Key Concepts:
Vocabulary: mental disorders, stigma, anxiety disorder, mood disorder, conduct disorder
Mental Disorders
Understanding Mental Disorders
Main Idea: Mental disorders are medical conditions that require diagnosis and treatment.
Each year, approximately 57.7million people in the United States are affected by some form of mental disorder- an illness of the mind that can affect the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of a person, preventing him or her from leading a happy, healthful, and productive life. That’s about one in every four Americans. Many do not seek treatment because they feel embarrassed or ashamed. Others worry about the stigma associated with mental disorders. A stigma is a mark of shame or disapproval that results in an individual being shunned or rejected by others.
Many people don’t understand that mental disorders are medical conditions, and require diagnosis and treatment just like any physical illness or injury. Learning about mental and emotional problems will help erase the stigma associated with these disorders, and will help encourage people to seek medical help early. Many times, mental and emotional problems cannot be solved without professional help.
Types of Mental Disorders
Main Idea: Mental disorders can be identified by their symptoms.
Mental disorders are medical conditions that can begin as early as childhood. Many times, these problems require help from health professionals.
Anxiety Disorders
An anxiety disorder is a condition in which real or imagined fears are difficult to control. It is one of the most common mental health problems among children and teens. Reports have shown that as many as 13 percent of children between ages 9 and 17 experience an anxiety disorder each year. People with anxiety disorder try to avoid situations that make them feel anxious or fearful.
Impulse Control Disorders
People with impulse control disorders cannot resist the urge to hurt themselves or others. Impulse control disorders may begin in childhood or the teen years. and can continue into adulthood. People with this disorder may cause physical harm to themselves and others. They may also cause financial harm by overspending and gambling. People with impulse control disorder may also behave in ways that cause them to lose friends. Figure 5.4 provides examples of these disorders.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders commonly occur during the teen years. As teens reach puberty, body changes and media images may cause some teens to put pressure on themselves to look a certain way. These teens may develop symptoms of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder. Eating disorders are more common among girls, but can affect boys too. Eating disorders can lead to unhealthful weight loss and death.
Mood Disorders
A mood disorder is an illness that involves mood extremes that interfere with everyday living. These extremes are more severe than the normal highs and lows everyone experiences. Mood disorders include depression and bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive disorder, is marked by extreme mood changes, energy levels, and behavior.
Conduct Disorder
Children and teens with conduct disorder engage in patterns of behavior in which the rights of others or basic social rules are violated. Examples include stealing, cruelty, lying, aggression, violence, truancy, arson, and vandalism. Treatment includes learning to adapt to the demands of everyday life.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia (skit-suh-FREE-nee-uh) is a mental disorder in which a person loses contact with reality. Symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, and thought disorders. Schizophrenia affects about one percent of the population. The disease affects both men and women. People with this disorder behave unpredictably. Professional help and medication are needed to treat the illness successfully.
Personality Disorders
Teens with personality disorders are unable to regulate their emotions. They may feel distressed in social situations or may behave in ways that are distressing to others. The cause of personality disorders is unknown.
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