Mental illnesses are conditions that affect the mind and contribute to maladaptive behaviors, and they are generally classified by the mental faculty affected and the symptoms presented. Sometimes there can be some overlap between classes because different mental illnesses are often co-morbid with each other, but regardless of classification, all types of mental illness can significantly interfere with daily living. According to modern classification, the more common types of mental illness include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, impulse control and addiction disorders, and personality disorders.
Anxiety disorders are characterized by an excessive reaction of fear to certain situations. People with anxiety disorders might feel accelerated heartbeat, shaking and sweating when coming into contact with the source of their anxiety. Some examples of anxiety disorders are generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Mood disorders affect the way people experience emotions over a period of time. It's normal to experience a range of emotions at different times of our lives, but people with mood disorders might feel chronically sad or unusually manic. Mood disorders include depression and bipolar disorder.
Psychotic disorders distort the way people think and perceive reality. People with psychotic disorders often experience hallucinations and delusional beliefs, like hearing voices or believing that someone is after them. Examples of psychotic disorders are schizophrenia and delusional disorder. Sometimes symptoms of a psychotic disorder can result from taking drugs or having physical head or brain injury.
Eating disorders involve distorted eating patterns and attitudes about food and weight. People with eating disorders often have an unrealistic body image and an obsession with achieving that ideal, but eating disorders can involve eating too much as well as eating too little or purging to lose weight. Common eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder.
Impulse control and addiction disorders are characterized by giving into impulses and engaging in behavior that can be harmful to the patient and to others. People can have addictions to specific behaviors as well as substances.Addiction disorders include alcoholism, compulsive gambling and sexual addiction.
Personality disorders affect a person's disposition in such a way that their personality negative impacts the various areas of their life, like work and social relationships. They might exhibit extreme forms of certain personality traits, like being unusually introverted or overly sensitive to criticism. Examples of personality disorders are antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder and borderline personality disorder.
Less common types of mental illness are dissociative disorders, somatoform disorders, sexual disorders and many others. Dissociative disorders involve a distortion of consciousness and memory. Somatoform disorders are psychological conditions in which people experience physical symptoms with no known cause. Sexual disorders can involve inappropriate sexual desires and behavior and the classification includes gender identity disorder, which has created controversy for considering transsexualism a disorder. The way we categorize types of mental illnesses is constantly changing, and disorders don't always fall so neatly into the categories that exist. As psychology learns more about the nature of mental illnesses, the way we classify types of mental illness could change significantly in the future.
