Related topics: mental health
Mental disorder
hideA 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.
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News tagged with mental illness
Schizophrenia gene linked with abnormal neurogenesis in adult and postnatal brain
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 23, 2009 |
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Scientists now have a better understanding of a perplexing gene that is associated with susceptibility for a wide spectrum of severely debilitating mental illnesses. Two independent research studies published by Cell Press ...
Flow of potassium into cells implicated in schizophrenia
May 06, 2009 |
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A study on schizophrenia has implicated machinery that maintains the flow of potassium in cells and revealed a potential molecular target for new treatments. Expression of a previously unknown form of a key ...
Research backs theory on autism, schizophrenia
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(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.
Strong link between obesity and depression
Oct 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Doctors should pay more attention to the link between common mental illness and obesity in patients because the two health problems are closely linked, according to researchers at the University of Adelaide.
Material success and social failure?
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Mar 02, 2009 |
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It is common knowledge that in rich societies the poor have shorter lives and suffer more from almost every social problem. Likewise, large inequalities of income are often regarded as divisive and corrosive.
Bipolar disorder linked to risk of early death from natural causes
Feb 02, 2009 |
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Bipolar disorder appears to increase the risk of early death from medical illnesses, according to a literature review study published as the lead article this week in the journal Psychiatric Services.
Amount of gene surplus determines severity of mental retardation in males
Dec 10, 2009 |
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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
Dec 03, 2009 |
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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 ...
Common mental disorders may be more common than we think
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Sep 10, 2009 |
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The prevalence of anxiety, depression and substance dependency may be twice as high as the mental health community has been led to believe.
Schizophrenia does not increase risk of violent crime
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
May 20, 2009 |
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In the debate surrounding violent crimes referred to as "acts of madness" or the like, it is often assumed that the violence is a direct result of the perpetrator's mental illness. Previous research suggests that people with ...
Mental illness by itself does not predict future violent behavior
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Feb 02, 2009 |
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People with mental illness alone are no more likely than anyone else to commit acts of violence, a new study by UNC researchers concludes. But mental illness combined with substance abuse or dependence elevates the risk for ...
Social factors, not mental illness, to blame for high male suicide rate
Dec 01, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The popular assumption that most suicides are the result of depression or other mental illness has been challenged by a study of male suicide which will be launched later today by researchers at the University ...
Heart Disease a 'Silent Killer' in Patients With Severe Mental Illness
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 16, 2009 |
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A large new study confirms that people with severe mental disorders -- such as schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders -- are 25 percent to 40 percent more prone to die from heart disease than people without mental illness ...
New immigrants more likely to be homeless due to economic factors rather than health issues
Oct 19, 2009 |
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New immigrants are more likely to cite economic and housing factors as barriers that keep them homeless compared with native-born individuals, according to a new study on the health of homeless immigrants led by St. Michael's ...
USC neuroscientists awarded $9 million to map gene expression during human brain development
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 02, 2009 |
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Two University of Southern California (USC) neuroscientists have been awarded nearly $9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to map how genes are expressed in different regions of the human brain throughout ...
