A psychiatric disorder is a mental illness diagnosed by a mental health professional that greatly disturbs your thinking, moods, and/or behavior and seriously increases your risk of disability, pain, death, or loss of freedom.

In addition, your symptoms must be more severe than expected response to an upsetting event, such as normal grief after the loss of a loved one.

A large number of psychiatric disorders have been identified. Chances are that, whether or not you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, you know something about one or more of the following examples:

Depression
Personality disorders
Anxiety disorders
Schizophrenia
Eating disorders
Addictive behaviors, etc.

Common signs of several mental illnesses may include:

• Not eating enough or overeating
• Having insomnia or sleeping too much
• Distancing yourself from other people and favorite activities
• Feeling fatigued even with enough sleep
• Feeling numbness or lacking empathy
• Experiencing unexplainable body pains or achiness
• Feeling hopeless, helpless or lost
• Smoking, drinking or using illicit drugs more than ever before
• Feeling confusion, forgetfulness, irritability, anger, anxiety, sadness, or fright
• Constantly fighting or arguing with friends and family
• Having extreme mood swings that cause relationship problems
• Having constant flashbacks or thoughts that you can’t get out of your head
• Hearing voices in your head that you can’t stop
• Having thoughts of hurting yourself or other people
• Being unable to carry out day-to-day activities and chores
• Stress and periods of emotional distress can lead to an episode of symptoms. That may make it difficult for you to maintain normal behavior and activities. This period is sometimes called a nervous or mental breakdown.

Treatment for mental health disorders is not one size fits all, and it does not offer a cure. Instead, treatment aims to reduce symptoms, address underlying causes, and make the condition manageable.

You and our licensed doctor will work together to find a plan. It may be a combination of treatments because some people have better results with a multi-angle approach.

The four main categories of medications used to treat mental health disorders are antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, antipsychotic medications, and mood-stabilizing medications.

Which type is best for you will depend on the symptoms you experience and other health issues you may face. People may try a few medications at different doses before finding something that’s right for them.

Most individuals with mental health issues can and will find treatments that are successful. That means you can get better. Some mental health issues, however, are chronic and ongoing, but even these can be managed with proper treatment and intervention.

Recovery from mental health disorders or issues requires ongoing attention to your mental and overall health, as well as adherence to any behavioral therapy techniques learned from our therapist. In some cases, treatments like medication may be needed on an on-going basis; others may be able to stop using them at some point. Begin your Hawt health recovery journey today.