7 Common Mental Disorders of Our Time
Mental disorders are one of the major global health issues of our era. Depression alone accounts for 4.3% of all illnesses. More than 260 million people live with anxiety disorders. According to WHO estimates, the economic damage caused by mental disorders will reach $16.3 trillion between 2011 and 2030. Here are some of the most significant mental disorders today.
Depression
Depression is a complex mental disorder related to the emotional sphere. It is characterized by a prolonged sense of sadness, guilt, anxiety, avoidance of social interaction, and loss of interest in usual activities. People with depression may experience anhedonia (loss of the ability to feel pleasure) or apathy (emotional detachment, where both positive and negative emotions are dulled). Those affected often tire quickly, struggle to complete daily tasks, have trouble concentrating, and are haunted by dark thoughts about themselves and their surroundings. Physical symptoms may also occur, such as sleep disturbances, digestive issues, sexual problems, and unpleasant bodily sensations.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia involves a loss of unity among mental functions: thinking, emotions, and motor skills. Its symptoms are highly diverse. There may be reduced mental activity and emotional blunting, as well as hallucinations, neurotic disorders, and delusional ideas (which may be culturally inappropriate, bizarre, impossible, or grandiose). People with schizophrenia may “hear” their own thoughts or feel that others know what they’re thinking; they may also perceive “voices” commenting on their actions. Speech and behavior can become disorganized.
The causes of schizophrenia are varied: biological, social, psychological, and even environmental. It is believed that people with schizophrenia have a genetic predisposition that is triggered by external factors. However, it is impossible to predict schizophrenia based solely on genetics. The main treatment is psychopharmacology, but psychotherapy or psychological correction may also be used.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is characterized by regular, spontaneous panic attacks—intense episodes of fear or panic always accompanied by physical symptoms: increased blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, chills, dizziness, numbness in various body parts, and shortness of breath. During these attacks, people may also experience secondary fears: fear of dying or fainting (which does not actually happen during a panic attack), fear of being considered crazy or ill, or fear of losing control.
Experiencing a single panic attack does not mean they will recur; the disorder develops when persistent secondary fears are present. Panic attacks can be triggered by stress, physical or emotional exhaustion, or substance abuse (alcohol or stimulants). Because of the fears experienced during and after attacks, people may begin to avoid active lifestyles, partly due to the belief that they won’t receive help if an attack occurs in public.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
This is a very rare disorder, often confused with schizophrenia. A combination of mental disturbances—such as memory lapses, altered consciousness, and disrupted sense of personal identity—leads to the feeling that several different personalities (ego states) exist within one body. These personalities may differ in gender, age, social status, intelligence, and character. Similar experiences can occur in schizophrenia, but in that case, the core of the personality is destroyed. In dissociative identity disorder, deep psychological mechanisms are activated, but the person’s core identity remains intact.
The causes are usually severe emotional trauma in early childhood, repeated physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Psychological defense mechanisms such as repression (removing traumatic episodes from consciousness) or dissociation (perceiving events as if they are happening to someone else) come into play. Typically, people with dissociative identity disorder do not show other symptoms except for amnesia during episodes when one personality replaces another (though amnesia does not always occur). Switching between personalities usually happens suddenly, without clear triggers or regularity.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are behavior syndromes with psychological origins, related to abnormal eating habits. The most well-known are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by intentional weight loss, caused or maintained by the individual. This is often due to a distorted body image, which can lead to extreme thinness and organ dysfunction. Bulimia nervosa involves frequent episodes of overeating in people overly concerned with their weight, leading them to take extreme measures such as self-induced vomiting or laxative abuse. In binge eating disorder, a person tends to eat in response to sadness, fatigue, or strong emotional distress, without feeling hunger or controlling the amount eaten.
The development of eating disorders is influenced by biological, psychological, cultural, and social factors. Genetics and abnormal hormone levels, especially serotonin, play a role. Certain personality types are more susceptible; for example, people with obsessive traits—perfectionism, low self-esteem, and controlling behavior—are more likely to develop anorexia. Eating disorders are also more common in industrialized cultures where thinness is associated with beauty and promoted by the media.
PTSD — Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD develops after one or more traumatic events, such as war, physical injury, sexual assault, or life-threatening situations. It only develops in some people. Diagnostic criteria include having experienced an extreme stressful event involving threat to life or physical integrity (one’s own or others’), along with intense emotions at the time: fear, horror, and helplessness. The traumatic event and related feelings are relived in nightmares, involuntary recurring memories, or flashbacks. People avoid thoughts, conversations, actions, places, and people associated with the trauma, as these can trigger distressing memories. Some experts view PTSD as a disorder of emotional regulation mechanisms.
Many PTSD studies were conducted during major wars. In World War I, it was called “shell shock” or traumatic neurosis; after World War II, Grinker and Spiegel’s classic study of pilots provided a detailed description of PTSD. Numerous publications appeared during and after the Vietnam War. However, PTSD affects not only war veterans but also people who have experienced other severe traumas, and the cause may be less the objective danger of the event than its subjective significance.
Factitious Disorder (Munchausen Syndrome)
This mental disorder belongs to the group of factitious or simulated disorders. A person fakes, exaggerates, or deliberately induces symptoms of illness to receive medical attention—for example, by taking medications that cause side effects or inflicting injuries on themselves. This is not the same as faking illness to avoid unwanted situations (like military service or legal consequences) or to gain benefits (such as disability payments). One of the diagnostic criteria for Munchausen syndrome is the absence of external motivations. Most often, the underlying cause is an unconscious desire for attention and extra care, possibly due to psychological trauma or a lack of love and care in childhood. People with this syndrome may seek or induce symptoms in themselves, or extend this behavior to dependents, such as children or elderly relatives. Doctors often recognize factitious disorder by the unusual combination of symptoms described by the patient, which do not typically occur together. Repeated hospital visits with a wide variety of symptoms at the same clinic may also indicate the syndrome.