What is mental illness?
In this article we will describe what is metal illness.
Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking, behaviour, or personality (or combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.
How common is mental illness?
If you need mental health care, first of all, you are in good company. Mental health problems are very, very common.
In fact, 20% of adults experience conditions like depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and panic disorders. And over 7 million people in the UK are taking anti-depressant tablets (17% of population). It is the largest single cause of disability.
Can I diagnose my own mental illness?
You should not try and diagnose and treat your own problem. Early assessment by your GP or a mental health professional is important. There are 7 common mental health problems, with typical symptoms. Here they are. This is a general guide only.
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders – such as generalised and social anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and phobias
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Bipolar disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Schizophrenia
- Personality disorders.
We will now go through how to diagnose which is your mental health problem (by its typical symptoms) – if you have one.
Depression – symptoms may include:
- Not caring about things one used to
- Feeling sad, down, angry or hopeless most of the day, nearly every day. It is normal to feel down on and off. This is not depression
- Loss of appetite, weight loss or gain
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Fatigue/lack of energy
- Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
- Forgetfulness
- Confusion
- Moving and speaking less and more slowly than usual
- Restlessness or have trouble staying still
- Thoughts of death or suicide. If this is the case, please go to your nearest A&E department, or contact your Mental Health Crisis Team (if you have one). This is more information on how to get urgent mental health care
Anxiety Disorders – symptoms may include:
- Worry
- Fear. Anxiety is defined as ‘unreasonable fear’. Fear is normal if it appropriate for the cause of it, and you are in danger. That is temporary and not anxiety
- Feeling ‘on edge
- Muscle tension
- Stomach aches
- Chest tightness or pain (see a doctor if this occurs – chest pain may be a sign of a medical emergency)
- Fear of embarrassment
- Blushing
- Sweating, trembling and a rapid heart rate (palpitations)
- Headache and dizziness
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) – symptoms may include:
Obsessions
- Repetitive and persistent thoughts (e.g., of contamination), images (e.g., of violent or horrific scenes), or urges (e.g., to stab someone)
- These are not voluntary or pleasurable
- Patients with OCD attempt to ignore, avoid, or suppress obsessions or to neutralise them with another thought or action (e.g. performing a compulsion)
Compulsions
- Repetitive behaviours (e.g. washing, checking) or mental acts (e.g. praying, counting, repeating words silently) that a person feels compelled to perform in relation to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly or to achieve a sense of ‘completeness’
- Compulsions are not connected in a realistic way to the feared event or are clearly excessive.
Bipolar Disease – symptoms may include:
Patients may alternate between depression (see above) and mania.
Mania
- Feeling abnormally and persistently happy, angry, hyperactive, impulsive, and irrational at different times
- Feelings of special powers and superiority
- Decreased need for sleep
- Restlessness
- Excessive talking
- Increased activity
- Racing thoughts
- Short attention span
- Inappropriate laughing or joking
- Getting into arguments
- Inappropriate spending sprees or sexual activity
Post-traumatic stress disorder – symptoms may include:
- Reliving the trauma: memories, nightmares, or flashbacks
- Feeling ‘numb’
- Avoiding certain people or places
- Intense feelings, such as anger, fear, or worry
- Trouble sleeping (insomnia).
Schizophrenia – symptoms may include:
- Hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there, including paranoid ones)
- Delusions (false beliefs, including paranoid ones)
- Disorganised thoughts or speech
- Lack of emotion and or changes in facial expression
- Minimal movement or talking
- Poor hygiene
- Lack of interest in spending time with people or having fun
- Problems learning and remembering
- Difficulty understanding speech or other forms of communication
- Difficulty making sense of new information
- Difficulty solving problems.
Personality disorders – symptoms may include:
- Mood swings
- Angry outbursts
- Social anxiety causing difficulty making friends
- Needing to be the centre of attention
- Feeling of being cheated or taken advantage of
- Lack of impulse control/difficulty delaying gratification
- Not feeling there is anything wrong with one’s behaviour (ego-syntonic symptoms)
- Externalising and blaming the world for one’s behaviours and feelings.
What causes mental illness?
There is no one single cause. They are usually complicated and due to a combination of factors. For example, these are known causes or risk factors for the development of mental health disorders:
- Genetics or a family history of the disorder
- Environment – i.e. things (life events) that have happened recently in your life
- Chemical imbalance in the brain – e.g. low serotonin levels in depression
- Alcohol and drug abuse
- Stressful circumstances during childhood
- Poverty and low levels of social support.
How are mental illnesses diagnosed?
Mental illnesses are usually diagnosed by a mental health professional; such as a psychologist, counsellor (NHS ones are called IAPTs) or psychiatrist. Such disorders generally have to meet certain criteria as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5).
Summary
We have described what is mental illness. You may now be able to start to diagnose your mental health problem, if you have one. But you should not try to diagnose and treat the illness on your own. Early assessment by your GP or a mental health professional is important. The articles below will show you how to get NHS care for your problem.
Other resources
MyHSN has other related articles.
What is mental health?
Mental health red flag symptoms
NHS mental health services
7 common mental illnesses
What is an NHS IAPT?
How to access urgent NHS mental health care
Common student mental health problems
10 facts about depression
10 facts about schizophrenia
This is a good video about how to recognise if you have a mental health problem.
