Issues With Emotional Disabilities

Emotional disability is a term used to describe a number of mental health conditions. The characteristics of emotional disability include an inability to learn that can't be explained by external factors; difficulties in developing or sustaining social relationships; inappropriate behavior or feelings; depression; and a tendency to be fearful or to develop physical symptoms when faced with personal problems. These factors cause issues that interfere with the lives of emotionally disabled people.

General Issues: Detection

• Emotional disabilities can be difficult to detect, as most people do not have the expertise to identify them. People who suspect someone has an emotional disorder must be alert for warning signs, such as exaggerated emotions, social withdrawal, mood changes, lack of interest in anything, and hearing the person either talk too much or too little. A doctor, psychiatrist or psychologist can make a diagnosis of an emotional disability.

Relationships

• People affected by severe emotional disabilities have difficulty in establishing relationships with others. These people can be extremely suspicious, confused, have distorted perceptions of others, or jumbled thought patterns that are difficult to follow. When communicating, these people may not show emotion.

Inappropriate Behavior

• People with emotional disabilities may be identified by parents or educational professionals as being disruptive or threatening others. Parents can respond to inappropriate behaviors by seeking training in problem-solving and learning how to handle their children, obtaining family therapy or by seeking community-based services.

Medications

• Whether or not to take medication is a difficult issue for some people with emotional disabilities. Some people will resist taking medications because of negative side effects, like digestive disturbances, rashes, nausea, weight gain, decreased concentration and sexual dysfunction. Some people don't want to be on medications in order to feel "normal."

Disorder-Specific Issues: Anxiety Disorder

• Some people experience anxiety at excessive and persistent levels that seem overwhelming and uncontrollable. People with anxiety disorders may have irrational fears of everyday situations.

Bipolar Disorder

• People with bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive illness, suffer from severe mood swings that impact their energy levels and behavior. These mood swings range from being "high" to crashing into sadness and hopelessness between periods of normal mood.

Eating Disorders

• People with eating disorders have extreme concerns about their body weight or shape. In anorexia nervosa, people starve themselves and experience dramatic weight loss. Bulimia is a cycle of eating a lot of food and then vomiting. Both conditions are potentially life-threatening.

Psychotic Disorders

• People with psychotic disorders have abnormal perceptions and thinking about life, including delusions and hallucinations. People with conditions like schizophrenia will feel, see or hear something that is not there.