What Are Mental Problems?

"Mental problems" is an informal term referring to a variety of mental-health disorders and mental illnesses. Most of these conditions have a significant impact on a person's life as well as the lives of family members and loved ones. These disorders can affect the person's mood, behavior, or cognitive skills, making it difficult to function normally in society. They may require treatment by a psychologist or psychiatrist. People with more severe or acute mental problems may be hospitalized for treatment as well.

Mood Disorders

• Mood disorders, including major depression, bipolar disorder, mania, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD), are common mental problems. These disorders all affect a person's mood and can cause serious problems and difficulties in daily functioning. Major depression is a condition in which sadness extends over a long period of time. Bipolar disorder is a mental condition in which a person's mood fluctuates from extreme depression to extreme elation in a fairly regular cycle. Mania causes a person to feel uncontrollably and extremely elated and energetic for a long period of time. SAD is a condition in which a person's mood changes seasonally. All of these conditions, if left untreated, can cause serious problems in a person's life and can lead to thoughts of suicide.

Eating Disorders

• Eating disorders are a type of mental problem that affect a person's eating habits and can cause extreme weight loss and even death. There a two main eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is a condition in which a person eats very little, to the point of emaciation, in order to obtain a thinner-looking body. Bulimia nervosa is characterized by frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food, followed by self-induced vomiting, purging, or fasting in order to counteract the binge eating. Both of these disorders typically occur in conjunction with a distortion of body image.

Other Mental Problems

• In addition to mood and eating disorders, there are several other types of mental problems. Anxiety disorders affect many people and include generalized anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and social phobia. People with these types of mental-health problems experience a great deal of stress and anxiety in everyday situations. Schizophrenia is a long-term chronic mental disorder that causes affected people to see, hear, and feel things that are not real. There are also several mental-health problems on the autism spectrum that are often diagnosed at very early ages. These disorders often follow affected children into adulthood.

Considerations

• There are situations where a person may experience the symptoms of certain mental illnesses, such as depression, for short periods of time. This is a normal response to certain occurrences, such as losing a loved one. When symptoms of a mental illness last longer than a few weeks or interfere with a person's ability to function, it is time to see a doctor or seek help. Many people with mental problems or diagnosed mental disorders can recover or be treated and live normal lives.