Rabbit, Mental illness is more than depression but people tend to think it automatically means depression.
Mental Illness
A wide range of conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior.
Most common types
Clinical depression
A mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.
Anxiety disorder
A mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one's daily activities
Bipolar disorder
A disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs.
Dementia
A group of thinking and social symptoms that interferes with daily functioning.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
A chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.
Schizophrenia
A disorder that affects a person's ability to think, feel, and behave clearly.
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Excessive thoughts (obsessions) that lead to repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
Autism
A serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact.
Post traumatic stress disorder
A disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event.
Consult a doctor for medical advice
A mental illness can have a physical, mental cause or it can be a lil of both.
I suffered from a sort of clinical depression all my life (from my childhood to my adult years), untreated. A series of life altering events caused PTSD which almost ended me.
Luckily, the VA had really good psychologists and psychiatrists available to get to the bottom of the cause and treat it.
It required my own brutal honesty and truthful feedback from me.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (an M.D. or D.O.) who specializes in mental health, including substance use disorders. Psychiatrists are qualified to assess both the mental and physical aspects of psychological problems.
My psychiatrist found my brain was not producing enough of some chemical and put me on a drug that caused my brain to release more of that chemical to put it in balance.
He was a good doctor because he asked for feedback and adjusted/changes drugs to get the "right" result. When I started taking the "right' drug, I could think clearer.
Overall, psychologists assess, diagnose, and treat the psychological problems and the behavioral dysfunctions resulting from, or related to physical and mental health. In addition, they play a major role in the promotion of healthy behavior, preventing diseases and improving patients' quality of life.
After I finished with my psychiatrist he referred me to a psychologist.
She worked with me thru counseling and education so I could change my thinking on a day to day, moment to moment basis. She monitored my feedback about how the drug made me feel and adjusted my dosage accordingly.
Eventually, we found I no longer needed that drug and she weened me off it.
I continued to see her for roughly a year after that then she told me I have everything I need to live a normal life.
I know what causes me to be depressed. I know what to do so I don't fall back into that hole. I no longer feed that insatiable monster.
My life is better than it has ever been, mentally.
Everyone fights their own battles with depression.
Some of us win, some of us lose.
I chose to win but I had help.
May you all find inner peace and contentment.
Edited by
Tom4Uhere
on Tue 03/03/20 09:26 AM