Illnesses

7 Most Bizarre Mental Disorders

July 27, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

There’s nothing as entertaining as a mental illness, except perhaps for everything in the world. Mental illnesses may seem like a joke to some people, but there are millions of individuals quietly suffering from something right now. Mental illnesses are all around the world, and can happen to anyone. The following are some of the most horrible and just plain strange types of mental illness.

1. Diogenes Syndrome

Sometimes a senior citizen will take on bizarre behaviors such as hoarding things and animals, and neglecting their own cleanliness. While the real Diogenes was no hoarder, his name is attached to this ultimate loss of hope.

2. Alien Hand Syndrome

Have you ever felt like your hand wasn’t listening to your commands? If so, you might have Alien Hand Syndrome, which means your hand is doing its own thing. It might end up manipulating tools, making a sandwich or even removing your clothing without your instructions to do so.

3. Cotard’s Syndrome

Do you ever feel like a zombie right after you wake up? Imagine having that happen all the time. This is fairly normal. However, a professional with a psychology degree could explain that a person afflicted with Cotard’s Syndrome actually thinks they’re rotting, missing their internal organs or blood, or even that they don’t exist at all. That’s a whole lot less normal.

4. Schizoid Personality Disorder

Schizoid Personality Disorder tends to manifest itself subtly, and shows up a seeming indifference to things like praise and insults. They tend not to effectively show emotions, either. Frequently, an individual afflicted with this illness will do everything in their power to avoid contact with other people, because they do their best in isolation.

5. Folie a Deux

This disorder is less born and more learned, as it tends to develop when an individual is exposed to another person’s insanity for a long time. Over time any kind of belief can seem normal and reasonable if you’re exposed to it enough.

6. Mythomania

This is also known as being a pathological liar. In a lot of cases the mythomaniac will actually believe their lies, at least when they’re in public, because they’re playing a role. Sometimes they believe their own lies all the time.

7. Pica

Pica is an eating disorder where a person will eat things that aren’t food. They may consume buttons, rocks, hair, dirt, or anything else that isn’t food but that appeals to them. Pica tends to result in horrible medical complications, because these are generally items that can’t be digested and may get caught in a person’s intestinal tract.

There are a lot of bizarre problems that can happen in the human mind. This list is just some of the weirdest among that group. If you don’t have any of these issues, you should consider yourself lucky.

Filed Under: Illnesses

Borderline Personality Disorder And Abandonment Issues

September 17, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental illness that can be quite serious and is often difficult to treat. The main symptoms of BPD are instability of mood and unstable personal relationships. The person with Borderline Personality Disorder has a constantly shifting self-image and has a difficult time understanding his own role in the world. They may feel that they are bad or evil, and therefore punish themselves, sometimes by self-inflicting pain by cutting themselves or sabotaging their closest relationships.

Because people with Borderline Personality Disorder can’t regulate their emotions, they often swing from happiness or contentment to sudden bouts of anger, anxiety or depression. These short bursts of intense rage or inappropriate anger or sorrow usually flare up and resolve themselves within hours or days, unlike the longer mood swings of someone with Bipolar Disorder.

Impulsiveness and aggression are common in people with BPD. Promiscuous sex, gambling, and drug and alcohol abuse are common. Part of this is a frantic attempt to make themselves feel good or more important. Most people with Borderline Personality Disorder feel they are essentially unworthy of love, yet are constantly seeking approval from the people around them. They fear being alone and dread the possibility of abandonment. They often feel they’ve been unfairly judged.

Because they fear abandonment, BPD sufferers quickly latch onto new people in their lives and idealize them, turning them into saviors who become the center of their lives. At the first sign of perceived abandonment, however, the overwhelming love they feel will turn to hatred and distrust. If the loved one has to go out of town for work or simply wants to spend time with other friends, the person with Borderline Personality Disorder will become convinced that the person no longer cares about them.

Treatment for BPD focuses on altering the inaccurate perceptions and learning coping skills to help control anger and feelings of loss. BPD is one of the hardest mental illnesses to treat, and therapy usually needs to be ongoing. In some cases, anti-depressants or antipsychotics can help control moods and distorted thinking.

Dealing With Different Types of Depression

August 22, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Depression comes in different forms. The psychologist’s handbook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV TR) considers depression a type of ‘mood disorder,’ insofar that one suffering from a bout of depression is having their mood ‘affected,’ to a certain extent. If one is not routinely fatigued, unexcited, uninspired, and finding him or herself disinterested in things they normally do, then depression is the affectation.

When people usually think or talk about depression, they are thinking of what psychologists and psychiatrists call ‘Major Depressive Disorder,’ or MDD. Other names for it are Unipolar Depression or Clinical Depression, and people suffering from it are the ones at highest risk for suicide. They may turn to different substances or behaviors to self-medicate their depression, and some of these habits can be just as dangerous.

Other forms of depression are Bipolar Disorder, which is characterized by very low emotional states (like MDD), and spontaneous moments of hyperactivity (impulse shopping, for example). There is also Melancholic Depression, which may put an individual in a certain emotional state like that of someone grieving, and Catatonic Depression, when a person may cease to function normally, and perhaps become mute as a way of coping, or self-abuse.

Some depression is a result of chemical imbalance, in which case different types of medication can be used to reactivate those dormant chemicals. In other cases, however, depression truly can be more metaphysical, and can be best treated through conversation, understanding, and holistic treatment, like exercise and study.

Depression is never easy, but even for the worst cases, there is help.

Whether or not you’ve ever been clinically diagnosed with depression, chances are that you or someone you know has suffered from it. Either way, almost everyone has been affected by depression to some degree. Some people use different forms of treatment and medication for the condition, whereas others will simple ‘grin and bear it’ until it passes. Ultimately, the best way to approach and treat depression is by addressing it holistically; that is, by admitting that everything psychological is equally as biological.
Depression comes in different forms. The psychologist’s handbook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV TR) considers depression a type of ‘mood disorder,’ insofar that one suffering from a bout of depression is having their mood ‘affected,’ to a certain extent. If one is not routinely fatigued, unexcited, uninspired, and finding him or herself disinterested in things they normally do, then depression is the affectation.
When people usually think or talk about depression, they are thinking of what psychologists and psychiatrists call ‘Major Depressive Disorder,’ or MDD. Other names for it are Unipolar Depression or Clinical Depression, and people suffering from it are the ones at highest risk for suicide. They may turn to different substances or behaviors to self-medicate their depression, and some of these habits can be just as dangerous.
Other forms of depression are Bipolar Disorder, which is characterized by very low emotional states (like MDD), and spontaneous moments of hyperactivity (impulse shopping, for example). There is also Melancholic Depression, which may put an individual in a certain emotional state like that of someone grieving, and Catatonic Depression, when a person may cease to function normally, and perhaps become mute as a way of coping, or self-abuse.
Some depression is a result of chemical imbalance, in which case different types of medication can be used to reactivate those dormant chemicals. In other cases, however, depression truly can be more metaphysical, and can be best treated through conversation, understanding, and holistic treatment, like exercise and study.
Depression is never easy, but even for the worst cases, there is help.

Filed Under: Illnesses Tagged With: Major depressive disorder, Melancholic Depression, Mental health

Chemical Imbalances: Normal or Cause for Treatment?

August 13, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

It has been theorized by several researchers that nearly 50% of people have chemical imbalance in their brain, thereby suggesting that it can be considered normal to have such imbalances.

If this is true, it would indicate that many of the people who are being treated for mental illnesses with drugs such as Xanax, Prozac, and Valium actually may not need them. In the current medical society, many physicians are quick to give prescriptions to those who are experiencing anxiety or depression, without fully assessing the patient or sending them to a psychiatrist for a therapy program that can work with—and perhaps even eliminate, prescription drugs.

What we can take from this research is that it is imperative to get an accurate, clinical diagnosis from several different medical professionals for symptoms of medical distress. Mind-altering drugs of a chemical nature may not always be the answer to ail our condition, and if such imbalances are normal, it is even possible that in time the brain will balance itself. This is not to say that mental disturbances should be ignored and not treated; only that a correct diagnosis is given and various types of treatment options explored.

Many people may benefit from just having a therapist, counselor, or someone in the religious or spiritual discipline talk to them about their feelings. It is quite common to experience anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed, and often times just a few simple tactics or strategies that you can use daily help to relieve them.

It is important to keep in mind that while prescription drugs treat the symptoms of an illness, they do not change your behavior or deal with the root cause of it. Therefore, having a mental health treatment program that helps you manage your stress, change certain behaviors, and explore issues that reside within you negatively, can be a much more feasible option to feeling balanced and happy.

Filed Under: Illnesses Tagged With: Chemical imbalance, Mental disorder, Psychoactive drug

Natural Treatments for Insomnia

August 11, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

There are several things you can do to self-treat and cope with insomnia, all of which revolve around making simple changes to when you go to bed and what methods are involved.

The first is perhaps the easiest, which is to decrease the time you spend in bed. This means no reading or watching TV in bed, as it confuses the body when bedtime is and promotes restlessness. Another easy technique to combat insomnia is to adhere to a strict schedule, making sure that you get up and get to bed each day at the same—even on weekends. This regulates the body’s natural clock and makes getting to sleep, and waking up, easier. It is also a good idea to avoid extended naps during the day. While a cat-nap or a short rest of approximately 15 minutes is helpful, anything longer makes falling asleep at night more difficult.

The next may come as a surprise, but has been shown to have positive results. Keeping clocks out of your bedroom will remove the obsessive worry your mind has with time, which is distracting and hinders falling asleep. By simply hiding the clock from your line of sight you can focus more on relaxing, and less on panicking about late it is.

Exercising and limiting your alcohol and caffeine intake are also successful ways to treat insomnia. It is also wise to eliminate all noise by using earplugs, keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature, and to not eat or drink right before bed. Furthermore, many people have found that doing activities that are calming, such as meditation or relaxing in a hot bath, help to induce a peaceful nights sleep.

Try a combination of these methods to self-treat insomnia, and a take towards securing mental and physical health.

One thing that is a key component to both physical and mental health is getting enough sleep. For those who suffer from insomnia, not only is daily life interrupted by fatigue, but the immune system is compromised—inviting illness and disease. Insomnia can also be a symptom of depression or severe anxiety, or can merely be attributed to changes in routine, lifestyle, or environment.
There are several things you can do to self-treat and cope with insomnia, all of which revolve around making simple changes to when you go to bed and what methods are involved.
The first is perhaps the easiest, which is to decrease the time you spend in bed. This means no reading or watching TV in bed, as it confuses the body when bedtime is and promotes restlessness. Another easy technique to combat insomnia is to adhere to a strict schedule, making sure that you get up and get to bed each day at the same—even on weekends. This regulates the body’s natural clock and makes getting to sleep, and waking up, easier. It is also a good idea to avoid extended naps during the day. While a cat-nap or a short rest of approximately 15 minutes is helpful, anything longer makes falling asleep at night more difficult.
The next may come as a surprise, but has been shown to have positive results. Keeping clocks out of your bedroom will remove the obsessive worry your mind has with time, which is distracting and hinders falling asleep. By simply hiding the clock from your line of sight you can focus more on relaxing, and less on panicking about late it is.
Exercising and limiting your alcohol and caffeine intake are also successful ways to treat insomnia. It is also wise to eliminate all noise by using earplugs, keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature, and to not eat or drink right before bed. Furthermore, many people have found that doing activities that are calming, such as meditation or relaxing in a hot bath, help to induce a peaceful nights sleep.
Try a combination of these methods to self-treat insomnia, and a take towards securing mental and physical health.

Filed Under: Illnesses Tagged With: Conditions and Diseases, Insomnia, Mental health, Sleep disorder