Mental Illness – Symptoms, Types, Treatment
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over one billion people worldwide are dealing with some form of mental disorder. This number accounts for approximately 12% of the global population. There may be individuals in your surroundings who are affected by mental illness as well. It’s worth taking a closer look at the most commonly encountered problems, their symptoms, and treatment methods.
Mental Illnesses of the 21st Century
Individuals suffering from mental disorders are often referred to therapy and are also offered pharmacological treatment. However, the effectiveness of conventional medicine largely depends on making the correct diagnosis. Therefore, I’ve gathered some of the most serious disorders that people have been struggling with in recent years:
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Bipolar Disorder
- Capgras Syndrome
- Panic Disorder
- Autism
Learn how to recognize these diseases, how they differ from each other, and what treatment methods doctors and therapists commonly propose. However, does the classical scientific approach suffice to overcome 21st-century mental illnesses?
Antisocial Personality Disorder – What Is It and How Does It Manifest?
Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD, APD) is a condition characterized by long-term changes in a person’s behavior regarding social interactions. Individuals suffering from APD often have difficulties in forming new relationships and maintaining their relationships with others. They may lack empathy and feel most comfortable only in their own company.
Researchers say that the first signs of antisocial personality may manifest as early as in childhood, around the age of 8. However, individuals between the ages of 24 and 44 are most at risk of negative effects of APD.
Such mental illnesses have many risk factors, including the influence of family members, living in poverty, or untreated childhood traumas. Until recently, antisocial personality disorder was compared to psychopathic and sociopathic behavior.
It’s worth emphasizing that this is one of the most difficult mental disorders to cure.
Schizophrenia – How to Recognize It?
When it comes to mental illnesses, schizophrenia remains one of the most dangerous disorders for society. It manifests as psychotic episodes and attacks, during which the patient may:
- Hear voices that aren’t there.
- Have delusions and believe in strange things.
- Think irrationally about the world.
- Disorganize their own and their family’s lives.
- Withdraw from interpersonal relationships.
In many cases, schizophrenia may show preliminary symptoms already in childhood or adolescence. It rarely occurs alone, as it may be accompanied by other disorders such as substance abuse, depressive states, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Researchers estimate that in 2022, there were approximately 24 million people worldwide affected by schizophrenia. Treatment usually involves the use of psychotropic drugs and psychiatric therapy. The worst untreated cases of schizophrenia can lead the patient to self-harm or even suicide.
Bipolar Disorder – What Is It?
About 1% of people worldwide suffer from bipolar affective disorder, also known as bipolar disorder, manic-depressive psychosis, or cyclothymia. It’s a group of recurring mental health problems involving depressive, manic, and hypomanic episodes.
It should be noted that bipolar individuals suffer from a much more pronounced mood swings. They can quickly transition from depressive states to ecstatic euphoria. Over 30% of bipolar patients’ high mood variability leads to self-harm, and in 6% of cases, it ends in suicide.
Researchers argue that mental illnesses associated with bipolarity can be caused genetically or environmentally. This disorder has not been thoroughly researched yet, so conventional treatment doesn’t always produce the expected effects.
Capgras Syndrome – What Are These Mental Illnesses?
The disorder described by Joseph Capgras in 1923 is an extremely rare case of a disorder from the DMS group (delusional misidentification syndromes). Such mental health problems are related to delusions that objects or people in the patient’s environment have changed or lost their identity.
In the case of Capgr
as syndrome, the patient believes that their acquaintances have been replaced by other people who look exactly the same. Such delusions rarely occur alone and are more likely to accompany the following disorders:
- Schizophrenia.
- Dementia.
- Complications after head injuries.
Because Capgras syndrome is uncommon, there is a lack of substantial literature on it. Furthermore, effective treatment methods have not been identified in the field of conventional medicine. Doctors usually prescribe psychotropic drugs and refer the patient to psychiatric therapy.
Panic Disorder – What Kind of Mental Illness Is It?
Panic attacks are one of many anxiety disorders that are highly prevalent worldwide. Panic attacks and related mental illnesses affect about 2.5% of the population. They manifest as unfounded, sudden, and very extensive episodes of fear and panic.
Panic attacks can be accompanied by numerous symptoms, including:
- Heart palpitations.
- Trembling hands.
- Excessive sweating.
- Body shakes.
- Shortness of breath.
- Feeling of stiffness.
- Unfounded sense that something terrible is about to happen.
Fear is a phenomenon that affects almost every human being. However, in the case of panic disorder, the experience of negative emotions is much stronger and more pronounced. It’s worth noting that the source of panic is unfounded but arises from the patient’s subconscious delusions.
The most effective conventional treatment for panic attacks is long-term cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. This therapy can last up to 2 years. The measured successes show the effectiveness of therapy at a level of 70-90%.
Autism – What Is It?
In recent years, the autism spectrum has gained recognition among both doctors and parents of children. It turns out that disorders on the border of autism usually affect the youngest. It’s a multifaceted set of disorders, which can affect individuals throughout their lives.
In general, autism manifests as difficulties in social interactions, establishing contacts, and repeating the same behaviors. People suffering from the disease are perceived as having their “own world”. However, it should be emphasized that the manifestation of the problem varies from one patient to another.
Interestingly, controversy has also arisen around the autism spectrum. Some parents use the disorder to justify their children’s misbehavior, even though they do not suffer from diagnosed disorders. There is also a growing percentage of people who believe that autism is caused by vaccinations in infancy and childhood, although this has not been clearly proven.
Can Conventional Medicine Suffice to Overcome 21st Century Mental Illnesses?
A visit to a specialist in psychology or psychiatry usually ends with similar conclusions. Prescription of drugs, an invitation to another visit, or referral to therapy follows. However, it turns out that these are not the only methods of dealing with problems. Where conventional medicine ends, spiritual approaches to illnesses begin.
Mental illnesses can be alleviated and often treated using alternative methods. To do this, it’s worth checking how indigenous tribes of the Amazon deal with their problems .
South American ethnic groups believe that evil spirits may be responsible for head problems, which need to be expelled. For this purpose, special ceremonies involving aromatherapy with incense sticks are used. Calming the nerves and opening the mind to new dimensions is also aided by consuming ceremonial cocoa.
The Western world we live in has lost its spiritual connection with ancestors, nature, and our essence. We often lack grounding, and our problems are caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, stress from work and relationships, as well as pursuit of money and happiness.
Meanwhile, we can turn to traditional methods that help free the mind from a tangle of negative emotions. Useful for connecting with spirituality are deep breathing rituals and chakra healing ceremonies.
Remember that mental illnesses often have various causes and manifest in many ways. Spiritual ways of dealing with problems can become an attractive addition to classical therapy for mental disorders. It’s worth freeing the mind from the lurking evil forces to open up to a better, healthier life.
