According to the National Institute of Mental Health Disorders (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH): An estimated 26% of Americans ages 18 and older – about 1 in 4 adults – suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year.
Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability for people aged 15-44. Nearly one-half of all mental disorders begin by age 14 and three-quarters begin by age 24.
Approximately 9.5% of American adults ages 18 and over, will suffer from a depressive, bipolar disorder, or dysthymia each year. Nearly half of the entire adult U.S. population will experience some type of mental illness during their lifetime.
Mental health disorders account for several of the top causes of disability in established market economies, such as the U.S., worldwide, and include: major depression, manic depression, also called bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
It is not unusual for people to experiece multiple mental disorders at a time. Specifically, depressive illnesses tend to co-occur with substance abuse and anxiety disorders.
Women and teenaged girls are nearly twice as likely to suffer from major depression than men. However, men and women are more likely to develop bipolar disorder equally.
More than 20 million Americans age 18 or older suffer from mood disorders. Nearly 10 percent of adults experienced a mood disorder during the past year.
Many people who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder – most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder. Men commit suicide nearly four times as often as women. Women however, try to kill themselves more often than men.
Signs of Trouble – Primary Symptoms
Psychotic Disorders – Loss of Contact with Reality
• Do you see or hear things that other people do not?
• Is your mind playing tricks on you?
(Almost all mental disorders are partly biological.)
Mood Disorders – Mania or Depression
• Do you feel sad or hopeless?
• Do you talk too loud or too fast?
• Do you have a rush of ideas and feelings that others think are unreasonable?
(Mostly defined by the existence of deep and intense emotions, agitated, elated, hyperactive or depressed.)
Anxiety Disorders – High Anxiety or Anxiety-Based
• Do you have anxiety attacks?
• Do you have anxiety distortions?
• Do you have the feeling you’re going to die?
• Are you afraid to do things that most other people can do?
• Do you spend an unusual amount of time doing things like washing your hands, checking on locked doors and windows or counting your heart beat?
(Marked by fear and distorted behavior, feelings of panic, phobias i.e., irrational fears, nervousness, PTSD and acute stress disorders.)
Dissociative Disorders – Amnesia, Multiple Identities
• Do you have gaps in your memory?
• Do you feel like you are a stranger to yourself?
• Do you feel like you are a robot?
• Do others tell you things you have done but you don’t remember?
(Temporary amnesia, feeling outside your body, feelings of being lost in a dream world.)
Somatoform Disorders – Bodily Complaints without Basis
• Do you feel sick but your doctor says you are fine?
• Do you suffer from unexplained pain?
• Are you preoccupied with thoughts about being sick or seriously ill?
(Symptoms that mimic injury or disease – chronic pain with no identifiable
cause, psychological factors appear to explain the symptoms.)
Personality Disorders – Unhealthy Personality Patterns
• Do your behavior patterns repeatedly cause problems at school or work?
• Or in relationships with others?
(Patterns begin in childhood or adolescence and continue through much of adult life, paranoid, very suspecious, narcisstic, dependent, borderline, antisocial, maladaptive patterns.)
Sexual and Gender – Disturbed Gender Identity
• Identity Disorders. Do you have difficulties with sexual identity?
• Have you had or do you think about having a sex change operation?
• Do you identify with your physical sex?
• Are you an exhibitionist?
(Deviant sexual behavior known as paraphelia, fetishism, voyeurism, also a variety of sexual dysfunctions, desires, arousal response (exhibitionistic, fetishistic, frotteuristic, pedophilic, sexual machochism, sexual sadism, transvestic & voyeuristic.)
Substance Related – Drug or Alcohol Abuse Disorders
• Do you think that you drink too much?
• Do you use illegal drugs?
• Do you take prescription drugs more often than you should?
• Do you take prescription drugs illegally?
(Relating to drug, alcohol dependence or psychoactive drugs, barbiturates, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, hallucinogens, nicotine, withdrawal symptoms after stopping use, delirium, emotional outbreaks, sexual problems, sleep.)
This report is not a diagnosis. We hope this information can guide you toward improving your life.
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