Mental health issues are prevalent in the United States. It’s estimated that one in five people in America has a mental illness. Therefore, at least one of these disorders affects almost every household in the country. The most common types of mental illnesses are anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If you or your loved one suffers from one or several of these mental illnesses, you must seek the help of a psychiatrist in Houston to get effective treatment. Failure to treat a mental illness can contribute to more serious physical and mental problems.
But what are the signs of some of the most common forms of mental illness in adults in the US today? You may be surprised by the wide range of mild and moderate to severe symptoms that you could be experiencing.
PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety Disorders
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder can cause various symptoms similar to those of anxiety and depression. PTSD occurs from a past traumatic event such as an injury, being in military service, accident, abuse, or death of a loved one. PTSD is estimated to be one of the most untreated or undertreated mental illnesses out there, simply because victims of PTSD might not realize that their mind is having a traumatic response. Similarly, an individual with PTSD might not always find that they are triggered by the same situations or stimuli during each attack, making the symptoms harder to coincide.
What Does PTSD Feel Like?
Those who have PTSD sometimes describe it as living in a nightmare that could come on at any moment with no escape. Post traumatic stress disorders cause victims to lose control over their thoughts and sometimes their actions, being instead forced to relive or recall the situation which lead to their PTSD. People may describe the feeling of PTSD as having looks, dreams, glances, vibes, smells, or how someone else treats you as the trigger from an event or experience you’re trying to forget. Triggers of PTSD can arise from anything and can come from anywhere, at any time. As hard as you try to, you are unable to turn it off.
Depression
Individuals suffering from depression often feel that they simply fail to find the pleasure or joy in life that comes to others so easily. Someone with depression may have trouble focusing, making decisions, reading, watching TV, or even doing activities that they would otherwise love. Depression is considered a mood disorder. As such, it is described as a feeling of loss, deep sadness, and even anger that is significant enough to affect your daily life.
Everyone feels down from time to time. But if you have continued feelings of sadness or hopelessness that interfere with your daily routine and prevent you from enjoying life, you may be battling depression. If left untreated, depression can worsen. But many hesitate to seek treatment, feeling embarrassment when talking about their emotions and depressive thoughts and feeling that treatment itself is one more reflection of failure on the individual.
What Is Depression Like?
Having depression may feel like having a dark shadow that hangs over your life. It’s like drowning, except people around you are breathing. It seems everything is going wrong, even if someone with an outside perspective would say otherwise.
More moderate to severe forms of depression not only leave you feeling helpless, they could cause additional physical symptoms that make your limbs feel dull, leaden and immovable. You may feel trapped in your own body or mind, helpless to enjoy life while simultaneously forced to watch others able to be effortlessly happy. In fact, the symptoms of depression can become so severe that they could cause the individual feelings of real pain.
Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety is something that the majority of adults would most likely attest to suffering from; at least at one point in their lives or another. Anxiety – or more commonly a feeling of stress – can be normal in certain situations. An individual with anxiety, once triggered, will feel dread, fear, or an impending sense of doom, even when there are no external indicators that the person should feel that way. Sufferers of anxiety may also experience nightmares or insomnia, they may feel weak or lethargic during waking hours because of this.
Those who feel constantly on edge from anxiety may also be likely to jump to conclusions, make poor decisions, or suffer from panic attacks.
What Is Anxiety Like?
Like the symptoms of many of the most severe mental illnesses in adults, anxiety can present itself in physical symptoms as well as mental ones. Those with anxiety frequently feel worried, afraid, and nervous, even about ordinary events like making a phone call or going to a movie. In turn, the feelings of anxiety could cause you to have trouble enjoying your life. You could start to experience tightness in your muscles and aches in your body. You may find that you are regularly clenching your muscles without realizing it. This is a particularly common issue with the jaw. This can also cause long term, physical issues and pain.
Anxiety makes your brain feel like it’s working overtime, often out of fear or stress. And once your brain has worn out the anxiety, it can still leave you feeling drained and exhausted. In fact, many individuals who suffer from anxiety also suffer from forms of depression, which has similar symptoms of feeling hopeless, muscle aches, lethargy, and an inability to perform your daily tasks as intended.
Feelings of a weight on your chest, of drowning, and of being unable to breathe or escape are common in both patients with depression and patients with anxiety.
Treatment for Mental Illnesses
Regardless of what mental illnesses you might be under the thumb of, there is still vibrant hope for recovery. In fact, contacting a psychiatrist or other mental health provider is the first step for many to regain their lives for a happier, fuller, more balanced life moving forward.
Therapies that can help with your mental disorder include:
• Psychotherapy
• Stress management
• Individual therapy
• Anger management techniques
• Medication therapy management
• DBT and CBT
Combined, all these therapies, prescription medications, and life changes offer the basis for a brighter future. It takes time to get through a mental illness. It also takes some work. However, by doing so, you attain the fulfillment you miss from your life now.
Seek Treatment for Adult Mental Illness in Texas
Whether you are suffering one mental disorder or a couple of them, there is help nearby. The help includes those therapies you need and other treatments known to work for people like you. You need psychiatric and counseling help alongside other treatment specialists. At Aura MD – Dr. Ashley Toutounchi, you access a healthy set of therapies, anger management, stress management, and educational sessions.
You can learn and understand your mental condition and the ways you overcome the disorder and its symptoms. We offer personalized treatment in an energetic and professional way. We communicate openly with our patients and consider their individual treatment goals. We identify your treatment plan, tailored just for you so that you can be your best self. Visit https://auramd1dev.wpengine.com/ if you have a mental illness or have a family member with a mental disorder. We also help with the treatment of bipolar disorder and insomnia.
Aura MD – Dr. Ashley Toutounchi
952 Echo Ln #210
Houston Texas 77024
(832) 430-2872
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