How Close are we to Finding a Cure for any Mental Illnesses?
What are the types of mental illnesses and how are they developed?
Mental Illness and mental disorders are behavioural or emotional limitations that can affect the ability to function and relate to others. (Cunha, 2020). The most common types of mental illness are depression, anxiety, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), bipolar disorder, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), schizophrenia and a variety of personality disorders (Cunha, 2020). The first category of mental illness/disorders that I will recognize is neurodevelopmental disorders. This includes autism spectrum disorder, OCD, ADHD (Attention-Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder), Intellectual Developmental Disorder, Communication disorders (language disorders, speech sound disorder, childhood-onset fluency disorder (stuttering), and social communication disorder. (Cherry, 2020). Neurodevelopmental disorders are psychiatric conditions that are caused by abnormalities in the central nervous system (Van et al., 2019). Second, there is bipolar and related disorders. This includes bipolar disorder, depressive episodes, and mania. (Cherry, 2020). Bipolar disorder causes noticeable change in mood. Specifically, it is characterized by manic episodes that last around 7 days or more. (Herbst, 2020). Third is anxiety disorders. There is GAD (general anxiety disorder), agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, and any specific phobias (like the phobia of spiders, arachnophobia, for example), panic disorders, and separation anxiety disorder. (Cherry, 2020). The following category is stress-related disorders. This category is comprised of acute stress disorder, adjustment disorders, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and reactive attachment disorder. (Cherry, 2020). The next category, dissociative disorders, includes dissociative amnesia, dissociative identity disorder and derealization disorder. (Cherry, 2020). Dissociative disorders are classified as mental disorders that mess with memory, identity, emotion, perception, behaviour, and sense of self. (Wang, 2018). Then there are eating disorders. There is anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, rumination disorder, pica, and binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders are an unhealthy relationship with food; that could mean too much, too little, or a combination of both. (Cherry, 2020). Moving on, the next category sleep disorders. This one contains narcolepsy, insomnia, hypersomnolence, breathing-related sleep disorders, parasomnias, and restless leg syndrome. (Cherry, 2020). Next, there is depressive disorders. In this category there is major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, substance/ medication induced depressive disorder, and depressive disorder caused by another medical condition. Depression can make a person feel empty, sad, tired, and alone. (Cherry, 2020). The next category is substance-related disorders. This includes alcohol, cannabis, inhalant use, stimulant use, and tobacco disorders. (Cherry, 2020). Schizophrenia is one of the categories of mental disorders. It is listed alone but is quite serious. (Cherry, 2020). Schizophrenia presents in two groups of symptoms; positive and negative. (Wiley, 2012). Positive symptoms are highly exaggerated ideas, perceptions, or actions. Negative symptoms are the absence of regular mental function. (D’Arrigo, 2020). Penultimately, there is the OCD category. It includes OCD, body dysmorphic disorder, hoarding disorder, trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder), and excoriation disorder (skin picking). (Cherry, 2020). OCD is an obsessive repetition of a thought or action that may become an irrational ritual. (O’Conner et al., 2010). The final category is personality disorders. The disorders that fit into this category are antisocial personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, dependant personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder. (Cherry, 2020). Personality disorders are a change in behavior, thinking or feeling that is different than the set expectations (Robitz, 2018). As for how mental illness are developed, mental illnesses can be developed because of environmental stresses (ie., stressful living environment, abuse, trauma, injury, drug and alcohol abuse), genetic factors such as hereditary illnesses, or biochemical imbalances in the body. (Skehill, 2021)
The topic of this research round was: What are the types of mental illnesses and how are they developed?
In my next round of research, I will be asking the question “What are the known treatments and recent developments for environmental (trauma induced, brain injury induced, and drug induced) and genetic illnesses?
My second question will prove helpful in my next round of research because there currently aren’t any cures so, treatments are the standard solution to mental illnesses. By knowing what treatments are available, I can judge how effective they are and in turn how much potential is has to become a cure. Especially now that I know the many categories of mental illnesses and disorders, I can look into the categories that I think have the most promise for finding a cure.
Thanks for reading!
References
Cherry, K. (2020, March 19). Explore a list of psychological disorders from the DSM-5. Verywell Mind. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/a-list-of-psychological-disorders-2794776.
Cunha, J. (2020, November 18). What are 7 common types of mental disorders? eMedicineHealth. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.emedicinehealth.com/what_are_seven_common_types_of_mental_disorders/article_em.htm.
D’Arrigo, T. (2020, December 13). Schizophrenia symptoms: Positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. WebMD. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-symptoms.
Herbst, D. (2020, July 9). What Is Bipolar Disorder? Web. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=441db934-492b-45b2-8a3b-eb6cc99ea631%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=145331063&db=aph.
O’Conner, J., Fell, M., & Fuller, R. (2010, March). Escaping, forgetting and revisiting the scene: The post-traumatic compulsion to repeat in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Web. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=30&sid=441db934-492b-45b2-8a3b-eb6cc99ea631%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=49141833&db=tfh. Peer Reviewed
Robitz, R. (Ed.). (2018, November). What are personality disorders? What Are Personality Disorders? Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/personality-disorders/what-are-personality-disorders.
Skehill, E. (2021). Mental illness and the family: Recognizing warning signs and how to Cope. Mental Health America. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://www.mhanational.org/recognizing-warning-signs#:~:text=Mental%20illnesses%20may%20be%20caused,mental%20illness%20or%20emotional%20disorder.
Van, H., Danneels, M., Van Waelvelde, H., Deconinck, F., & Maes, L. (2019, August). Vestibular Function in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Systematic Review . Ebsco Host. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=441db934-492b-45b2-8a3b-eb6cc99ea631%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=137441327&db=c9h. Peer Reviewed
Wang, P. (Ed.). (2018, August). What Are Dissociative Disorders? What are dissociative disorders? Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/dissociative-disorders/what-are-dissociative-disorders.
Wiley, J. (2012, March). Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter. Ebsco Host. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=441db934-492b-45b2-8a3b-eb6cc99ea631%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=71842596&db=tfh. Peer Reviewed
this is very cool, i don’t have any mental illnesses myself but my bestfriend has quite a few. i cant wait to follow more of your project and hopefully better understand her.
thank you so much and it’s really sweet that you care to learn about what she’s going through
Hi Shieva, the topic you’ve chosen is very fascinating, and we’ve seen that these kinds of illnesses have grown with notable repercussions on health. As people know, depression is one of the most common mental disorders. Thanks to some research and technology, we can finally realize that we are close to helping people and understanding them.
Hope your investigation grows further 🙂