Mental Health

Modern treatments for a variety of conditions tend to be more holistic than in the past1. While a physician may be able to prescribe medications to deal with some symptoms of an illness, they will often encourage patients to make changes to their lifestyles to assist in the healing process. Everyone benefits from better general health, and that includes people with mental illness. Various forms of art therapy, including writing, can deliver many benefits.

In recent decades, the treatment of most patients with mental disorders has generally switched from institutionalized care to outpatient care. Getting the family involved has been shown to lead to better outcomes. Unfortunately, there is still some resistance among mental health professionals to just how involved families can become. A big part of the problem is that most doctors believe that patient confidentiality must be protected, even when preserving confidentiality may mean that patients are missing out on support and help that could be of great benefit to them1. Because of the nature of many mental illnesses, patients may not be able to grasp the benefits of waiving confidentiality and getting families involved.

Art is a relaxing and inspiring activity for many people; however, the benefits of artistic expression can extend much further. Art therapy has shown to be a valuable complement to medication and talk therapy for many forms of mental illness, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias. In this article, we'll take a closer look at the practice of art therapy and discuss its benefits for people struggling with mental illness.

At first consideration, the concepts of “acceptance” and “change” seem diametrically opposed. Acceptance implies that something is suitable or satisfactory, whereas the need for change indicates that something is inadequate or lacking in some way. Yet these two opposite components form the core of dialectical behavior therapy.

Bipolar disorder has become something of a mental health buzzword, and the disorder is even sometimes associated with creativity and charisma. This may be due, at least in part, to the number of celebrities and artists who have been publicly open about their own struggles with the condition. When it comes to multiple personality disorder, however, there still seems to be a cloud of ignorance and confusion. This highlights the need for further education and dialog about both disorders to help improve public awareness, understanding and compassion.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was once thought to be a rare mental disease, but research has revealed it is far more common than previously believed. Statistics indicate that approximately 2.3 percent of the population between ages 18 and 54 suffers from OCD, making it even more prevalent than other common mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or panic disorder. Based on these statistics, approximately 3.3 million people in the United States have OCD; that’s about one out of every 200 adults. The prevalence of this disorder has raised the question for some about whether or not their own tendencies or habits may indicate a form of OCD. Although only a trained therapist can accurately diagnose OCD, understanding the disorder can help you think properly about its symptoms and effects. It’s important to note that simply being detail-oriented or having perfectionist tendencies does not indicate the presence of a disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is more than just being meticulous or wanting to keep things neat and tidy.

The word “phobia” is a direct conversion of the Greek word for “fear.” The term is sometimes used conversationally to indicate a general fear or dislike of something. These common fears are simple, everyday anxieties that nearly everyone experiences. However, phobias are more involved and complex.

Hundreds of books are available dealing with the subject of introvert personalities. With titles such as “The Introvert Advantage,” “Introvert Power” and “The Upside of Being an Introvert,” the clear indication is that having an introvert personality is definitely something normal and positive. But what if a person’s shyness, preference for solitude or tendency to be concerned about their own thoughts and feelings becomes debilitating? Some amount of shyness or avoidance is completely normal, for both introverts and extroverts. But when introversion and avoidance become a problem that interferes with your life, it could indicate a more serious condition known as avoidant personality disorder.

Even in this day of advanced medical technology, distinguishing different medical conditions can be difficult due to the myriad details of the physical body and the wide variety of illnesses or diseases. The process is more complicated when trying to distinguish mental health disorders, since many of them share similar symptoms or may occur alongside other disorders. The complexity of psychological disorders also contributes to misunderstandings about them. An example of this can be seen in the frequent confusion between mood disorders and personality disorders. While the two types of disorders share common symptoms, they also have key aspects that can help identify how they are unique.

Although there is a stigma attached to many mental illnesses, schizophrenia may be the most mischaracterized. Unlike common portrayals in movies or television, people suffering from schizophrenia are not violent psychopaths with multiple or split personalities. In reality, schizophrenia is one of the most disabling and puzzling mental disorders, causing it to be severely misunderstood in American society.

Nearly everyone likes to be the center of attention once in a while. At one time or another, most people are guilty of showing off or doing what they can to get others to notice them. People with histrionic personality disorder take these behaviors much further and act in a highly emotional manner in hopes of drawing attention to themselves. These individuals have a pervasive and consistent pattern of seeking the spotlight and behaving in excessively dramatic ways.

Dissociative disorders are a category of mental illnesses characterized by an involuntary and unhealthy escape from reality through a disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness and memory. An estimated two percent of people experience some form of dissociative disorder, with women being more likely than men to be diagnosed. Dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly called multiple personality disorder, is one of three types of dissociative disorders defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).