9781422275894

MENTAL ILLNESSES Mental illnesses are medical conditions that affect a person’s mood, behavior, and thinking. It is not always clear why some people develop mental illnesses while others do not. Genetics plays a role in some illnesses, while others are more situational in nature. Stress, exams, tension, poor nutrition, brain injury, family history, and trauma can alter specific parts of the brain and cause mental illnesses. Mental illnesses or mental disorders are divided into many types such as anxiety disorders (including obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobias), mood disorders (including depression and bipolar disorder), and psychotic disorders. ANXIETY DISORDERS Anxiety is an emotion that makes a person feel worried or nervous about something that is going to happen. All people feel anxiety from time to time—simply feeling anxious does not mean that someone has a disorder. People with an anxiety disorder feel worried with a frequency or to a degree that is not connected to their situation. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a specific type of anxiety disorder in which people have intrusive and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, and sensations called obsessions. This makes a person perform

repeated actions to make the thoughts or feelings go away. Repeated hand washing or repeatedly checking to make sure the front door is locked are examples of activities people with OCD may feel they have to perform.

PHOBIAS A phobia is an anxiety disorder in which a person suffers from extreme fear of something. Fearing certain things helps a person avoid injuries or danger; excessive fear can lead to phobias. A phobia is a strong and unreasonable fear of something that causes little or no potential danger at all. Fear of heights, water, and the dark are some of the most common phobias.

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