Common mental health diagnoses

When it comes to mental health, information is power. All diagnoses affect the brain and the body, but how the brain and body are impacted depends upon the diagnosis and symptoms. Learn  about common mental health diagnoses in adults and children.

Anxiety disorder

Everyone experiences anxiety at some time – anxiety can be quite useful in helping a person to avoid dangerous situations and motivate the solving of everyday problems. Anxiety can vary in severity from mild uneasiness to a terrifying panic attack. Anxiety also can vary in how long it lasts, from a few minutes to many years. An anxiety disorder differs from normal anxiety in the following ways:

• It is more intense
• It is long-lasting
• It interferes with the person’s work, activities, or relationships

Anxiety disorders tend to begin in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood. The median age of onset is 11 years, which means half the people have their first episode by this age. Anxiety disorders often occur with mood disorders and substance use disorder. Anxiety disorders are more common in females than in males. 

• Generalized anxiety is defined as experiencing long lasting anxiety for months or even years. It is not triggered by life events and is often unprovoked. Symptoms include restlessness, fatigue, irritability, difficulty sleeping and concentrating.
• Panic disorder is when an individual experiences frequent panic attacks. A panic attack is a sudden period of extreme fear when there is no actual danger. Symptoms of panic attacks include racing heart, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest and throat.
• Social anxiety is when an individual experiences intense fear of being negatively judged in social situations. Someone experiencing social anxiety may be extremely self-conscious and easily embarrassed.
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is when a person experiences obsessive thoughts, compulsive actions or both. Obsessions are repetitive thoughts or images that cause anxiety. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors often in response to obsessive thoughts.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder in which inattention, overactivity, impulsivity, or a combination are common. A young person with ADHD will have at least some signs before they are seven years old and the signs will be severe enough to affect their school and relationships.

 Signs and symptoms

• Difficulty paying attention to details
• Easily distracted
• Difficulty finishing schoolwork
• Putting off anything requiring sustained mental effort
• Disorganized and prone to making mistakes
• Appearing to not listen when spoken to or follow through on given tasks

Most youth with ADHD continue to have symptoms when entering adolescence. Although hyperactivity tends to decrease as a child ages, teens who continue to be hyperactive may show the following behaviors:

• Feel restless
• Try to do too many things at once
• Choose tasks or activities that have a quick payoff, rather than those that take more effort but provide bigger, delayed rewards
• Struggle with school and other activities in which they are expected to be more self-reliant
• Have difficulty sticking with treatment

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder, previously called manic depressive disorder, is a brain disorder that causes extreme shifts in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function. People with bipolar disorder can experience periods of depression, periods of mania, and long periods of normal mood in between. The time between these different episodes varies greatly from person to person.

The median age of onset is 25 years, which means that half the people with bipolar disorder will have had their first episode by this age. Bipolar disorder is equally common in males and females.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms of mania (or a manic episode) include:

• Increased energy, activity, and restlessness
• Excessively “high,” overly good, euphoric mood
• Extreme irritability
• Racing thoughts and talking very fast, jumping from one idea to another
• Distractibility, can’t concentrate well
• Little sleep needed
• Unrealistic beliefs in one’s abilities and powers
• Poor judgement
• Spending sprees
• A lasting period of behavior that is different from usual
• Increased sexual drive
• Abuse of drugs, particularly cocaine, alcohol, and sleeping medications
• Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior
• Denial that anything is wrong

Signs and symptoms of depression (or a depressive episode) include:

• Lasting sad, anxious, or empty mood
• Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, including sex
• Decreased energy, a feeling of fatigue or of being “slowed down”
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions
• Restlessness or irritability
• Sleeping too much, or can’t sleep
• Change in appetite and/or unintended weight loss or gain
• Chronic pain or other persistent bodily symptoms that are not caused by physical illness or injury
• Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts

Depression

The word depression is used in many different ways. People feel sad or blue when bad things happen. However, everyday “blues” or sadness is not a depressive disorder. We all may have a short-term depressed mood, but we cope and soon recover without treatment. A major depressive disorder lasts for at least two weeks and affects a person’s ability to work, to carry out usual daily activities, and to have satisfying personal relationships.

The median age of onset is 32 years, meaning that half the people who will have an episode will have had their first episode by this age. Depression often co-occurs with anxiety or substance use disorders. Depression is more common in females than in males. Once a person has had an occurrence of depression they are prone to additional episodes.

• Major depression is when an individual experiences symptoms of depression for 2 weeks and symptoms interfere with their daily functions.
• Persistent depressive disorder is when individuals experience less severe symptoms of depression lasting for at least 2 years.
• Seasonal depression is when someone experiences symptoms of depression during specific seasons, usually fall and winter.
• Bipolar disorder happens when a person goes back and forth between experiencing manic episodes and periods of depression.

Signs and symptoms 

A person who is clinically depressed would have at least one of these two symptoms nearly every day, for at least two weeks:

• An unusually sad mood
• Loss of enjoyment and interest in activities that used to be enjoyable

A person may also have these symptoms:

• Lack of energy and tiredness
• Feeling worthless or feeling guilty, though not really at fault
• Thinking often about death or wishing to be dead
• Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
• Moving more slowly or sometimes becoming agitated and unable to settle
• Having sleeping difficulties or sometimes sleeping too much
• Loss of interest in food or sometimes eating too much. Changes in eating habits may lead to either loss of weight or weight gain

Eating disorders

Eating disorders are not just about food, weight, vanity, or willpower, but are serious and potentially life-threatening mental disorders. Most eating disorders occur when a person has distortions in thoughts and emotions relating to body image, leading to marked changes in eating or exercise behaviors that interfere with the person’s life.

The median age of onset for eating disorders ranges from 18 to 20 years (50% have onset before these ages). A high proportion of people with eating disorders also have another mental disorder, particularly anxiety, mood, or substance use disorders. However, less than one-third of people with eating disorders received treatment for a mental health problem in the past 12 months. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. 

Behavioral

• Dieting behaviors, such as fasting, counting calories, avoidance of food groups or types
• Evidence of binge eating
• Evidence of vomiting or laxative use
• Excessive, obsessive, or ritualistic exercise patterns
• Changes in food preferences
• Development of rigid patterns around food selection, preparation, and eating such as cutting food into small pieces, or eating very slowly
• Avoidance of eating meals
• Lying about amount or type of food consumed or evading questions about eating and weight
• Behaviors focused on body shape and weight
• Development of repetitive or obsessive behaviors relating to body shape and weight, such as pinching waist or wrists, repeated weighing, or excessive time spent looking in mirrors
• Social withdrawal or avoidance of previously enjoyed activities

Physical

• Weight loss or weight fluctuations
• Sensitivity to cold or feeling cold most the time, even in warm temperatures
• Changes in menstruation
• Swelling around cheeks or jaw, calluses on knuckles, or dental discoloration from vomiting
• Fainting

Psychological

• Preoccupation with food, body shape, and weight
• Extreme body dissatisfaction
• Distorted body image, such as complaining of being, feeling, looking fat when actually having a healthy weight or being underweight
• Sensitivity to comments or criticism about exercise, food, body shape, or weight

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a real illness. You can get PTSD after living through or seeing a dangerous event, such as war, a hurricane, or bad accident. PTSD makes you feel stressed and afraid after the danger is over. It affects your life and the people around you. PTSD can happen to anyone at any age.

Signs and symptoms

• Bad dreams
• Flashbacks, or feeling like the scary event is happening again
• Scary thoughts you can’t control
• Staying away from places and things that remind you of what happened
• Feeling worried, guilty, or sad
• Feeling alone
• Trouble sleeping
• Feeling on edge
• Angry outbursts
• Thoughts of hurting yourself or others

Children may show other signs:

• Behaving like they did when they were younger
• Being unable to talk
• Complaining of stomach problems or headaches a lot
• Refusing to go places or play with friends

Psychosis

Psychosis is when a person has lost some contact with reality, resulting in severe disruptions in thinking, emotion, and behavior. Psychosis can have a severe impact on a person’s life. Relationships, school, work, other usual activities, and self-care can be difficult to initiate or maintain. Disorders where psychosis may appear include: schizophrenia, psychotic depression, schizoaffective disorder, and substance-induced psychosis.

Changes in emotion and motivation:

• Depression
• Anxiety, fearfulness
• Irritability, extreme moodiness, sudden outbursts or highly emotional reactions
• Suspiciousness, feeling that people are out to get them
• Blunted, flat, or inappropriate emotion
• Change in appetite
• Reduced energy and motivation
• Significantly increased sleep

Changes in thinking and perception:

• Difficulties with concentration or attention
• Sense of alteration of self, others, or outside world
• Odd ideas (feels they or others have changed or are acting differently)
• Unusual perceptual experiences (reduction or greater intensity of smell, sound, or color)

Changes in behavior:

• Sleep disturbance social isolation or withdrawal
• Reduced ability to carry out social roles
• Seeing things and hearing voices that are not real
• Severe problems in making and keeping friends
• Social isolation

Self-harm

The term self-harm is used to refer to situations where self-injury has no suicidal intent. It is not easy to tell the difference between self-harm and a suicide attempt. The only way to know is to ask the person directly, “Are you suicidal?”

Self-harm is relatively common in young adults and has been found to occur in 5 to 19% of middle and high school students in the United States.

Signs and symptoms

• Cutting, scratching, or pinching skin enough to cause bleeding or a mark that remains on the skin
• Banging or punching objects to the point of bruising or bleeding
• Ripping and tearing skin
• Carving words or patterns into skin
• Interfering with the healing of wounds
• Burning skin with cigarettes, matches, or hot water
• Pulling out large amounts of hair
• Deliberately overdosing on medications when this is not meant as a suicide attempt

Reasons people engage in self-harm

There are many reasons for people engaging in self-harm, including:

• To escape unbearable anguish
• To change the behavior of others
• To escape from a situation
• To show desperation to others
• To get back at other people or make them feel guilty
• To relieve tension
• To seek help

Schizophrenia

The term “schizophrenia” comes from the Greek word for “fractured mind,” and refers to changes in mental function where thoughts and perceptions become disordered. Most people begin to experience symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions, between ages 16 and 30. Rarely do people develop schizophrenia after age 45. Onset of Schizophrenia in childhood (before age 13) is exceedingly rare. Schizophrenia affects males and females equally; however, men tend to experience symptoms at an earlier age than women. 

Signs and symptoms

• Delusions: False beliefs of persecution, guilt, having a special mission, or being under outside control
• Hallucinations: Most commonly involve hearing voices, but can also involve seeing, feeling, tasting, or smelling things. These are perceived as very real by the person but are not actually there.
• Blunted emotions: Oblivious to the things around them and often reacts inappropriately
• Difficulties in concentration, memory, and ability to plan, making it difficult for the person to reason, communicate, and complete daily tasks
• Lack of motivation even for self-care
• Withdrawal from contact with others, even family and close friends