Related topics: mental health



Mental disorder

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A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as part of normal development or culture. The recognition and understanding of mental disorders has changed over time and across cultures. Definitions, assessments, and classifications of mental disorders can vary, but guideline criteria listed in the ICD, DSM and other manuals are widely accepted by mental health professionals. Categories of diagnoses in these schemes may include dissociative disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, developmental disorders, personality disorders, ambulatory disorders and many other categories. In many cases there is no single accepted or consistent cause of mental disorders, although they are often explained in terms of a diathesis-stress model and biopsychosocial model. Mental disorders have been found to be common, with over a third of people in most countries reporting sufficient criteria at some point in their life. Services for mental disorders may be based in hospitals or in the community. Mental health professionals diagnose individuals using different methodologies, often relying on case history and interview. Psychotherapy and psychiatric medication are two major treatment options, as well as supportive interventions and self-help. Treatment may be involuntary where legislation allows. Several movements campaign for changes to services and attitudes.

For more information about Mental disorder, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with mental illness

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Research backs theory on autism, schizophrenia

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (11) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research by Simon Fraser University evolutionary biologist Bernard Crespi reinforces his theory that autism and schizophrenia are diametric or opposite conditions based on genes.


Amount of gene surplus determines severity of mental retardation in males

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers have discovered a new explanation for differences in the severity of mental illness in males. The more excess copies of a certain gene, the more serious the handicap. The genetic defect is situated on the X-chromosome; ...


Major impacts of climate change expected on mental health

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (5) | comments 12

Leading mental health researchers are warning that some of the most important health consequences of climate change will be on mental health, yet this issue is unlikely to be given much attention at the UN climate change ...





Search results for mental illness


More mental health care called for in wake of Ft. Hood shootings

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

The recent shootings at the Ft. Hood, Texas army base, allegedly by an army psychiatrist, have placed much-needed focus on mental health care in the army. In an article published in the December issue of the journal CNS Sp ...


In cancer-ridden rats, loneliness can kill

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Socially isolated female rats develop more tumors -- and tumors of a more deadly type -- than rats living in a social group, according to researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago.


Book demystifies psychiatry for the general public

Book demystifies psychiatry for the general public

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Psychiatric disorders are underdiagnosed, poorly treated and highly stigmatized, according to psychiatrists Charles F. Zorumski, M.D., and Eugene H. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. So these Washington University physicians ...


Scale of justice

fMRI scans used in murder trial sentencing

Medicine & Health / Other

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (4) | comments 15

(PhysOrg.com) -- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans have been used, possibly for the first time, in the sentencing phase of a murder trial in Chicago in the US.


The use and misuse of alcohol and marijuana can be traced to a common set of genes

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created 7 hours ago | popularity 1 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. Roughly eight to 12 percent of marijuana users are considered "dependent" and, just like alcohol, the severity of symptoms increases with heavier use. ...


Most antidepressants miss key target of clinical depression

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A key brain protein called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) - is highly elevated during clinical depression yet is unaffected by treatment with commonly used antidepressants, according to an important study published today in ...


About 25 percent of Arabs in Greater Detroit reported abuse post Sept. 11

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

One quarter of Detroit-area Arab Americans reported personal or familial abuse because of race, ethnicity or religion since 9/11, leading to higher odds of adverse health effects, according to a new University of Michigan ...


The therapeutic benefits of the human-animal bond

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

A pet owner knows the enormous joy and comfort that an animal can provide, especially in troubled times. Most pets are considered important members of the family and irreplaceable companions. A growing body of research now ...


Full recovery now possible for an 'untreatable' mental illness

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 3

Patients coping with the chaos and misery of Borderline Personality Disorder now have reason for strong confidence in making major life changes through a new treatment, Schema Therapy. For the first time, three major outcome ...


Antidepressants cut risk of hospital readmission for suicidal youth

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Suicidal adolescents who were prescribed an antidepressant medication during inpatient psychiatric hospital treatment were 85 percent less likely than others to be readmitted within a month after discharge, a new study found.



List of search results for mental illness