Alphabetic list of psychological disorders that
can be treated with the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT)

  • Acute stress disorder
Acute stress disorder occurs in individuals without any other psychiatric disorder, in response to exceptional physical and/or psychological stress. While severe, such a reaction usually subsides within hours or days. The stress may be an overwhelming traumatic experience (e.g. accident, battle, physical assault, rape) or a sudden change in the social circumstances of the individual, such as bereavement. Symptoms usually include an initial state of feeling 'dazed' or numb, with inability to comprehend the situation. This state may be followed either by further withdrawal from the situation or by anxiety and overactivity. Autonomic signs of arousal, including tachycardia, sweating and hyperventilation, are commonly present. The symptoms usually appear within minutes of the stressor and disappear within 2-3 days. Symptoms include dissociative symptoms such as:
  • Numbing, detachment, a reduction in awareness of the surroundings derealization, or depersonalization;
  • Re-Experiencing Of The Trauma,
  • Trouble Experiencing Pleasure
  • A Sense Of Not Being Real
  • Avoidance Of Associated Stimuli, And
  • Significant Anxiety, Including Irritability, Poor Concentration, Difficulty Sleeping, And Restlessness.
 
  • Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is fear of public places, in which a person feels trapped or fears having a panic attack in public. Like panic disorder, agoraphobia is one of several anxiety disorders. Agoraphobia may occur with or without panic disorder, but it is most frequently seen with panic disorder.
Symptoms of Agoraphobia:
  • Lightheadedness , near Fainting
  • Fear of being alone
  • Heartbeat sensations
  • Excessive sweating
  • Fear of losing control in a public place
  • Skin flushing
  • Breathing difficulty
  • Fear of being in places where escape might be difficult
  • Dizziness
  • Becoming house bound for prolonged periods
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others
  • Confused or disordered thoughts Intense fear of going crazy
  • Feelings of helplessness
  • Abdominal distress that occurs when upset
  • Dependence upon others
  • Chest pain
  • Feeling that the body is unreal
  • Numbness and tingling
  • Feeling that the environment is unreal
  • Intense fear of dying
  • Adjustment Disorder
Adjustment disorder is an abnormal and excessive reaction to a life stressor, such as starting school, getting divorced, or grief.
There are six major adjustment disorders:
  • Adjustment disorder with depressed mood;
  • Adjustment disorder with anxiety;
  • Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood;
  • Adjustment disorder with disturbance of conduct;
  • Adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct;
  • Adjustment disorder unspecified.
  • Anxiety Due To A Physical Disorder Or A Substance
Severely depressed or anxious people are at high risk for alcoholism, smoking , and other forms of addiction. Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent among people with alcoholism. It should be noted, moreover, that long-term alcohol use can itself cause biologic changes that may actually produce anxiety and depression.
Substance-induced anxiety disorder may be experienced by individuals with no preexisting psychopathology as well as those who have a history of erratic or maladaptive behavior. On the other hand, these episodes usually occur in individuals with preexisting anxiety about drug use, especially novice users or in experienced users who have taken more than their usual dose.
Anxiety may be secondary to physical disorders, such as neurologic disorders (eg, brain trauma, infections, inner ear disorders), cardiovascular disorders (eg, heart failure, arrhythmias), endocrine disorders (eg, overactive adrenal or thyroid glands), and respiratory disorders (eg, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Anxiety may be caused by use of drugs, such as alcohol, stimulants, caffeine, cocaine, and many prescription drugs. Also, drug withdrawal is commonly associated with anxiety.
  • Anxiety Disorder NOS
Anxiety Disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified) is diagnosed when patients have symptoms of anxiety disorder or adjustment disorder with anxiety disorder or mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
Anxiety or phobic avoidance that does not meet the criteria for any other specific disorder e.g. Anxiety Disorder, Phobia, Adjustment Disorder With Anxiety, Adjustment Disorder With Mixed Anxiety, Depressed Mood.
The category generally includes patients disorders with prominent anxiety or phobic avoidance that do not meet criteria for any specific anxiety disorder, adjustment disorder with anxiety, or adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
  • Anxiety is mental health disorder which leads to anxieties, fears, phobias and nervousness.
  • Anxiety patient should have keep away from stresses and do not take family or business decision.
  • Anxiety is unexpectedly and normally happen disorder without any noticeable cause.
  • Worry, family tension, anger, irritation, financial problem, consuming alcohol, smoking, drugs, pressure in office can be causes of  anxiety disorder.
  • Anxiety patient should take sufficient sleep. Do some exercises and yoga and going for a brisk walk in the morning.
  • Anxiety Neuroses
Anxiety neurosis is the most common form of psychoneurosis occurring among individuals of above average intelligence. Ross has defined it, as a series of symptoms, which arise from faulty adaptation to the stresses and strain of life. It is caused by over action in an attempt to meet these difficulties.
Symptoms of Anxiety neurosis:
Generally having distressing sensation of confinement or being fenced in the feeling of being helplessly exposed to some indeterminate threat, mental unrest and tension, is feature of anxiety.
Vegetative signs of dilation of pupils, facial pallor, bounds of sweating, tachycardia, dryness of mouth, diarrhea, loss of appetite, insomnia, decrease in libido and potency, increase in blood pressure and blood sugar level etc accompany anxiety syndromes.
  • Anxiety Lepidopterophobia
Community for people that fear butterflies and moths is known as Lepidopterophobia. The after affect of this is anxiety which is termed as Anxiety Lepidopterophobia.
  • Antisocial personality
Antisocial personality disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by chronic behavior that manipulates, exploits, or violates the rights of others. This behavior is often criminal.
The main clinical criteria for diagnosis are:
There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:
  1. failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
  2. deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
  3. impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
  4. irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
  5. reckless disregard for safety of self or others
  6. consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
  7. lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another 
  • Anorexia Nervosa
These are dangerously thin people, only they fail to recognize as such. Avoiding food is an obsession with them. They would rather stick to certain low calorie food or would carefully weight and portion food. People with anorexia may repeatedly check their body weight, and many engage in other techniques to control their weight such as intense and compulsive exercise or vomiting. Girls with Anorexia often experience a delayed onset of their first menstrual period. If things get worse, it can even cause death.
The main clinical criteria for diagnosis are:
  • a bodyweight more than 15% below the standard weight, or a body mass index (BMI) below 17.5
  • weight loss is self-induced by avoidance of fattening foods, vomiting, purging, exercise, or appetite suppressants
  • a distortion of body image so that the patient regards herself as fat when she is thin
  • a morbid fear of fatness
  • amenorrhea in women.
Clinical features include:
  • onset usually in adolescence
  • a previous history of chubbiness or fatness
  • the patient generally eats little
  • amenorrhea - an early symptom; in 20% it precedes weight loss
  • binge eating
  • usually a marked lack of sexual interest
    lanugos hair.
The physical consequences of anorexia include sensitivity to cold, constipation, hypotension and bradycardia. In most cases, amenorrhea is secondary to the weight loss. Vomiting and abuse of purgatives may lead to hypocalcaemia and alkalosis.
  • Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety disorders are the most common of emotional disorders,  fill people's lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event such as a business presentation or a first date, anxiety disorders are chronic, relentless, and can grow progressively worse if not treated.
Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder
  • Worry and Apprehension
  • Psychological arousal
  • Fatigue,
  • Autonomic over activity
  • Headaches,
  • Muscle tension,
  • Muscle aches,
  • Difficulty swallowing, trembling,
  • Twitching,
  • Irritability,
  • Other features like depression, obsessions, depersonalization. 
  • Avoidant personality(APD)
Avoidant personality disorder (APD) is considered to be an active-detached personality pattern, meaning that avoidant purposefully avoid people due to fears of humiliation & rejection.
Marked social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and extremely sensitive to criticism. Avoidant personality disorder is characterized by extreme social anxiety. People with this disorder often feel inadequate, avoid social situations, and seek out jobs with little contact with others. They are fearful of being rejected and worry about embarrassing themselves in front of others. They exaggerate the potential difficulties of new situations to rationalize avoiding them. Often, they will create fantasy worlds to substitute for the real one. Unlike schizoid personality disorder, avoidant people yearn for social relations yet feel they are unable to obtain them. They are frequently depressed and have low self-confidence.
People with avoidant personality disorder may have no close relationships outside of their family circle, although they would like to, and are upset at their inability to relate well to others.
Diagnostic Criteria of Avoidant Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:
  • avoids occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact, because of fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection
  • is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked
  • shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being shamed or ridiculed
  • is preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social situations
  • is inhibited in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy
  • views self as socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others
  • is unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they may prove embarrassing
  • Akinetic Mutism
Akinetic mutism is a variety of stupor in which the patient is unable to talk or carry out purposeful behavior but may lie with eyes open, seemingly unaware of what is going on around him.
A syndrome characterized by a silent and inert state without voluntary motor activity despite preserved sensor motor pathways and vigilance. It results from bilateral damage to the orbital surface of the frontal lobes. The patient appears awake and has normal ocular movement but does not speak, is incontinent, and has minimal motor response to painful stimulation.
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is a Disruptive Behavior Disorder characterized by on-going inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity occurring in several settings and more frequently and severely than is typical for individuals in the same stage of development. Symptoms begin before age 7 years and can cause serious difficulties in home, school or work life. ADHD can be managed through behavioral or medical interventions, or a combination of the two.
Here are the general symptoms of ADHD based on the type:
  • Inattentive type symptoms
  1. Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
  2. Have difficulty focusing on one thing
  3. Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless doing something enjoyable
  4. Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new
  5. Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments,
  6. Often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
  7. Not seem to listen when spoken to
  8. Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
  9. Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
  10. Struggle to follow instructions.
  • Hyperactive type symptoms
  1. Fidget and squirm in their seats
  2. Talk nonstop
  3. Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
  4. Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time
  5. Be constantly in motion
  6. Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities.
  • Body Dysmorphic Disorder(BDD)
Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a somatoform disorder characterized by an imagined defect in appearance or excessive concern or preoccupation with a slight physical defect. The person with body dysmorphic disorder is distressed to the point where social, occupational or academic functioning is disrupted. Patients with the disorder are continually checking their appearance and occupy significant periods of their days examining themselves.
Often the person is a perfectionist, like most people with eating disorders. Nothing is good enough because the person cannot see that what they have done is absolutely fine, or that they are on the border of near death (in the case of anorexia and extreme weight loss). Low self-esteem is a trademark of those with BDD as they feel like colossal failures for their perceived physical flaws.
BDD can lead or take after other psychiatric problems as well. Depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, anxiety issues, agoraphobia, and trichotillomania (hair pulling) are all problems that commonly follow or trigger BDD.
  • Facts and Tips about Body Dysmorphic Disorder
  • Body dysmorphic disorder; also know BDD, generally comes to as dysmorphobia, tends to happen in young adults rapidly in either gender.
  • When person have BDD they look normal to others, but not to him or herself. BDD distresses the person and may social or work functioning.
  • Frequently looking in the mirror and other reflecting surfaces, comparing look with that of others, covering up some aspect of look with clothing, too much grooming, avoiding having photos taken which are most common symptoms of the BDD.
  • How to occur BDD has no exact and clear cause. Biological, psychological, and still social or cultural factors are thought to contribute.
  • To treat BDD patient take therapist helps when the patient stop doing the compulsive behaviors to check the defect or cover it up. This may include removing mirrors, covering skin areas that the patient picks, or not using make-up.
  • Risk factor in BDD many people become depressed, and some may consider suicide.
  • Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder, as its name suggests, is a condition characterized by periods of high mood in addition to the low moods that occur in the more common "unipolar" depression.
Formerly called manic-depressive illness, it is characterized by the occurrence of mania (euphoria) alternating with bouts of depression. Bipolar disorder is characterized by changes from one extreme mood to its polar opposite - for instance, from depression to the euphoric or grandiose state known as mania. The mood disturbances can be so severe that the individual loses touch with reality. He or she may feel suicidal when depressed, and when manic may engage in risky or self-destructive behavior such as spending large amounts of money, gambling compulsively, etc.
  • Binge Eating Disoder
Binge Eating is bulimia without the vomiting and other weight-reducing strategies.
People with Binge eating disorder experience frequent episodes of out-of-control eating with the same Binge-Eating symptoms as those with Bulimia. The main difference is that individuals with Binge Eating disorders do not purge their bodies of excess calories. Therefore, many with the disorder are over-weight for their age and height. It is a vicious cycle - feelings of self disgust and shame associated with this illness can lead to Bingeing again, creating a cycle of Binge eating.
Symptoms of Binge Eating disorder
  • Recurrent episodes of Binge eating, which means eating an excessive amount of food within a discreate period of time and by sense of lack of control over eating during the episode.
  • Binge Eating involves eating much more rapidly then normal, eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry, eating alone because of being embarrassed by how much one is eating and feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty after overeating.
  • The Binge Eating occurs, on average, at least 2 days a week for 6 months.
  • The Binge Eating is not associated with compensatory behaviors'.
  • Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa refers to episodes of uncontrolled excessive eating, which are also termed 'binges'. There is a preoccupation with food and a habitual adoption of certain behaviors' that can be understood as the patient's attempts to avoid the fattening effects of periodic binges. These behaviours include:
  • self-induced vomiting
  • laxative abuse
  • misuse of drugs - diuretics, thyroid extract or anorectics.
Common symptoms of Bulimia nervosa
  • Recurrent episodes of Binge-eating.
  • Compensating such periods by self induced vomiting, fasting or excessive exercise.
  • Both these behavior occur on average at least twice a week for 3 months.
  • Borderline Personality(BPD)
The symptoms of borderline personality disorder include: a recurring pattern of instability in relationships, efforts to avoid abandonment, identity disturbance, impulsivity, emotional instability, and chronic feelings of emptiness, among other symptoms.
The main feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image and emotions. People with borderline personality disorder are also usually very impulsive, oftentimes demonstrating self-injurious behaviors (risky sexual behaviors, cutting, suicide attempts).
A person with this disorder will also often exhibit impulsive behaviors and have a majority of the following symptoms:
  • Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
  • A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation
  • Identity disturbance, such as a significant and persistent unstable self-image or sense of self
  • Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating)
  • Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior
  • Emotional instability due to significant reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)
  • Chronic feelings of emptiness
  • Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)
  • Transient, stress-related paranoid thoughts or severe dissociative symptoms
  • Conduct Disorder(CD)
Conduct disorder (CD) is a behavioral and emotional disorder of childhood and adolescence. Children with conduct disorder act inappropriately, infringe on the rights of others, and violate the behavioral expectations of others.
  • often bullies, threatens, or intimidates others
  • often initiates physical fights
  • has used a weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others (e.g., a bat, brick, broken bottle, knife, gun)
  • has been physically cruel to people
  • has been physically cruel to animals
  • has stolen while confronting a victim (e.g., mugging, purse snatching, extortion, armed robbery)
  • has forced someone into sexual activity
  • Destruction of property
  • has deliberately engaged in fire setting with the intention of causing serious damage
  • has deliberately destroyed others' property (other than by fire setting)
  • Deceitfulness or theft
  • has broken into someone else's house, building, or car
  • often lies to obtain goods or favors or to avoid obligations (i.e., "cons" others)
  • has stolen items of nontrivial value without confronting a victim (e.g., shoplifting, but without breaking and entering; forgery)
  • Serious violations of rules
  • often stays out at night despite parental prohibitions, beginning before age 13 years
  • has run away from home overnight at least twice while living in parental or parental surrogate home (or once without returning for a lengthy period)
  • is often truant from school, beginning before age 13 years
  • Compulsive eating Disorders
People suffering with Compulsive Overeating have what is characterized as an "addiction" to food, using food and eating as a way to hide from their emotions, to fill a void they feel inside, and to cope with daily stresses and problems in their lives.
Compulsive overeating generally has a gradual beginning, often starting in early childhood when eating patterns are formed. It usually starts very subtly, when a child turns to food whenever they were upset. Over time, you learn that food in fact will soothe the upset feelings.
Compulsive eaters feel incapable of controlling how much or how often they eat. They may feel unable to stop eating, eat very fast, eat when they're not hungry, eat when they're only alone, or eat nearly non-stop throughout the day.
  • Cyclothomic Disorder
Cyclothymia is a milder form of manic depression, characterized by hypomania (a mild form of mania) alternating with mild bouts of depression. Cyclothymia is a mood disorder in which the patient displays the characteristic ups and downs (depressions and euphorias) of Bipolar Disorder, to a much lower extent, to the point of not qualifying for a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder.
For cyclothymia to be diagnosed, hypomanic symptoms and depressive symptoms must be present alternately for at least two years. Mood swings seem to occur frequently in people with cyclothymia the switch from depression to hypomania and back again may occur every few days or weeks  even every few hours in extreme cases! Mood swings are consistent; a person with cyclothymia is never symptom-free for longer than two months.
  • Depression
A depressive disorder is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression.
Severity of Depression symptoms varies with individuals and also varies over time. Some of them may be as follows:
  • Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism.
  • You feel that life has/is 'passing you by'.
  • You don't want to see people or are scared to be left alone. Social activity may feel hard or impossible.
  • Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness.
  • Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood.
  • You feel exhausted a lot of the time with no energy.
  • You feel as if even the smallest tasks are sometimes impossible.
  • You spend a lot of time thinking about what has gone wrong, what will go wrong or what is wrong about yourself as a person. You may also feel guilty sometimes about being critical of others (or even thinking critically about them).
  • Loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities.
  • You feel a burden to others.
  • You sometimes feel that life isn't worth living.
  • You feel you have no confidence.
  • You have difficulty sleeping or wake up very early in the morning and can't sleep again.
Physical Symptoms of Depression include:
  • Changes in weight - either significant loss or gain in weight.
  • Restlessness, fatigue.
  • Physical aches and pains, sometimes with the fear that you are seriously ill.
  • Dependent personality Disorder
  • Dependent personality disorder is a chronic condition involving over-reliance on others to meet emotional and physical needs. Dependent Personality Disorder is manifested via passively allowing others to assume responsibility for major areas of ones life due to lack of self-confidence or lack of ability to function independently.
  • Symptoms of Dependent Personality Disorder
  • People with this disorder do not trust their own ability to make decisions. They may be devastated by separation and loss and may go to great lengths, even suffering abuse, to stay in a relationship.
  • has difficulty making everyday decisions without an excessive amount of advice and reassurance from others
  • needs others to assume responsibility for most major areas of his or her life
  • has difficulty expressing disagreement with others because of fear of loss of support or approval.
  • has difficulty initiating projects or doing things on his or her own (because of a lack of self-confidence in judgment or abilities rather than a lack of motivation or energy)
  • goes to excessive lengths to obtain nurturance and support from others, to the point of volunteering to do things that are unpleasant
  • feels uncomfortable or helpless when alone because of exaggerated fears of being unable to care for himself or herself
  • urgently seeks another relationship as a source of care and support when a close relationship ends
  • is unrealistically preoccupied with fears of being left to take care of himself or herself
  • Dementia
Dementia is an acquired global impairment of intellect, memory and personality, but without impairment of consciousness. There is often an associated deterioration in emotional control, social behaviour and motivation. Dementia is used both to refer to the primary dementing illness, such as Alzheimer's disease, as well as the process itself, which may be secondary to some other disease (e.g. hypothyroidism). Presenile dementia is the term used for patients under 65 years of age and senile dementia for older patients. However, there is no clinical difference.
  • Disorganised Schizophrenia
Disorganized schizophrenia is a type of Schizophrenia characterized by disinhibited, agitated, and purposeless behavior.
Alternative Names: Hebephrenic schizophrenia; Disorganized schizophrenia
Symptoms of Disorganized schizophrenia
  • Delusions (false, fixed beliefs) and hallucinations (sensory perceptions without a source) are common in disorganized schizophrenia. Emotional responses of people with this condition are often bizarre and inappropriate. Lack of emotion and motivation, as well as the inability to feel pleasure, may occur with this condition.
  • Some of these symptoms are also seen in other types of schizophrenia. The characteristic distinction is erratic behavior, with ungrammatical or random-ordered speech. Patients with disorganized schizophrenia are usually active but in an aimless, non constructive manner. Inappropriate grinning and grimacing are common. Behavior is sometimes described as silly or fatuous.
  • Dissociative Amnesia
The essential feature of Dissociative amnesia is an inability to recall important personal memories, usually of a stressful nature, that are too extensive to be explained by normal forgetfulness. As well as occurring alone, amnesia may occur during the course of other dissociative disorders and in post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, and in somatization disorder. The diagnosis is only made when these other conditions are not present.
  • Depersonalization Disorder
Depersonalization disorder is characterized by an unpleasant state of disturbed perception in which external objects or parts of the body are experienced as changed in their quality, unreal, remote, or automatized. The patient is aware of the subjective nature of this experience. The symptom of depersonalization is quite common as a minor feature of other syndromes, but depersonalization disorder is quite rare.
Depersonalization Disorder is where a person "looks at themselves from the outside", and observes their own physical actions or mental processes as if they were an observer instead of themselves. This often brings a sense of unreality, and an alteration in the perception of the environment around them, as well as the person fearing they are not in full control of themselves.
They feel separated from themselves or outside their own bodies. People with this disorder feel like they are "going crazy" and they frequently become anxious and depressed.
An episode of depersonalization disorder can be as brief as a few seconds or continue for several years.
Depersonalization is the third most common psychiatric symptom and frequently occurs in life-threatening danger, such as accidents, assaults, and serious illnesses and injuries; it can occur as a symptom in many other psychiatric disorders and in seizure disorders
  • Dissociative Identity Disorder
In Dissociative identity disorder there are sudden alternations between two patterns of behavior, each of which is forgotten by the patient when the other- is present. Each pattern of behavior is a complex and integrated scheme of emotional responses; attitudes, memories, and social behavior, and the behavior usually contrasts strikingly with the patient's normal state. In some cases there is more than one additional behavior pattern or 'personality'.
Dissociative Identity Disorder is serious and chronic and may lead to disability and incapacity. It is associated with a high incidence of suicide attempts and is believed to be more likely to end in suicide than any other mental disorder.
  • Dysthimic Disorder
Dysthymia is a more mild depressive illness that lasts intermittently for 2 years or more and is characterized by tiredness and low mood, lack of pleasure, low self-esteem, and a feeling of discouragement. The mood relapses and remits, with several weeks of feeling well, soon followed by longer periods of being unwell. It can be punctuated by depressive episodes of more severity; so-called 'double depression'.
What are the symptoms of dysthymic disorder?
Symptom may vary from person to person. If an individual faces any of the following signs of depression for more than 2-3 weeks, he or she may be depressed.
  • Low energy,
  • sleep disturbances,
  • appetite disturbances,
  • Irritable or angered easily,
  • low self-esteem are usually part of the clinical picture as well.
  • Inability to concentrate,
  • Feelings of worthlessness,
  • sad mood
  • Dyssomnia
Dyssomnia covers a range of specific sleep disorders, the Inability to Sleep, Insomnia, Sleeplessness, Wakefulness. Chronic and persistent difficulty in either; falling asleep, remaining asleep through the night, or waking up too early. All types of insomnia can lead to daytime drowsiness, poor concentration, and the inability to feel refreshed and rested in the morning.Dyssomnias are disorders of the amount, quality, or timing of sleep.
  • Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected despite having normal intelligence. Although the disorder varies from person to person, common characteristics among people with dyslexia are difficulty with phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds) and/or rapid visual-verbal responding.
  • Eating Disorders
  • Eating disorders are not due to a failure of will or behavior.
  • Eating disorder frequently develops during adolescence and early adulthood, but some reports indicate their onset can occur during childhood or later.
  • Eating disorders can be accompanied by depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders.
  • There can be health complications including heart conditions and kiney failures which may lead to death.
  • Girls are much more likely than guys to develop an eating disorder.
List of Eating Disorders
1-Anorexia Nervosa
2-Bulimia Nervosa
3-Binge Eating  Disorder
4- Chilhood Eating Disorder
5-Compulsive Eating Disorder
6-Obesity
  • Factitious Disorder
Patients with Factitious Disorders knowingly fake symptoms, but do so for psychological reasons not for monetary or other discrete objectives as in the case of Malingering. They usually prefer the sick role and may move from hospital to hospital in order to receive care. They are usually loners with an early childhood background of trauma and deprivation. They are unable to establish close interpersonal relationships and generally have severe personality disorders.
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD)
Generalized anxiety disorder is a common condition that some people can suffer from. It is a condition where a person can begin to feel anxiety at varying times. The big thing about this is that the anxiety in question will be for absolutely nothing at all. A person will not be able to stop worrying about different types of things in one’s life even if one is secure in certain things. There is always the worry that a person will deal with failure at some point in time.
What are the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
Patients with generalized anxiety disorder experience worry or anxiety and a number of physical and psychological symptoms. The disorder is frequently difficult to diagnose because of the variety of presentations and the common occurrence of co morbid medical or psychiatric conditions. The essential characteristic of Generalized Anxiety Disorder is excessive uncontrollable worry about everyday things. This constant worry affects daily functioning and can cause physical symptoms.
  • Symptoms of GAD - Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  • Worry and Apprehension
  • Psychological arousal
  • Fatigue,
  • Autonomic over activity
  • Headaches,
  • Muscle tension,
  • Muscle aches,
  • Difficulty swallowing, trembling,
  • Twitching,
  • Irritability,
  • Other features like depression, obsessions, depersonalization.
  • Sweating,
  • Hot flashes,
  • People with GAD may feel lightheaded or out of breath.
  • They also may feel nauseated or have to go to the bathroom frequently.
  • Individuals with GAD seem unable to relax,
  • They may startle more easily than other people.
  • They tend to have difficulty concentrating, too.
  • Often, they have trouble falling or staying asleep.
  • Unrealistic views can be common
  • A person may begin to experience unrealistic opinions about what one is going through. This includes thinking that failure is always going to be around the corner and that it cannot be stopped.
  • Excessive and uncontrollable worry, tension and anxiety are the characteristic of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
  • The things which are responsible for generalized anxiety disorder are daily routine problems such as health, money, family, friend and future problems or difficulties at work.
  • Physical effect of GAD is tiredness, headaches, vomiting, muscle tension or aches, twitching, irritability, sweating, sleeping problems, difficult to relax, concentration problems.
  • Hebephrenic Schizophrenia
The prominent symptoms  of Hebephrenic type Schizophrenia:
Emotional shallowness, tendency to childish silliness, bizarre delusion, hallucination, jumbled speech and gross disintegration of the personality
  • Histrionic (hysterical) personality:
Histrionic personality disorder involves a pattern of excessive emotional expression and attention seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriate seductiveness. It usually begins in early adulthood.
People with histrionic personality disorder are constant attention seekers. They need to be the center of attention all the time, often interrupting others in order to dominate the conversation. They use grandiose language to describe everyday events and seek constant praise. They may dress provocatively or exaggerate illnesses in order to gain attention. They also tend to exaggerate friendships and relationships, believing that everyone loves them. They are often manipulative.
Exaggerated and often inappropriate displays of emotional reactions, approaching theatricality, in everyday behavior. Sudden and rapidly shifting emotion expressions.
  • List of Learning Disorders
Learning disabilities are disorders that affect the ability to understand or use spoken or written language, do mathematical calculations, coordinate movements, or direct attention. Although learning disabilities occur in very young children, the disorders are usually not recognized until the child reaches school age. Learning Disorders occur in three major categories: reading, mathematics, and written expression.
  • Attention Deficit Disorder(ADD)
An attention deficit disorder (ADD) is a weakness in the brain's ability to focus on important sensory information. ADD school can impact a student's ability to processes information from a teacher's words, music, video, and written text. An attention deficit may also affect the brain's ability to filter out information that is not important. People with ADD cannot tune out.
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is a Disruptive Behavior Disorder characterized by on-going inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity occurring in several settings and more frequently and severely than is typical for individuals in the same stage of development distractions that others may barely notice.
  • The Difference Between ADD and ADHD
People with the symptoms of ADD who also have hyperactivity are described as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While people with ADD who do not have hyperactivity may appear dreamy or "off in another world," people with ADHD are likely to have difficulty in sitting still, and may need to move or pace simply to pay attention. They may also be more likely to engage in risky activities such as unprotected sex and drug use. Because people with ADHD are more likely to display overt symptoms (and are often considered to be "troublemakers"), they are also more likely to be identified with and treated for the disorder.
  • Dyscalculia

A mathematical disability in which a person has unusual difficulty solving

  • Dyslexia

is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read

  • Dysgraphia:

a neurological-based writing disability in which a person finds it hard to form letters or write within a defined space.

  • Landau Kleffner Syndrome

In this disorder, a child whose language has so far developed normally loses both receptive and expressive language but retains general intelligence. There are associated EEG abnormalities, nearly always bilateral and temporal, and often with more widespread disturbances. Most of the affected children develop seizures either before or after the change in expressive language. The disorder starts usually between 3 and 9 years of age. In most cases the loss of language occurs over several months but it may be more .rapid. In the early stages the severity of the impairment may fluctuate.

  • Munchausen's Syndrome

Munchausen's Syndrome is the condition we name when a person makes himself ill purposely often to get the attention and friendship of medical personnel.

Munchausen Syndrome is an attention-seeking personality disorder which is more common than statistics suggest. Munchausen Syndrome is a disorder in which an emotionally immature person with narcissistic tendencies, low self-esteem and a fragile ego has an overwhelming need to draw attention to herself and to be the centre of attention.In the more severe form of Factitious Disorder known as Munchausen syndrome, a series of successive hospitalizations becomes a lifelong pattern.

  • Malingering

Malingering is the intentional faking of physical or psychological illness or symptoms in order. These symptoms are faked in order for some reason, such as gaining medication, getting disability payments, or missing work.

Malingering can be manifested in several ways:

  • A medical condition is fabricated. When this occurs, the patient claims to have a series of non-existent problems.
  • A medical condition or injury that resulted from the incident is exaggerated for financial gain. Examples include months of chiropractic treatment for low back pain, or physical therapy without improvement. This is not to be confused with those patients who have legitimate serious injuries that fail to respond to conservative treatment.
  • The accident is staged so that the injury is deliberately caused. Malingerers are usually not willing to produce disease in themselves or undergo extensive painful diagnostic testing, treatment or surgery.
  • There is a marked discrepancy between the person's claimed symptoms and the medical or psychiatric findings.
  • Displays a lack of cooperation during the physician's evaluation and noncompliance with treatment.
  • Antisocial or Borderline Personality.
  • Claims to have preposterous symptoms. The individual may consciously and intentionally fake poor responses on neuropsychological tests.
  • Narcissistic personality disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by self-centeredness. Like histrionic disorder, people with this disorder seek attention and praise. They exaggerate their achievements, expecting others to recognize them as being superior. They tend to be choosy about picking friends, since they believe that not just anyone is worthy of being their friend. They tend to make good first impressions, yet have difficulty maintaining long-lasting relationships. They are generally uninterested in the feelings of others and may take advantage of them.

Facts about Narcissistic personality disorder:

  • Behavior or a fantasy of grandiosity, a lack of empathy, a need to be admired by others, an inability to see the viewpoints of others, and hypersensitive to the opinions of others.
  • People with narcissistic personality have an exaggerated sense of self-importance, are absorbed by fantasies of unlimited success, and seek constant attention. The narcissistic personality is oversensitive to failure and often complains of multiple somatic symptoms.
  • Prone to extreme mood swings between self-admiration and insecurity, these people tend to exploit interpersonal relationships.
  • is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
  • believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
  • requires excessive admiration
  • has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
  • is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
  • lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
  • is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
  • shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
  • Neurasthenia

Neurasthenia is a mental disorder triggered by stress or anxiety. Symptoms may include

  • weakness or fatigue, which may be accompanied by chest pain
  • rapid intense heartbeat that may be irregular (palpitations, tachycardia)
  • cold, clammy hands and feet
  • abnormally rapid breathing (hyperventilating)
  • dizziness or faintness
  • periodic sighing
  • sweating for no apparent reason
  • Be restless fidgeting.
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD is a type of anxiety that happens when there is a problem with the way the brain deals with normal worrying and doubts. Kids with OCD worry a lot . And they feel afraid about bad things that could possibly happen.

The word obsession refers to a recurrent idea, thought, impulse, or image that's intrusive and inappropriate, causing marked anxiety or distress. A compulsion is a ritualistic, repetitive, and involuntary defensive behavior or action. Performing a compulsive behavior reduces the patient's anxiety and increases the probability that the behavior will recur. Compulsions are commonly associated with obsessions.

  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

ODD is usually diagnosed when a child has a persistent or consistent pattern of disobedience and hostility toward parents, teachers, or other adults. The primary behavioral difficulty is the consistent pattern of refusing to follow commands or requests by adults. Children with ODD are often easily annoyed; they repeatedly lose their temper, argue with adults, refuse to comply with rules and directions, and blame others for their mistakes. Stubbornness and testing limits are common, even in early childhood

  • Obesity

Obesity is the commonest eating disorder, which has become epidemic in some developed countries. It is usually caused by a combination of constitutional and social factors, but binge eating disorder and psychological determinants of 'comfort eating' should be excluded.

Facts and Tips about Obesity:

  • Obesity is a state of having extreme body fats. It is long term disorder and reduces life span.
  • Obesity is estimated by body mass index (BMI). If person having BMI greater than 30 then that person is considered as obese.
  • Obesity may invite other diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, insulin resistance, osteoarthritis, metabolic syndrome, thrombosis, liver and gallbladder disease, cancer and gynecological problems.
  • Genetic, overeating, eating high-fat foods, slow metabolism, physically inactive, psycological factors, medicines and specific diseases may cause obesity.
  • Physical exercise, dieting, herbal fen/phen, surgery, anti-obesity drugs, behavior changes are useful in treatment of obesity.
  • Pain Disorder

Pain Disorder (like conversion disorder) is a form of somatoform disorder.

A disorder in which pain in one or more anatomic sites is exclusively or predominantly caused by psychologic factors, is the main focus of the patient's attention, and results in significant distress and dysfunction.

Pain Disorder is a somatoform disorder in which the predominant area of focus is painful bodily complaints in which psychological factors are determined to be central to the onset, severity, exacerbation or maintenance of the complaint.

Symptoms of Somatoform Pain Disorder

Pain associated with psychologic factors is common in many psychiatric conditions, especially mood and anxiety disorders, but in pain disorder, pain is the predominant complaint. Any part of the body may be affected, but the back, head, abdomen, and chest are probably the most common.

The primary symptom of pain disorder is chronic pain for several months that limits a person's social, occupational, or recreational abilities.

  • Panic disorder

Panic disorder represents anxiety in its most severe form. It's an anxiety disorder characterized by unexpected and recurrent episodes of intense apprehension, terror, and impending doom, usually accompanied by physical symptoms that mimic a heart attack or other serious medical condition.

As the attacks become more frequent, the person commonly develops agoraphobia, also known as phobic avoidance the avoidance of those situations, places, or tasks that trigger the attacks, rendering the person unable to leave a known safe surrounding such as her home because of intense fear and anxiety. Panic disorder may also coexist with other disorders, such as depression and substance abuse.

Panic disorder is characterized by periodic attacks of anxiety or terror ( panic attacks ). They usually last 15 to 30 minutes, although residual effects can persist much longer. The frequency and severity of acute states of anxiety determine the diagnosis. (It should be noted that panic attacks can occur in nearly every anxiety disorder, not just panic disorder. In other anxiety disorders, however, there is always a cue or specific trigger for the attack.)

Signs and symptoms of Panic attacks

The patient with panic disorder typically complains of repeated episodes of unexpected apprehension, fear or, in rare cases, intense discomfort. These panic attacks may last for minutes or hours and leave the patient shaken, fearful, and exhausted. They may occur several times per week sometimes even daily. Because the attacks may initially occur spontaneously without exposure to a known anxiety-producing situation, place, or task, the patient generally worries between attacks about when the next episode will occur.

Physical examination of the patient during a panic attack may reveal signs of intense anxiety, such as hyperventilation, tachycardia, palpitations, dizziness, trembling and profuse sweating. She may also complain of difficulty breathing, digestive disturbances, and chest pain.

  • Phobic Disorder

A phobia is an abnormal fear and avoidance of an everyday object or situation. Phobias are common (8% prevalence), disabling, and treatable with behavior therapy.

Phobias are common conditions in which intense fear is triggered by a single stimulus, or set of stimuli, that are predictable and normally cause no particular concern to others (e.g. agoraphobia, claustrophobia, social phobia). This leads to avoidance of the stimulus. The patient knows that the fear is irrational, but cannot control it. The prevalence of all phobias is 8%, with many patients having more than one. Many phobias of 'medical' stimuli exist (e.g. of doctors, dentists, hospitals, vomit, blood and injections) which affect the patient's ability to receive adequate healthcare.

Phobic anxiety disorders have the same core symptoms as generalized anxiety disorder, but these symptoms occur only in particular circumstances. In some phobic disorders , these circumstances are few and the patient is free from anxiety for most of the time.

Persons who have a phobia avoid such situations or stimuli or endure them only with great distress. But they retain insight and recognize the excessiveness of their anxiety.

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arises as a delayed and/or protracted response to a stressful event or situation of an exceptionally threatening nature, likely to cause pervasive distress in almost anyone. Causes include natural or human disasters, war, serious accidents, witnessing the violent death of others, being the victim of sexual abuse, rape, torture, terrorism or hostage-taking. Predisposing factors such as personality, previously unresolved traumas, or a history of psychiatric illness may prolong the course of the syndrome. These factors are neither necessary nor sufficient to explain its occurrence, which is most related to the intensity of the trauma, the proximity of the patient to the traumatic event, and how prolonged or repeated it was.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder which deals with stress and fear after the danger situation is over.

  • PTSD can affect to anyone. It may even occur in children and women are mostly affected than men.
  • PTSD is occur because of seeing a dangerous incident, war, military battle, natural tragedy, accidents, serious physical harm, death of loved one, sexual abuse or fire.
  • PTSD shows symptoms like loneliness, anger, sleeping disturbance, feeling worried, guilty, numb or sad, flashbacks and nightmares, substance abuse or hyper vigilance.
  • PTSD may occur after a delay of weeks, or even months. It become worse if untreated, occur early or stressful situation remain continue.
  • Post partum Depression

As the name implies, Postpartum Depression or postnatal depression occurs up to six weeks after a women has given birth. She becomes unduly tired, has sleep difficulties, is filled with despair, lacks confidence, and loses her self-esteem. Mild moodiness and "blues" are very common after having a baby, but when symptoms are more than mild or last more than a few days, help should be sought. Post part depression can be extremely serious for both mother and baby.

Information on Postpartum/Postnatal Depression

Many new mothers feel sad, afraid, angry, or nervous after their baby is born. These feelings, called postpartum or "baby" blues, are very common. Don't feel guilty about feeling sad or worried after your baby is born. These are normal feelings. It is normal to have mixed feelings about motherhood as your body adjusts to the changes that follow childbirth.

When depressed, you may not be able to care for your baby or yourself. Severe depression usually goes away with treatment. But without treatment, it can get worse and may lead to thoughts of hurting yourself or your baby.

The severity of the depression can range from very mild and almost non-existent, to very severe and long-term and tends to be most common after the first pregnancy.

Causes of postpartum depression:

Postpartum depression may be caused by several reasons, these includes:

  • hormone changes in your blood that occur following childbirth.
  • Stress,
  • lack of sleep,
  • poor diet, or not enough help may cause depression.
  • family factors are also important, including the relationship a mother has with the child's father, and the support she receives from other people.
  • Women who have mental health problems before childbirth are more likely to feel depressed after having a baby.
  • Postpartum psychosis

Postpartum psychosis is a severe but extremely rare disorder that can develop in the postpartum period. This illness is characterized by a loss of contact with reality for extended periods of time.

Presenting symptoms include severe insomnia, agitation and restlessness, hallucinations, paranoia and delusions focused on the baby. Homicidal and suicidal thought are not uncommon.

This rare form of postpartum depression is more likely to occur in women who have bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or if a family member has experienced these diseases. The good news is that the illness frequently responds quickly to treatment.

  • Parasomnias

The Parasomnias are disorders that intrude into the sleep process and create disruptive sleep-related events. These behaviors and experiences occur usually while sleeping, and are most often infrequent and mild. They may happen often enough or become so bothersome that medical attention is required. Parasomnia, which means "around sleep," also includes sleepwalking, night terrors, bedwetting, and narcolepsy. All can create havoc in your home, and some can be harmful to your child. Keep reading to know about the three categories of parasomnia (rhythmic, paroxysmal, and static disorders) and to find out how you can help your child.

  • Paranoid Schizophrenia

These people are suspicious, sensitive, egocentric, whose life revolves about the theme of persecution. They imagine that people are against them and device ways to maltreat or plot against them. At first their delusions of persecution are limited and fairly well systematized and their attitude toward the world is one of emotional aggressiveness. Later their delusions become numerous, incoherent, and absurd and their aggressiveness subsides.

In this type of schizophrenia driven paranoid behavior, there are very extreme paranoid thoughts. In this level of illness, one can hear some voices, which can cause further distress by making mockery and threatening. You have a strong feeling of grandeur and can think that you are an important person, and hence you are baited and targeted.

  • Paranoid Personality

Paranoid personality disorder is a psychiatric condition characaterized by extreme distrust, sensitive and suspicion of others. They have a marked sense of self-importance, but easily feel shame and humiliation.

  • Paranoid personality disorder is characterized by a distrust of others and a constant suspicion that people around you have sinister motives. People with this disorder tend to have excessive trust in their own knowledge and abilities and usually avoid close relationships with others. They search for hidden meanings in everything and read hostile intentions into the actions of others. They are quick to challenge the loyalties of friends and loved ones and often appear cold and distant to others. They usually shift blame to others and tend to carry long grudges.
  • A pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:
    • suspects, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him or her
    • is preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends or associates
    • is reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against him or her
    • reads hidden demeaning or threatening meanings into benign remarks or events
    • persistently bears grudges, i.e., is unforgiving of insults, injuries, or slights
    • perceives attacks on his or her character or reputation that are not apparent to others and is quick to react angrily or to counterattack
    • has recurrent suspicions, without justification, regarding fidelity of spouse or sexual partner
  • Passive-aggressive (negativistic) personality

Passive aggressive disorder is applied to a person who, when demands are made upon him for adequate performance, responds with some form of passive resistance, such as procrastinate, dawdling, stubbornness, deliberate inefficiency, pretended forgetfulness and unreasonable criticism of people in authority.

Passive aggressive personality disorder is a chronic condition in which a person seems to acquiesce to the desires and needs of others, but actually passively resists them and becomes increasingly hostile and angry.

  • Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder or PMDD is a condition associated with severe emotional and physical problems that are linked closely to the menstrual cycle. The symptoms of PMDD start seven to 14 days before menstruation, and they resolve a few days after menstruation starts. Patients with severe PMDD are at risk for developing postpartum depression.

The impact PMDD has on a woman's life and the life of those around her is not trivial, and should be taken more seriously by our society.

  • Psychastenia

Psychasthenia includes obsessive compulsive reactions and phobia. The two classes of symptoms have independent origin and are best considered separately obsessive.

Compulsive symptoms refer to irritable and persistent urges to do say, or think about certain things, uncontrolled impulses to touch objects, repeat words, count steps and engage in repetitive movements are some illustrations.

Phobias are abnormal fears, which are appropriate reactions to dangerous situations or objects. Phobias are unreasonable or groundless fears. People who have an exaggerated fear of germs or who are terrified of harmless things such as open places, closed places, crowds, are suffering from phobias.

Facts and Tips about Psychasthenia

  • Psychasthenia is an emotional or mental disorder described by irrational fear, fascination, and obligation.
  • In this type of disorder there is no control on thinking or thoughts.
  • Tianeptine drug is an antidepressant which is helpful to control depression and fear.
  • Drink orange and lemon juice to prevent excessive loss of water due to sweating.
  • Do not watch horror movies and do not think about bad experiences in the past.
  • Talk freely with your friends or family members about your problem regarding to your disorder.
  • Psychosomatic or Somatoform disorders

Psychosomatic or Somatoform disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders found in general practice.

It is a condition of dysfunction or structural damage in bodily organs through inappropriate activation of the involuntary nervous system and the glands of internal secretion.

Psychosomatic disorder is mainly used to mean a physical disease which is thought to be caused, or made worse, by mental factors. Some physical diseases are thought to be particularly prone to be made worse by mental factors such as stress and anxiety.

  • Retts Syndrome

Rett syndrome is a progressive neurological disorder in which individuals exhibit reduced muscle tone, autistic-like behavior, hand movements consisting mainly of wringing and waving, loss of purposeful use of the hands, diminished ability to express feelings, avoidance of eye contact, a lag in brain and head growth, gait abnormalities, and seizures.

Autopsies on the brains of these individuals indicate a pathology different than autism, however, children afflicted with Rett Syndrome often exhibit autistic-like behaviors, such as repetitive hand movements, prolonged to walking, body rocking, and sleep problems.

  • Reactive Attachment Disorder

This term denotes a syndrome starring before the age of 5 years and associated with grossly abnormal care-giving. There are two subtypes: inhibited and disinhibited. Children in the first subgroup may show a combination of behavioral inhibition, vigilance, and fearfulness, which is sometimes called frozen watchfulness. These children are miserable, difficult to console, and sometimes aggressive. Some fail to thrive. Such behavior is seen among children who have been abused. Children with the disinhibited subtype of the disorder relate indiscriminately to people, irrespective of their closeness, and are excessively familiar with strangers. Such behavior has been described most clearly in children raised in institutions.

  • Seasonal Affective Disorder

SAD is a mood disorder associated with depression episodes and related to seasonal variations of light.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) tends to affect most people throughout their life and some of us probably don't even know it. Some have given the name "the Holiday Blues" to what we now call SAD, or Winter Depression.

Some patients repeatedly develop a depressive disorder at the same time of year, usually the autumn or winter. In some cases the timing reflects extra demands placed on the person at a particular season of the year, either in his work or in other aspects of his life. In other cases there is no such cause and it has been suggested that seasonal affective disorder is related in some way to the changes in the seasons, eg, to the length of daylight. Although these seasonal affective disorder are characterized mainly by the time at which they occur, some symptoms are said to occur more often than in other mood disorders.

  • Sleep Disorder

Few of the typical symptom checker for sleep related disorders are as follows:

  • You feel you did not slept well when you wake up in the morning – happening almost more than 3 times a week
  • Does bedtime a time of becoming nervous for you?
  • Do you get up every night to urinate more than 3 times?
  • You are suffering from nightmares and it disturbs you a lot.
  • Are you a night lounger who just cannot sleep and then cannot get up in the morning?
  • Do you have some traumatic life experience which has impacted your sleep pattern lately?
  • Does your snoring affects others and you hear complaints about that?
  • You constantly have headache in the morning when you wake up
  • Separation Anxiety Disorder

Separation Anxiety Disorder is a disorder that affects children who are afraid to be separated from the main caretakers in their lives, even to go to a friend's house or school. When separated, they are constantly afraid that something horrible will happen to either themselves or to their primary caretaker (they or the caretaker will die, for instance).

Symptoms of Separation Anxiety Disorder

  • persistently and excessively fearful or reluctant to be alone or without major attachment figures at home or without significant adults in other settings
  • persistent reluctance or refusal to go to school or elsewhere because of fear of separation
  • recurrent excessive distress when separation from home or major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated
  • repeated complaints of physical symptoms (such as headaches, stomachaches, nausea, or vomiting) when separation from major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated
  • persistent and excessive worry about losing, or about possible harm befalling, major attachment figures
  • persistent and excessive worry that an untoward event will lead to separation from a major attachment figure (e.g., getting lost or being kidnapped)
  • persistent reluctance or refusal to go to sleep without being near a near a major attachment figure or to sleep away from home
  • repeated nightmares involving the theme of separation
  • Social Anxiety Disorder

Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. Social phobia can be limited to only one type of situation - such as a fear of speaking in formal or informal situations, or eating or drinking in front of others - or, in its most severe form, may be so broad that a person experiences symptoms almost anytime they are around other people.

What are the Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder?

Many people with social anxiety disorder feel that there is "something wrong," but don't recognize their feeling as a sign of illness. Symptoms of social anxiety disorder include:

  • Intense anxiety in social situations
  • Avoidance of social situations
  • Physical symptoms of anxiety, including confusion, pounding heart, sweating, shaking, blushing, muscle tension, upset stomach and diarrhea

Children with this disorder may express their anxiety by crying, clinging to a parent or throwing a tantrum.

  • Social phobia

Social phobia is an intense fear of becoming humiliated in social situations, specifically of embarrassing yourself in front of other people. It often runs in families and may be accompanied by depression or alcoholism. Social phobia often begins around early adolescence or even younger."

This is the fear and avoidance of social situations: crowds, strangers, parties and meetings. Public speaking would be the sufferer's worst nightmare. Fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations.

  • Somatization disorder

Somatization disorder is a chronic condition in which there are numerous physical complaints - lasting for years and resulting in substantial impairment - that are caused by psychological problems and for which no underlying physical problem can be identified.

Symptoms of Somatization Disorder

  • Abdominal pain
  • Nausea
  • Bloating
  • Diarrhea
  • Pain in the legs or arms
  • Back pain
  • Joint pain
  • Pain during urination
  • Headaches
  • Shortness of breath
  • Palpitations
  • Chest pain
  • Dizziness
  • Amnesia
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Vision changes
  • Paralysis or muscle weakness
  • Sexual apathy
  • Pain during intercourse
  • Impotence
  • Painful menstruation
  • Irregular menstruation
  • Excessive menstrual bleeding
  • Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness in which there is a disintegration of the process of thinking, of contact with reality, and of emotional responsiveness. It consists of auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, and disorganized speech and thinking with significant social or occupational dysfunction. Schizophrenics are the people suffering from Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is often associated with dopamine imbalances in the brain and has an underlying genetic cause.

There are at least six problems that persist while evaluating of any hypothesis about schizophrenia:

  • It may not be a single entity, but rather a number of different conditions.
  • It is characterized by variability. In whatever is studied, the pluses and minuses may cancel each other out, leaving average characteristic of schizophrenics as a group, but to individuals.
  • There may be significant differences between acute and chronic forms of the disorder.
  • Schizophreniform

Schizophreniform disorder is characterized by the presence of the criterion A symptoms of schizophrenia, including delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized or catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms. The disorder, including its prodromal, active, and residual phases, lasts longer than 1 month but less than 6 months.

  • Schizoaffective Disorder

Schizoaffective disorder includes elements of both psychosis and mood disorder. Psychotic symptoms mean a loss of contact with reality, and may include hallucinations (hearing voices or seeing things that are not present), and delusions (false, fixed beliefs). Symptoms of mood disorder include very low or very high mood with sleep disturbances, changes in energy and appetite, disrupted concentration, and generally poor daily function. Schizoaffective illness features a close interconnection between these 2 sets of symptoms.

  • Schizoid personality disorder

Schizoid personality disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by a lifelong pattern of indifference to others and social isolation.

People with schizoid personality disorder avoid relationships and do not show much emotion. They genuinely prefer to be alone and do not secretly wish for popularity. They tend to seek jobs that require little social contact. Their social skills are often weak and they do not show a need for attention or acceptance. They are perceived as humorless and distant and often are termed "loners."

A pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:

  • neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family
  • almost always chooses solitary activities
  • has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences with another person
  • takes pleasure in few, if any, activities
  • lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives
  • appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others
  • shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity
  • Sexual Disorders

Sexual disorders include problems of sexual identity, sexual performance, and sexual aim. There are three major catergories of sexual disorders: sexual dysfunctions, paraphilia , and gender identity disorder.

 

Sexual dysfunctions prevent or reduce an individual's enjoyment of normal sex and prevent or reduce the normal physiological changes brought on normally by sexual arousal. These dysfunctions can be classified by the phase of the sexual cycle in which they occur. It is important to keep in mind that the diagnosis of sexual dysfunction is made only when the disability persists. Any of them could occur occasionally or be caused by a temporary factor such as fatigue, sickness, alcohol, or drugs.

  • The desire phase

There are two types of dysfunctions that can occur during the desire phase. One is hypoactive desire, which is basically a disinterest in sexual activity. It results in a complete or almost complete lack of desire to have any type of sexual relation. This can often result in the participation in intercourse as a simple marital duty.

The second type is an aversion to sex. This is different from simple hypoactive sexual desire in that sexual activity actually repulses the person or makes them unusually apprehensive. This is most often the result of a traumatic sexual experience, such as molestation as a child or rape.

  • The Arousal Phase

Erectile dysfunction is the inability of males to attain or sustain erection long enough for coitus. The inability of females to become sexually aroused is sexual arousal disorder.

  • The Orgasm Phase

When males are unable to control ejaculation so that it occurs before satisfying sexual relations can take place with the partner, it is known as premature ejaculation. Ejaculatory incompetence is the lack or delay of reaching orgasm in males. The female version of this is inhibited female orgasm, the lack or delay of reaching orgasm in females.


  • Sexual Pain Disorders

There are two sexual pain disorders:

Dyspareunia is when pain occurs during intercourse. This is predominantly a female complaint, but it does occur in males occasionally.

Vaginismus is a female disorder in which involuntary spasmodic muscle contractions occur at the entrance to the vagina when an attempt is made to insert the penis. If intercourse is attempted despite these contractions, a painful sexual experience results.

  • Paraphilia

Paraphilias are sexual behaviors in which unusual objects or scenarios are necessary to achieve sexual excitement. Eight paraphilias are recognized which are grouped into 3 broad catergories.

  • Preferences for Nonhuman Objects

There are two types of preferences for nonhuman objects: fetishism and transvestism.

  • Fetishism

A fetish exists when a person is sexually aroused by a nonliving object. It can manifest in two ways, one more extreme than the other. One form associates coitus with some object (most frequently women's panties or other undergarments ). It is relatively harmless if the action is taken playfully and is acceptable to the person's partner. Focus on certain parts of the body (feet, hair, ears, etc) aside from those part of the pleasurable foreplay, can become fetishistic in its hold on the individual.

The more extreme form of fetishism is when a nonliving object completely substitutes for a human partner, such as underwear, boots, and shoes or such textured objects as velvet or silk. Here, orgasm is achieved when the person is alone, fondling the object.

  • Transvestism

This paraphilia exists when the person achieves sexual excitement by cross-dressing. This is very rarely found in females so the male side of this paraphilia will be used as the example.

Two different purposes seem to be associated with this act in different individuals. In one aspect the person seeks to intensify sexual excitement in intercourse with a partner by only partially dressing as a woman. In the other form, the male moves about in full female regailia, which suggests some type of gender identity problem but not necessarily homosexuality.


  • Preference for Non consenting Partners

The three types of this catergory of paraphilia are exhibitionism, voyeurism, and pedophilia. All three are considered crimes in this country and are almost entirely male crimes.

  • Exhibitionism

Exhibitionism is the exposure of one's genitals in a public place. It is the most prominent sexual offense leading to arrest and makes up one third of all sexual crimes. From the psychological point of view, there are three characteristic features of the exhibition. First, it is always performed for unknown women; second, it always takes place where sexual intercourse is impossible, for example in a crowded shopping mall; and third, it must be shocking for the unknown woman or it seems to lose its power to produce sexual arousal in the individual. Exhibitionists are not assaultive and are considered more of a nuisance than an actual danger.

  • Voyeurism

Looking at sexually arousing pictures or situations is a relatively common, apparently normal activity. The difference between this and voyeurism is that in normal watching, the viewing is a prelude to normal sexual activity. In the voyeur or "Peeping Tom" the experience replaces normal sexual activity. Nevertheless, voyeurism may exist in a person who also engages in normal heterosexual activity.

  • Pedophilia

Pedophilia is the act of deriving sexual excitement through the physical contact of children. This paraphilia is radically different from exhibitionism and voyeurism in its severely damaging impact on the nonconsenting partner, a child. Ordinarily, the pedophiliac is someone who has ready access to the child. The child or parent would have no reason to suspect that the individual has a pedophilic orientation.

  • Gender Identity Disorder

A gender identity disorder exists when a person, male or female, experiences confusion, vagueness or conflict in their feelings about their own sexual identity. There is a struggle between the individual's anatomical sex gender and subjective feelings about choosing a masculine or feminine style of life.

Children can distinguish the difference between males and females by the age of two and by their fourth birthday can recognize the different roles that each sex plays in society. By the age of fifteen or so a person can relate to what arouses sexual feelings in themselves. Those with a gender identity disorder may have a problem with one or all of these aspects of identity.


  • Tourette's syndrome (TS)

Tourette's syndrome is one form of tic disorder. This is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary movements (motor tics) and vocalizations (phonic or vocal tics).

Tourette's Syndrome is a fairly common childhood-onset condition that may be associated with features of many other conditions. The disorder generally begins before the individual is 21 years old and is usually lifelong, with symptoms following a waxing and waning course.

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by tics - involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly in the same way.

  • Mutism

Facts and Tips about Mutism

  • Mutism is a speech disorder which involves constant failure or unwillingness to speak.
  • Mutism is a rare childhood state in which person is unable to talk in particular situations such as at school, with outsider but they communicate well in home or in comfortable places.
  • Anxiety and fear in social situations, environmental, oppositional performance, and shyness are responsible for mutism.
  • Mutism is largely show negative effect on school performance, occupational achievement and social activity.
  • Child has ability to learn, understand, speak and talk. They are normal in other areas of functions.
  • Mutism may lasts for at least one month or may continue for several years.
  • Pharmacotherapy, counseling and psychotherapy, assurance, moderate and regular support and may helpful to stop mutism.
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