Depression and mental illness are both very common in the United States, but their root causes are not well understood by the general public. This article explores the causes of depression and mental illness, as well as the most common treatments for each. Hopefully this information will help you better understand depression and mental illness and lead to greater compassion from your family, friends, and coworkers when you deal with these issues yourself or encounter them in those around you.
What is depression?
Depression is a mental illness characterized by sadness or loss of interest that lasts for weeks or months. Depression affects your mood and thoughts—and it can impact every aspect of your life. Some types of depression are mild and last for only a few days. But other times, symptoms can last for months, even years. Depression is common in adults with certain medical conditions like heart disease or cancer, but it also can occur as a result of stressful events like death or serious injury. When caused by something like trauma or stress, depression usually gets better over time with treatment. If you’re depressed, you may have trouble sleeping or eating normally. You might feel hopeless about your future and think about hurting yourself. The more severe your symptoms are, the more likely they’ll be long-lasting.
Treatments for depression
Contrary to what you might think, major depression is highly treatable. Your treatment plan may include psychotherapy—for example, cognitive behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy—medication and/or lifestyle changes. The type of treatment that works best for you depends on your symptoms and situation. If your depression symptoms are mild to moderate, psychotherapy alone can be very effective in helping you overcome depression. However, if your symptoms are severe or if they’ve lasted for more than two weeks despite all efforts to seek help and manage them through other means (such as self-care activities), then antidepressants also may be required to effectively treat your condition. Also note that counseling doesn’t cure depression; rather it helps people learn how to get back on track with their lives.
Anxiety Disorders (general anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder)
Symptoms include trouble sleeping, feeling jumpy or tense all day, headaches or muscle pain. Additionally, you may feel as though you’re on edge all of the time—worried about what could happen next—and that your mind won’t stop racing. Most people feel more irritable than usual, too. In some cases anxiety can be so overwhelming that it causes panic attacks—powerful physical symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath.
The disorder affects roughly 20 million adults (6%) in America each year. Anxiety disorders are most common among women ages 40 to 59 but men are also susceptible. If you have an anxiety disorder, you should see a mental health professional for help. A psychiatrist will run tests to rule out other conditions before diagnosing an anxiety disorder. Your doctor might prescribe medications and/or refer you to a psychologist or counselor who specializes in treating these disorders. Therapy is often effective at helping people with anxiety disorders face their fears and get back to living normal lives.
Bipolar Disorder I and II
Bipolar Disorder I is diagnosed when a person experiences one or more manic episodes (not just hypomania). People with Bipolar I tend to have severe mood swings that take them from being very high (known as mania) to being very low (depression). Not all people who experience depression have bipolar disorder. There is also a milder form of bipolar disorder called Bipolar II in which periods of feeling high are less extreme. Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder include significant changes in energy levels, sleep patterns, activity levels and mood. A person with Bipolar Disorder may move quickly from feeling very energetic to feeling very sad with little warning. Both types can cause a lot of problems if not treated properly.
Dissociative Disorders (dissociative identity disorder)
This is when someone’s identity becomes separated into multiple identities. These separate identities are typically referred to as alters. In dissociative identity disorder (DID), these separate identities have different names, ages, jobs and memories from one another. The most common symptoms of DID include feeling as if there’s a second self inside you that controls your behavior or emotions in times of stress; hearing inner voices that tell you what to do or say; seeing images or shadows out of the corner of your eye but not knowing where they come from; feeling an unexplained sense of detachment from yourself and reality; experiencing repeated nightmares or flashbacks about traumatic events; temporarily losing some aspects of who you are.
Eating Disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa)
People with eating disorders starve themselves or eat an excessive amount of food. Eating disorders can be fatal if left untreated, so it’s important to seek help for an eating disorder as soon as possible. Signs of an eating disorder include: A strong desire to lose weight; Refusal to maintain a healthy body weight; Avoiding meals or situations in which food is involved; Obsessive thoughts about food or weight; Giving up favorite activities; Feeling out of control while eating. Bulimia nervosa (BN) is binge-eating followed by purging behaviors such as self-induced vomiting and/or abuse of laxatives and diet pills (purging). Anorexia nervosa (AN) involves extreme dietary restriction accompanied by an intense fear of gaining weight.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that is developed after one experiences or witnesses a stressful life event. These events can be any sort of trauma such as sexual assault, violence or war. Not everyone who goes through a traumatic event will develop PTSD but those who do may experience depression, flashbacks and nightmares that leave them feeling isolated from others. It’s important to seek treatment for PTSD as early as possible in order to help prevent serious mental health problems such as anxiety disorders or substance abuse problems later on.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
This disorder is characterized by unwanted thoughts (obsessions) that trigger intense urges to perform ritualistic behaviors (compulsions). Common symptoms include excessive hand washing, cleaning or hoarding. Often caused by a chemical imbalance in our brains, OCD can be treated with a combination of therapy and medication.
Medication helps curb obsessive thoughts while behavioral therapy tackles compulsions. In some cases, severe cases of OCD may be treated with exposure response prevention therapy (ERP), in which you’re slowly exposed to what you fear most in order to overcome it. One form of ERP is virtual reality exposure therapy; patients are slowly exposed to their fear while wearing a head-mounted display that allows them to see it firsthand from any angle they choose.
Personality Disorders (antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder)
Studies have shown that people with antisocial personality disorder are often highly impulsive. In fact, they have a more difficult time controlling their impulses than those who don't suffer from personality disorders. This can explain why they engage in risky behaviors and activities like substance abuse or gambling—which can result in further self-destructive actions (such as having unprotected sex with strangers). They may not feel that these harmful actions will hurt them personally (because they don't care about others), but engaging in these behaviors increases their risk of being diagnosed with an STD.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
The causes of ADHD are not well understood. In many cases, doctors think that genetics may play a role in making people more likely to develop ADHD. Other studies have looked at how lifestyle factors may contribute to ADHD—for example, some researchers think that environmental toxins in pregnant women or exposure to lead paint early in life may raise children’s risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although these are possible causes for ADHD, there is still no evidence that certain types of chemicals actually cause ADHD. The available research does show that individuals with a family history of attention problems are much more likely to develop it themselves. Researchers have also identified a few genes linked with ADHD but we don’t yet know how those genes affect brain development or behavior.
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