic mood swings. Bipolar disorders have a serious impact on quality of life and usually require medical treatment to overcome. Depression is a debilitating illness that leaves people unable to function. There is a difference between being depressed and having a depression disorder. It is natural to feel depressed from time to time, depression occurs when you feel depressed all the time. There are usually physical symptoms involved as well. Left untreated depression can last for years and seriously impact the quality of life.
Eating disorders are a very common form of mental health issue and can have a serious impact on a person's health. The causes of eating disorders are very complex and are usually the result of other issues manifesting themselves through food and body image. Anorexia nervosa is a serious disorder in which a person becomes obsessed with trying to control the amount of food they eat. Bulimia nervosa is a condition in which people eat a large quantity of food and then try to get rid of it by inducing vomiting or using laxatives. Eating disorders are very serious and require professional help to deal with them.
Psychosis is condition in which a person's mind is distorted and they lose contact with reality. This would include things like schizophrenia and delusion disorders. Delusions, hallucinations and paranoia are common symptoms of psychosis. In most cases there is no cure for psychosis however there are treatments that can help to manage the condition.