Top 10 Most Common Mental Disorders

By E. Glasser Stay Healthy Magazine

Good mental health increase considerably enhances and maintains the emotional wellbeing of any person irrespective of his age. It shows how an individual thinks, feels and acts towards life, and how he handles stress and other associated problems life throws at him.

A mental health disorder/disease is an illness that causes mild to severe disturbances in thoughts and/or actions, resulting in an ability to deal with life’s ordinary routines and demands. There are over 200 classified types of mental disorders, some more common than the others. Here we will be looking at the 10 most common mental health disorders, and their symptoms.

1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Generalized anxiety disorder is a longterm condition that is characterized by exaggerated, excessive, blowing-out-ofproportion and suffering an anxiety attack going through daily life events. The constant state of anxiety eventually ends adversely affecting the individual’s relationships, his school or work life, etc. This mental disorder can cause both physical and mental symptoms including headaches, muscle tension, and irritability.

2. Psychotic disorders

Psychotic disorders involve distorted thinking and awareness. The two most common symptoms of psychotic disorders include hallucinations (experiencing unreal sounds and images) and delusions

(believing false fixed beliefs, in spite ofevidence that suggests the contrary).

3. Substance Abuse

Also referred to as drug abuse, substanceabuse is a patterned use of harmful drugs.Commonly used substances include cannabis,bath salts, TCP, LSD, cocaine, opium,and heroin.

Top 10 Most Common Mental Disorders

4. Impulse Control Disorders

People with impulse control disorders areunable to resist temptation or urges, toindulge in acts that could be dangerous toothers or themselves. Compulsive gambling,kleptomania (stealing), and Pyromania(starting fires) are common examples.

5. Personality disorders

Individuals with personality disordershave inflexible and extreme personalitytraits that are upsetting to the person andcan significantly affects his/her personallife. Furthermore, this person thinks andbehaves so differently and their personalityis very rigid. Paranoia, Obsessivecompulsivedisorder and antisocial personalitydisorder are all examples.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that limits a person’s ability to concentrate and control inappropriate behavior and promotes excess activity.

7. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD is a form of anxiety disorder that is usually the result of a traumatic life event. People with PTSD experience persisting and terrifying nightmares, memories and thoughts of the event, and tend to be emotionally numb.

8. Autism

Autism is a life-long developmental disability that impacts a person’s perception of the world and their interaction with others. Common symptoms of autism include problems with social interaction and communication.

9. Mood disorders

Also known as affective disorders, mood disorders are characterized by tenacious feelings of melancholy or sudden periods of excess happiness or fluctuations from extreme sadness to extreme happiness. Most common type of mood disorders includes bipolar disorder, cyclothymic disorder, and depression.

10. Eating disorders

People with eating disorders experience extreme emotions, behaviors, and attitudes regarding food, their shape, and weight. This can result in them making real unhealthy choices about food with destructive consequences to their health. Bulimia nervosa, binge eating, and anorexia nervosa are the most prevalent types of eating disorders.