Mental health condition

Mental health condition refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental health conditions include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.

Definition

A mental health condition is a condition that affects a person's thinking, feeling, behavior or mood. These conditions deeply impact day-to-day living and may also affect physical health. Mental health conditions are far more common than people realize. They affect tens of millions of people each year, and only half of those affected receive treatment.

Types of Mental Health Conditions

There are several types of mental health conditions, including:

• Anxiety disorders: People with anxiety disorders respond to certain objects or situations with fear and dread. They may also experience physical signs of anxiety, such as a rapid heartbeat and sweating.

• Mood disorders: These disorders, also called affective disorders, involve persistent feelings of sadness or periods of feeling overly happy, or fluctuations from extreme happiness to extreme sadness.

• Psychotic disorders: Psychotic disorders involve distorted awareness and thinking. Two of the most common symptoms of psychotic disorders are hallucinations and delusions.

• Eating disorders: Eating disorders involve extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors involving weight and food.

• Addiction and impulse control disorders: People with these disorders often cannot resist urges, or impulses, to perform acts that could be harmful to themselves or others.

• Personality disorders: People with personality disorders have extreme and inflexible personality traits that are distressing to the person and/or cause problems in work, school, or social relationships.

Treatment

Treatment for mental health conditions is not one size fits all, and it does not offer a cure. However, treatments can help people live very fulfilling lives. A treatment plan may include medication, psychotherapy (talk therapy), peer support, and a healthy lifestyle.

See Also

• Mental health
• Mental disorder
• Psychiatry
• Psychology