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Rara, Olivia, Olivia

Joshua Blackburn
PHE 9.1
October 6 2014
Mental Disorders
Mental disorders have become more common in recent years than ever before.
Though many people suffering from such disorders go unidentified, about one out of every
five people suffer from a mental disorder, light if not severe. The influx of people suffering
mental disorder is mainly due to the increasing amount of pressure (Weir) coming from
society and communities that the world is in today, where competition is tight and only the
fighters make it. Mental disorders arent something that should be taken lightly, and
absolutely shouldnt be ignored. People who suffer from mental illnesses carry a burden that
those who dont have it arent aware of, and depending on what illness it is, the load they
carry differs. Some people may have more than one mental illness, and some illnesses are
more common than others.
A common mental illness is bipolarity, also known as manic-depressive disorder. Its
usually a person with unstable mood (alternative term is mood swings) that goes down to
depression and high to hypomania. When the certain person is experiencing the depressed
mode, they could feel sad or hopeless and lose the interest of everything and they would not
have the fighting spirit normal people supposed to have. Then when their mood shifts in the
opposite direction they could feel euphoric or full of energy. The mood shifts doesnt always
happen and may occur only a few times a year, or as often as several times a day as its worst
stage. This disorder is not disruptive but could create a certain gap in their work or in their
studies where they cannot concentrate and they follow their feeling instead of the situation.
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder is one of the most unique mental disorders that
could be owned by most everybody in this world. A common word we use, narcissist, is to
call people who loves taking selfies or pictures of themselves excessively, that symptom
could lead them to be classified with narcissistic personality disorder. People with this mental
disorder tend to be quick to jealousy and they think that they are super special. They need
praise from the people around them. They believe that their status is higher than others and
they require excessive admiration and they have a high sense of self-importance. People with
narcissistic personality disorder often have a snobbish, disdainful or patronizing attitude.
They might complain a lot but yet lazy to do their job.
Another mental disorder that is commonly found is ADHD, or Attention deficit
hyperactive disorder. This disorder, might continue into adult years, but are usually found in
children, often found more in boys than girls. Many people ignore this disorder, since they
think that the symptoms shown in the kids are normal. These symptoms are categorised into
three things, inattentivity, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. People often think that this kind of
behavior is normal in kids. Kids being hyper, not paying attention (Dharmaputra), going out
and about, exploring, full of mischief, and that sort. There are no test that could conclude
whether a person has ADHD or not, but the diagnosis is based on the pattern of the
symptoms. Combination of genes and environmental factor may cause ADHD, but no exact
cause has been found.
Aside from ADHD, a common behavior mental disorder is OCD or Obsessive-
Compulsive Disorder. This disorder may be caused by several factors, like head injuries,
infection, abnormal function in parts of the brain, and genes ( also a strong factor). People
with OCD usually show symptoms at the age of 30. Some of the symptoms are; checking and
rechecking things, doing things repeatedly, does things to ward of bad luck, excessive
counting, repeating certain words, they can be physically doing things, or in their heads
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(mentally). They think that by doing certain things, they could ward of bad luck. People with
OCD are usually aware that their behavior is excessive or unreasonable.
Another common mental disorder is multiple personality disorder (dissociative
identity disorder), where a person has two or more personalities. This disorder is thought to
be caused by severe trauma at a young age. People with this disorder ultimately alter their
own personality, or are unable to identify who their own personal traits. Though some say
MPD is an extreme case of Borderline Personality Disorder (a mental illness that causes
people to have extreme mood swings and render them almost incapable of maintaining a
relationships and have conflicting emotions regarding themselves), The symptoms differ.
MPD symptoms are patients recreating an image for themselves, while BPD is a patient
altering themselves because of self-loathing.
Schizophrenia is a mind-boggling mental illness that was once thought to source from
being possessed. However, it was later identified as a mental illness, though nobody knows
its cause. People with schizophrenia usually show signs of paranoia, irrationality, and self-
loathing. They have an excessive [dark] imagination, which leads to self-conflicts and
distrust. Nearly one-third of all schizophrenic people have attempted suicide, and outcome
brought from their dark imagination. Hallucinations are also common in schizophrenic
patients, which can lead to abuse of substances. Schizophrenia is one of the most torturous
disorders; symptoms usually start at the age of 20, and requires lifetime treatment.
Mental disorders are not something that should be taken lightly, and people suffering
from mental disorders should surround themselves with a community of people that can care
for them and help them heal. Treatment should be immediate so the severity will decrease. In
general, mental disorders range from light to extreme, making some feel completely fine with
their disorder and others feeling weighed down by it. One of the most common outcomes of
mental disorders is suicide, which is a product of the stress mental disorders cause.
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Works Cited
Bower, Meredith. 10 Most Diagnosed Mental Disorders. Curiosity. Discovery. Web. 4
September 2014. <http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/10-most-
diagnosed-mental-disorders.htm>
Chalrinho, Abigail. Speaking Up Against Mental Health Stigma. Feminspire, 19 August
2012. Web. 4 September 2014. <http://feminspire.com/speaking-up-against-the-
mental-health-stigma/>
Dharmaputera, Ryuta. Personal Interview. 5 September 2014.
Dissociative Identity Disorder. Mental Health Center. WebMD. Web. 4 September 2014.
<http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-
personality-disorder>
Grohol, John M. Schizophrenia and Psychosis. Psych Central, 9 July 2014. Web. 4
September 2014. <http://psychcentral.com/disorders/schizophrenia/>
Staff, Mayo Clinic. Bipolar Disorder. Mayo Clinic, 5 September 2014. Web. 5 September
2014. <http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bipolar-
disorder/basics/definition/con-20027544>
Staff, Psych Central. Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms. Psych Central, 2014. Web.
4 September 2014. <http://psychcentral.com/disorders/borderline-personality-
disorder-symptoms/>
Staff, Psych Central. Narcissistic Personality Disorder Symptoms. Psych Central, 2014. Web.
4 September 2014. <http://psychcentral.com/disorders/borderline-personality-
disorder-symptoms/>
Weir, Kirsten. The Beginnings of Mental Illness. American Psychological Association. Web.
4 September 2014. <http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/02/mental-illness.aspx>